Cop shop: Manning & Marder specializes in officer defense.

As the son of foriner Los Angeles Fire Chief Don Manning. Steve Manning knew what it was like to be in civil service.

Manning, whose younger brothers became firemen, set out to be an FBI agent after he finished law school. Instead, he ended up a lawyer--but that doesn't mean he veered away from his civil service upbringing.

"Police officers are very appreciative when a lawyer defends them," said Manning, whose firm, Manning & Marder Kass Ellrod Ramirez LLP. has become among the top legal counsel for police officers and deputies since the 1992 trial of the officers accused in the Rodney King case. "They stick their neck out for us and want us to say thanks, which we don't very often. And it's actually interesting--it's cops and robbers."

Manning & Marder, founded by Manning and John Marder, has become known for representing L.A. sheriff's deputies and police officers. The firm, which defended officers in 20 cases during the scandal involving the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart division, regularly defends law enforcement officers against allegations of abuse and inadequate security.

Since its founding in 1994, the firm's revenue has grown eight-fold, with about eight attorneys added each year. Now, at 105 lawyers, it ranks among the 40 largest law firms in Los Angeles County, according to the Business Journal.

Manning & Marder has opened offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Irvine and Scottsdale, Ariz. Marder said he wants to open additional offices, starting in Dallas, and add another 60 lawyers in the next two to three years.

Locally, the firm is looking to almost double its 60,000-square-foot office space in downtown Los Angeles, where it is located at 660 S. Figueroa St.

"We're one of the best known for defending police officers," said Marder. "That's what we do. We've defended police officers who are accused of excessive force, false imprisonment and violation of civil rights, especially at the sheriff's department, which is our largest client."

There are always people who get hurt or are unhappy getting arrested, Manning said.

"Most of these cases against police officers are trumped up and B.S.," he said. "There are political motivations behind suing police officers. There is an element of society that likes to make a political statement."

The firm's specialty goes back to when Manning, who had been a partner at Morris Polich & Purdy LLP, met then-Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block at a social function he attended with his father in the mid-1980s. "We got to talking, and it's been a career since then," he said.

He and Marder, who was also a partner at Morris Polich, eventually became disenchanted with the firm after failing to convince their fellow partners to diversify its insurance defense practice. The pair left to open Manning & Marder, taking with them 15 associates. They also took clients: the city and county of Los Angeles, smaller cities and several large insurance firms, including Allstate Corp. and State Farm Insurance Cos.

They picked a key time to start their firm: Two years after the Rodney King case.

"When I first started (practicing law), if you put an officer on the stand and he testified as an eyewitness, nobody ever questioned the veracity of the officer," Marder said. "After Rodney King, they didn't believe a police officer, even with a videotape backing it up. There was an undercurrent of real animosity towards law enforcement."

That undercurrent fed the firm a large number of cases, particularly as the City Attorney's Office farmed out more work because of resource constraints or conflicts of interest.

During the Rampart scandal, the firm represented Los Angeles Police Officer Michael Montoya, one of several in the division implicated in the corruption case brought by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Manning & Marder also represented Montoya in a civil case related to the Rampart scandal. (Montoya was never charged with a crime.) Over the years, the firm has represented 100 law enforcement agencies and branched into similar specializations, such as defending private security officers or the police departments of schools, including at UCLA and USC.

"The vast majority of cases get dismissed either through a demurrer, by obtaining motions for summary judgment or convincing the plaintiff's counsel there is no value to the case," said Robert Nagle, litigation cost manager at the County of Los Angeles.

For the county, Manning & Marder specializes in cases involving civil rights abuses, labor and employment and appeals. In one of the firm's largest cases, it represented the county in a wrongful death suit that reached the California Supreme Court. In that case, the county had been sued by the children of Eileen Zelig, who was shot by her ex-husband while in divorce court at Los Angeles Superior Court's downtown courthouse. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled the county was not liable for that shooting.

"They work on a case extensively," said Gregory Moreno, a partner at Moreno Becerra Guerrero & Casillas, who frequently handles cases against officers represented by Manning & Marder. "Obviously, that translates into dollars."

Like many law firms doing work for the city and county, Manning & Marder has come under review by officials for overbilling taxpayer-funded entities.

In 2002, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina criticized a $450,000 settlement in a wrongful termination case handled by Manning & Marder, which had already billed $170,000 in legal fees in the case.

Manning said that "government rates are quite a reduced rate. The rate is practically pro bono. So, if you're looking for wildly profitable, this is not the business to be in. This is more of a business of doing the right thing."

But the volume of cases, combined with a regular flow of defending insurance firms in slip-and-fall and other liability cases, has contributed to growth, Manning said.

Also, some of the firm's new practice areas have higher billable hours: Appellate law charges $250 to $350 per hour and employment cases cost companies $200 per hour. In addition, the firm has branched into other types of business litigation, immigration, trust and estates and entertainment.

It's gotten attention in those areas, as well. A recent case involved a writer who sued Miramax Film Corp. for copying his screenplay to create the 1998 movie "Rounders."

Last year, in a precedent ruling, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel said that the writer could claim the studio breached an implied contract, even if he cannot prove the producer violated his copyright.

Before that ruling, writers suing over scripts fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

Manning & Manler Kass Ellrod Ramirez

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Founded: 1994

Attorneys: 100

Practice Areas: Law enforcement liability, private security litigation, insurance defense, workers compensation, employment, appellate, entertainment

Offices: Los Angeles; San Francisco; San Diego; Irvine; Scottsdale, Ariz.