Arthur H. Bryant, chairman emeritus, left, of Public Justice and Benjamin L. Bailey, right, of Bailey & Glasser.

Arthur Bryant, the veteran leader of legal nonprofit Public Justice, is joining Bailey & Glasser to open the firm's first California office in Oakland.

Bryant, who joined Public Justice as its sole staff attorney 35 years ago, is set to join the 60-lawyer West Virginia firm as counsel July 15.

Bryant announced in May that he was taking on the role of chairman emeritus at Public Justice and announced at the time that at the end of the year he would be stepping away from the organization, which advocates for consumer rights and access to justice through partnering with the plaintiffs bar and bringing impact litigation.

Bryant said in an interview this week that as Public Justice has grown to nearly 40 staffers and 16 lawyers, he hasn't been able to be “in the battle” of litigating cases day to day as much as he was in the organization's early days.

“I feel incredibly proud of everything I've helped build [at Public Justice], but I think 35 years is enough,” Bryant said with a laugh. “I want to get back involved in litigation hands-on because, first, it just made me the happiest and it was the way I could make the biggest difference myself.”

Bryant and Bailey & Glasser name partner Ben Bailey have been friends since 1976, when they met as first year students at Harvard Law School. The Oakland office Bryant is opening will be firm's first location west of Missouri and its 11th office overall.

Bailey has served on the Public Justice Foundation's board since 2010 and worked alongside lawyers at the organization, back when it was known as Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in the mid-2000s, in an air pollution case in Ohio. Bailey said in an interview this week that given the firm's current caseload in California and its focus on handling high-impact litigation both regionally and across the country, expanding into California with Bryant made sense. He said Bryant's knowledge of class action law and issues surrounding arbitration were particularly useful given the firm's caseload.

“These are things he has spent a career dealing with at the highest levels,” Bailey said.

Bailey himself has landed high-profile leadership appointments in multidistrict litigation in California representing plaintiffs in cases involving allegations of sudden unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles and Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal. Those MDLs have been based in the Central District and Northern District of California respectively.

“There's the subject matter overlap that makes it make a lot of sense and there's a geographic reason to do it,” Bailey said of the expansion.

Bailey said that he could envision the firm's California presence growing, but that the firm doesn't have any specific time frame or size goals.

“I hope we can build an office around him out there,” said Bailey of Bryant.

Bryant, for his part, said that joining up with the firm will give him a chance to continue the work of keeping courthouse doors open to trials.

“This was the place where I could have the most fun and make the biggest difference and help expand this firm,” Bryant said. “It is truly wonderful after 40 years as a lawyer and 35 years helping build an incredible public interest organization to be excited about something new.”