Rose Walker LLP, the litigation law firm, has announced that it will open a new Los Angeles office. This will be the first office for the firm outside the state of Texas. The new office will be led by Michael J. Terhar, with the firm focusing on aviation and aerospace litigation.
The Dallas firm’s partner, Chris McDowell, said the following:
“We have a lot of clients in aviation and aerospace, and they’ve been asking us to be present in California for a long time … It seemed like the right time and right opportunity to finally do so.”
The new office will be at 2 N. Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California, which used to be occupied by the firm of LaMontagne & Terhar LLP. This firm was co-founded by Terhar but he is leaving in order to take the job at Rose Walker. On the staff for the California office of Rose Walker there are two lawyers, but there are negotiations ongoing for future hires.
“Our firm has always worked in California, and we are familiar with the business climate and the courts there. This move gives us a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ component that we didn’t have before, and that’s good for our clients,” the founder of the firm, Martin Rose, explained.
McDowell also said that the firm’s new office in California might also expand into the practices of commercial litigation and intellectual property. The opening of the firm’s office in California is thought to increase work done by the firm for the past couple of decades in California.
“We have known him for his entire legal career and frequently worked together,” the statement from Rose said. “He’s a natural fit for our culture and results-focused practice. I’m thrilled to have him on board.”
Rose also said that Terhar is the perfect candidate to lead the office in California because of his 30 years of experience in litigation within the state.
The case history for Terhar is impressive as it includes him defending an aerial stunt coordinator’s part in the crash of a helicopter when filming ‘XXX,’ which was released back in 2002.
Terhar also worked on private aviation and commercial cases, including a case in 1978 involving the crash of PSA Flight 182 in a neighborhood in San Diego.
Terhar attended Loyola Law School, graduating in 1979.
“We grow as our clients’ need dictate. We’re not driven to grow to a certain size by a certain time,” McDowell said.
Terhar also has quite a bit of experience representing entertainment and sports arenas in Los Angeles County. Those cases have involved security, crowd control and code violations, wrongful death and personal injury cases that cause cast, crew and stuntmen to be injured in Hollywood.