New Law Firm Focuses on Flexibility, Client Service

Two attorneys from one of the largest law firms in Ventura County have split off to start a new firm in Camarillo. Karen Gabler and Jonathan Fraser Light opened their new firm, LightGabler, this month. The practice focuses on employment and intellectual property law and litigation for companies located as far north as Santa Barbara and down into the San Fernando Valley. The pair left Nordman Cormany Hair & Compton LLP in Oxnard, where Gabler had practiced for eight years and Light for 26 years. Gabler and Light kicked around the idea of starting their own firm for several months and finally made the decision in early March. In the 60 days that followed, Gabler found office space, signed a lease, bought furniture and equipment, and hired additional staff. Handling the administrative duties was something new for Gabler, who has also been a lawyer in Los Angeles and Hawaii. “It’s given me greater understanding of what clients deal with as business owners,” Gabler said. LightGabler is starting with a strong client base of about 285 clients, who are following the lawyers from Nordman Cormony, Light said. By the end of May, that number is expected to rise above 300, Light said. Bill Davis is one of those clients. Gabler represents Davis’s Calabasas market research firm, Davis Research. Davis retained Gabler as his legal counsel because of the strong working relationship they have developed over the years. “She (initially) had no idea what market research was and took the time to understand it,” Davis said. “It has been a beneficial relationship because she took that step.” LightGabler is a small firm comprised of five attorneys and two paralegals. As a result, clients get more personal attention, and attorneys can make decisions faster, Light said. In large firms, deciding a course of action – whether related to a client’s case or how to run the firm — takes much longer, Light said. “(An idea) will sit in a committee and everyone will talk about it forever and you never get a decision,” he said. One area where the firm wants to show quick decision-making is creating a new client billing model. Clients want options when it comes to paying, and they don’t want the standard billable hour model, Gabler said. Options would include allowing clients to put the firm on a retainer, where clients pay a lump sum in advance to cover services that are expected, or allowing clients to follow a subscription model, where clients agree to pay for certain services, she said. The request for a different billing model is a result of businesses wanting to budget more carefully and plan out spending, Gabler said. The law partners say starting LightGabler turned out to be an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity. The outpouring of support and enthusiasm from the business and legal communities regarding the decision to break away was unexpected, Gabler said. “When you are working in the day-to-day you do not have a good sense of your reach and how familiar the business community is with your work,” Gabler said.