Sometimes, opportunity strikes for a modest boutique law firm.
In the case of Nevers, Palazzo, Packard, Wildermuth & Wynner PC, that opportunity lately has been rooted in the firm’s location in Westlake Village. The small firm, which boasts a collection of corporate, business litigation and employment law practices, has recently added a handful of attorneys and expects to continue to shore up practice groups throughout the year.
“We’re opportunistically hiring people,” said Robert Wynner, managing shareholder of the firm. “Large firms are starting to announce layoffs, and sometimes that is a signal that things are going to slow down. It also creates some opportunity for hiring.”
The firm, known as NPW, recently brought aboard three attorneys, boosting its count to 20. Two were recent graduates from the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, while one was a mid-level attorney with Big Law experience who, after considering other jobs, elected to work closer to home in the Conejo Valley.
“We’re in Westlake Village, so people do better here when they’re connected to the area somehow,” Wynner said. “People driving in from L.A. is kind of tough, just like it’s tough to drive from here to L.A.”
The firm, which last year celebrated its 30th anniversary, is also making a commitment to its longevity and leadership, with 13 of its attorneys being shareholders in the operation. Two of those attorneys, corporate transaction specialist Colin Kawaguchi and business dispute litigator John Bamford, were made shareholders last summer.
Among the firm’s transactions are Blackstone’s acquisition of the Center for Austism and Related Disorders in 2018, for which NPW advised the center. It also regularly represents retail shopping center owners renting storefronts to national chains like Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Walgreens, Verizon Wireless and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Situated along the 101 Freeway corridor, Wynner said the firm is able to harness and retain a wide variety of business clients in both Los Angeles and Ventura counties. With that in mind, he anticipated bolstering the firm’s litigation and real estate practices, as other firms are doing with the current economic headwinds.
“For us, we’re small. We’re tiny comparatively to most firms. We’re probably the largest in the greater Conejo, but otherwise, we’re just small,” Wynner said. “From an employment standpoint, it’s tougher for us to get people that want to be in the office and don’t live geographically convenient to our location. Client-wise, it’s very attractive from the client grouping from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles. We’re positioned very nicely for those businesses in the corridor.”