‘Early in the evening just about supper time Over by the courthouse they’re starting to unwind….’

— John Fogerty, ‘Down on the Corner’

Sheree Swetin, executive director of the San Diego County Bar Association, says the trend of law firms leaving Downtown ended about the same time she arrived in San Diego. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Whether in San Diego or Santiago, the practice of law is centered Downtown. There’s no mystery; the courthouse is Downtown, and lawyers congregate around the courts. In the 1990s, though, law firms began to cluster outside 92101 in La Jolla or Del Mar Heights to be closer to their high-tech clients. After all, you don’t file an initial public offering at the county courthouse.

“When I came here four years ago, I was told everybody was moving out to the Golden Triangle,” says Sheree Swetin, executive director of the San Diego County Bar Association. “I think there may have been a trend that was ending about the time I arrived here, and I’ve seen a lot moving back to the Downtown area since.”

Of 12,767 attorneys practicing law in the county, 4,629 practice in the 92101 ZIP code, reports the State Bar of California. That means in the 4,255 square miles of San Diego County better than one in three legal eagles hangs a shingle in the 2.2 square miles of Downtown.

“If you broke it down to certain practice areas, you might find that the bio and tech firms are more heavily concentrated in the suburbs, but business and finance and litigation is concentrated Downtown,” Swetin says.

Kicking Off Stress

Maria Roberts, a trial lawyer at Shea Stokes & Carter, has worked Downtown for about 18 years. In February, she moved to an office at 510 Market. Maybe it should be called a “loffice,” since her new space is in a loft. “It’s been fun,” she says. “I appreciate the atmosphere in the Gaslamp, with lots of cool restaurants and coffee shops and interesting places to discover.”

Roberts’ daybook includes a 50-hour work week and frequent trips out of town for her business litigation practice that can include labor and employment law, intellectual property and the occasional slip and fall. Life in court can be exciting, and “it can also be stressful,” she notes. Her workout regimen includes an hour-long session in the morning and karate classes three nights a week.

But her heart is in Little Italy. “I grew up in the South Bay and every week Mom would journey to Little Italy to get her stuff for her sauce and pasta,” she recalls. “I just love Little Italy. It’s changed a lot, but the smells and the people and the personality are still the same.”

Favorite lunch: Café Zucchero. “I love the food and Our Lady of the Rosary is around the corner, so I can go to Mass and then grab a bite to eat.”

A Defense Victory

Paul Pfingst

Paul Pfingst returned to Higgs Fletcher and Mack after losing the race for district attorney to Bonnie Dumanis. His practice at Higgs centers on civil and criminal defense litigation, representing white collar defendants. Pfingst says the transition from prosecutor to defense counsel has been “easier than I thought,” probably because he already had experience as a defense lawyer in civil litigation.

About Downtown, Pfingst says, “The changes have been dramatic. Broadway isn’t anything like it used to be with the tattoo joints, cheap jewelry stores and the boom boxes. The vice and sleaze have been replaced by office buildings.”

Pfingst won’t be living Downtown anytime soon; he’s a surfer and likes the waves in Del Mar.

Favorite lunch spot: Rainwater’s or the Fish Market.

Verdict On Downtown Education

Nancy Scull

Luce Forward Partner Nancy Scull has worked Downtown for more than two decades. Her real estate clients have included the CityFront Terrace and Bosa condo projects, and the Omni Hotel.

“When I first started here, there were two places to go to dinner or lunch, and when you left Downtown for the day, you didn’t come back,” she says. “So to see the transformation of Downtown into a business center and now a residential community is very gratifying.”

Scull also is 2005 chair of the San Diego Downtown Partnership. “We’ve worked on a lot of projects, including the Clean and Safe Program for Downtown, which has been adopted for the next 10 years.” She’s a “big advocate” for the establishment of a Downtown bus shuttle service and for more educational opportunities. “Schools have to become a focus of the school district so we can have a Downtown where families can raise their children,” she says. “We’ve had a lot young people move Downtown and we don’t want a mass exodus some day.”

Favorite lunch spot: Rainwater’s.

Eminent Domain Hysteria?

Bruce Beach

Bruce Beach, an eminent domain specialist at Best Best & Krieger, is witnessing an overreaction to the recent Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., a case that has been widely interpreted as strengthening the hand of City Hall in eminent domain cases. “People are missing the point that before a property owner is moved, you’re talking about 10 to 15 years (of preliminary activity) before you can do a project,” Beach says. “Look at the Gaslamp; it was the people who were living there who came to the city and said you’ve got to do something about this blight.”

Beach says Kelo has become a lightning rod, because “people only heard about a small snippet of the case.”

Beach has worked Downtown for 30 years, and says redevelopment is the magnet. “The reasons law firms have stayed Downtown are Horton Plaza, the Gaslamp, and the ballpark,” he says. “Instead of moving courts somewhere else, the county put in the Hall of Justice.”

Away from a 50-hour work week, Beach likes to swim at the Westside Athletic Club, or La Jolla.

Lunch hour? “At the Y, or the restaurant in the Wyndham Emerald.”

Happy Where He Labors

Jim McMullen

From Downtown, Jim McMullen directs the employment and labor law practice in Southern California for Gordon & Rees, growing rapidly from three lawyers five years ago to 30-plus attorneys today. Gordon & Rees’ growth, says McMullen, has been driven by “price flexibility” that allows more clients to use the firm.

He’s worked Downtown since 1984, and notices the increase in traffic. “It’s the equal opportunity hazard for everybody; you can never beat the traffic.”

With a work week approaching 60 hours, McMullen likes to schedule jaunts to the public library, and brings his 9-year-old daughter Downtown for office visits. “I used to have a boat in the bay, now I have two kids and a wife,” he says.

Lunch? “I spend more time at Sushi Deli than anywhere else, but also like Napa Grill, Athens Market, and the Field. I also really like the Fish Market.”

In Defense Of Implants

Regina Petty

Regina Petty is a founder of the Downtown firm of Wilson Petty Kosmo & Turner, one of the leading woman-owned firms in the United States. Her practice is corporate defense, including representing Union Carbide in breast implant litigation. Her clients include the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association and the Southeastern Economic Development Corp.

Mass tort cases are a thorn in the side of corporate defense attorneys; detractors say access to the courts is too easy and sympathetic jurors are likely to serve up excessive verdicts. “I support the jury system,” Petty says, “but I think we’re still struggling with the challenge of meeting and determining scientific and technical questions in the jury system.”

With 23 years Downtown, Petty remembers when Downtown closed at 6 o’clock. When she’s not pursuing a 65-hour-a-week schedule, Petty likes productions at the Rep and Civic Theatre.

Petty lives in East County, but grew up in Los Angeles, so San Diego traffic doesn’t faze her. “We do have some bad days on 94, but when you grow up in L.A., it’s got to be pretty bad here before it’s going to be worse than L.A.”

Lunch might find her at St. Tropez or the University Club.