About 6 years ago, I went to visit my friends Amir Kahana’s and Jason Feld’s new law firm, Kahana & Feld, LLP (KF). They had spoken briefly with me about joining them. As I walked down the long hallway to their then tiny disconnected, yet adjacent, office suites, I thought I had to be crazy to work with actual friends and not just work colleagues. Also, as someone who was coming from a national law firm, I wondered how we would survive with a sole legal assistant/paralegal and another employee who handled the entire back office side of things. If I joined, I would be their seventh lawyer. I was impressed by the vision of Amir to create a national law firm that supports its attorneys and staff and values culture over everything else. I was also intrigued by the prospects of being on the ground floor of a fast growing law firm that aspired to be an AmLaw 100 firm in a short period of time. This budding firm was setting a course to be “Upstanding, Outstanding and Understanding” in every way.
So, I took a leap of faith and joined KF, and it is one of the best decisions of my life. With Amir, Jason, Avi Attal, and Samuel Yu, and their recently hired 1st associate – Mimi Ahn, we went on this journey together to grow our amazing Firm that is now a national law firm with offices in multiple states and top signage at our Orange County, California’s office building that is visible from the I-405 freeway.
When Kahana Feld began it concentrated on Construction Defect, Labor/Employment, and Business Litigation matters. Now, our legal expertise covers real estate litigation and transactions, transportation and trucking defense, appellate matters, New York Labor Law, and General Liability insurance defense. On our 7th birthday, we have 10 offices located in 7 states spanning the entire country with over 65 lawyers, and over 100 total employees including paralegals and staff. If you told me this when I walked down that hallway 6 years ago, I would have thought you had lost your marbles.
So, what is our secret sauce to the amazing growth and success at KF? I believe it is embodied in our core values of being Upstanding, Outstanding and Understanding (the 3 dots in our logo). We collectively have built and continue to build a law firm where the culture was collegial, fulfilling, egoless, and a place where lawyers could foster and grow their talents without competition, balkanization, and greed. As we interviewed other lawyers, paralegals, and staff, we informed them of our culture and our collective desire to work really hard, give our best to one another and every client, and believe in something more than what is best for just yourself. KF markets together, is involved in community activities, holds leadership roles in bar associations, celebrates its diversity, equity, and inclusion, offers “Kudos” every week during our weekly all Firm meetings, and even lets me tell a Dad Joke at the end of Friday meeting. I am blessed to work at an amazing law firm that truly cares about one another. As we turn seven, I am most proud that we collectively are building something special in creating a new type of law firm that is exactly the type of firm I was seeking six years ago when I joined this amazing place.
My wife recently asked me where KF will be another seven years from now. I told her that as long as we maintain our culture and never waver from our core values, there is no goal that we collectively cannot achieve with the incredible talent and drive at KF. Oh yeah, I also told her that I wouldn’t mind opening the Tahiti office of Kahana Feld, which I, of course, would have to manage in person.
Thank you to the great lawyers, paralegals, and staff who make me happy to come to work. I must offer a special thanks to Amir, Jason, Avi, Sam, Mimi, and Christine Nichol who predate me and continue to make Kahana Feld the most special of work environments. Happy 7th Birthday Kahana Feld! Our collective efforts to forge a great law firm know no bounds.