Olson Remcho founding partners Emily Andrews, Tom Willis, James Harrison, Richard Rios, Lacey Keys, Lance Olson, Andrew Werbrock and Karen Getman (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

Two California firms with long-standing ties to state Democrats, labor unions and organizations behind many of the progressive ballot initiatives drafted in recent years will merge Jan. 1.

Olson Hagel & Fishburn and Remcho Johansen & Purcell will become Olson Remcho, the firms said Tuesday. The new political law firm will include 22 attorneys in Long Beach, Oakland and Sacramento.

Olson Remcho will represent Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Senate leader Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon as well as several members of the California congressional delegation and a dozen labor unions. Lawyers at the firm will continue to advise candidates, lobbyists, ballot measure campaigns and political action committees.

"The thought of a merger has always been flirted with," said Olson Hagel managing partner Richard Rios. Those thoughts became real discussions after Richard Miadich, Olson Hagel's primary litigation partner, left the firm to become chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission in May.

"The point where the two firms are in their succession plans, the timing worked out," Rios said.

Known for its nuts-and-bolts political compliance work, Olson Hagel was founded in 1977 by Lance Olson, who ran campaigns while attending night classes at the University of Pacific's McGeorge School of Law. Olson has advised the California Democratic Party since 1982 and served as counsel to politically active labor unions.

Olson's firm, with offices in Sacramento and Long Beach, has drafted dozens of ballot initiatives, including the 2010 measure reducing the legislative vote requirement to pass a budget in California from two-thirds to a simple majority. Attorneys at the firm also co-wrote the 2016 measure legalizing recreational marijuana.

Remcho Johansen was created in 1983 by Robin Johansen, Joseph Remcho and Kathleen Purcell, three veterans of education finance lawsuits that challenged unequal funding among school districts. The Oakland-based firm is known for its litigation and government law work. Its client list has included the California Teachers Association, the United Farm Workers of America and the League of California Cities.

Remcho Johansen partner James Harrison helped write the 2004 stem cell initiative that generated $3 billion for research and served previously as the research agency's general counsel. Harrison also drafted the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act, the proposed ballot measure that became the state's landmark data-protection law.

Remcho Johansen partner Karen Getman said Tuesday that some people have been surprised by the merger announcement, "thinking, oooh, you're rivals."

"But really we've been friends and co-workers for a number of years," she said. "It's the perfect resolution."

The three offices now operated by the two firms will remain open, Rios and Getman said, giving the merged practices an expanded footprint in Northern California. "Very, very few" client conflicts have been created by the merger, Getman added.

The new firm's mission will remain focused on political law, they said.

"Out of the box I expect most everything will be very similar for our clients," Rios said. "I don't expect a lot of change."

 

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