Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Page 3
Former Federal Judge Who Left Girardi | Keese Joins Arent Fox
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Former U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson, who recently left Girardi | Keese after less than two years, has joined Arent Fox LLP, the latter firm announced yesterday.
He has become part of Arent Fox’s Los Angeles office as a member of its litigation practice, Alternative Dispute Resolution practice, and white collar and investigations group, a firm spokesperson said. The former jurist is also expected to take a lead role in further developing the firm’s appellate practice, the spokesperson said.
Larson remarked that “I have gotten to know many of the attorneys at Arent Fox,” during his legal career, and praised their “professionalism, talent, and integrity” as “extraordinary.”
Mark Katz, chairman of Arent Fox, also spoke highly of Larson. Katz said the former bench officer “is highly regarded for his work as a federal prosecutor and as a judge presiding over many complex and landmark civil and criminal trials,” who “brings a depth of experience and skill to his private practice that will further strengthen our ability to service clients from coast to coast.”
Robert C. O’Brien, managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office, added that Larson’s “ intellect and integrity are well recognized throughout the bar, and he brings great strengths to the superb group of lawyers who have chosen Arent Fox in Los Angeles.”
Larson was nominated as a district judge by then-President George W. Bush in 2005 and confirmed by the Senate the following year, after having been appointed a magistrate judge in 2000.
He resigned in two years ago at the age of 44, citing the failure of efforts to increase the annual salary for the office—which was less than $180,000 annually—and the anticipated costs of future college educations for his seven children.
The judge began his legal career as a civil litigator at O’Melveny and Meyers, then spent almost a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Criminal Division in
Los Angeles, serving as coordinator of the office’s Russian Organized Crime Unit and chief of the Organized Strike Force.
He received his undergraduate degree at Georgetown University and is a graduate of USC Law School. Larson currently teaches at the University of La Verne College of Law and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the UC Irvine School of Law.
Larson was a founding member of the executive board of the US Department of State’s Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, and was awarded the Erwin Chemerinsky “Defender of the Constitution Award” by the Inland Empire Chapter of the Federal Bar Association for his work on the project in 2009.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company