Greenspan business thrives on disaster.

Hanging in the far corner of William G. Rake's office, nearly obscured by an eclectic decor of cacti, stuffed animals and golf paraphernalia, is a tiny pencil cartoon of a woman wearing judge's robes and grinning slyly. The cartoon's caption is "Sue The Bastards."

The drawing is likely a memento from Rake's days as a Philadelphia lawyer. While he no longer practices law, the sketch seems to personify in an abstract way the spirit of The Greenspan Co., of which Rake is president.

L.A.-based Greenspan is a public insurance adjuster, evaluating claims and estimating losses on a policyholder's behalf, and often negotiating settlements with insurers. Such firms don't file lawsuits, but they can prove a useful when your home or business is in rubble and the insurance company is maintaining the damage won't inch past the deductible.

"I believe there is no loss where we can't make a positive net (difference)," says Rake.

Like the insurer, Greenspan sends adjusters to pore over a claim site to assess damages, and calculate a payout for repairs or replacement. Most times, Greenspan's estimate is at odds with the insurance company's, but negotiations will usually convince the insurer to make a reasonable offer, according to Rake.

"The very nature of an insurance policy is they're basically unreadable," Rake says. "They contain terms and concepts that the average layperson would have difficulty understanding, and absent somebody like ourselves advising and assisting in the presentation of the claim, the insured is somewhat disadvantaged."

Greenspan makes its money through contingency fees, normally 10 percent of the negotiated settlement. Only when cases are not settled - about one in every 100 - will Greenspan recommend litigation for its client.

Greenspan is no new kid on the block; it was founded in 1946. But California's dark clouds of the past half-dozen years - the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes, L.A. riots and Oakland, Malibu and Laguna Beach firestorms - have proven to be the firm's proverbial silver lining. It has handled more than 700 claims from those disasters, and another 115 stemming from 1992's Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Iniki in Hawaii.

While declining to reveal financial details, Rake does concede Greenspan revenues are in the millions of dollars, but less than $100 million. Its 1995 revenues are projected to be nearly two and a half times last year's pace, and triple 1990's figures. Greenspan's staff has mushroomed 25 percent, to 105 employees, in the past 18 months.

Spreading its wings

In the past decade, Greenspan has opened satellite offices in San Francisco, Sacramento, Irvine and Las Vegas. After the Northridge temblor, it opened a temporary office in Tarzana, but moved to Encino after that building burned down a few months ago (ironically, Greenspan adjusted its own claim).

"We would handle four or five condominium (homeowner association) claims a year. Now, in the aftermath of the earthquake, we're working on 150 of them," says Greenspan partner Gordon Scott.

Clients such as the Westhills Homeowners Association - which operated a large condo complex in Woodland Hills - found a godsend in Greenspan after the quake. Its insurer, State Farm Insurance Co., contended the damages would not exceed the $2.1 million deductible. Although the adjusting and negotiations took a year, State Farm eventually agreed to pay the maximum coverage of $14 million.

"They (Greenspan) were fabulous. They kept in touch with us all the time during the negotiation process. I have no idea where we would have been without them," says Cheri Fleming, a condo owner in the complex. Her husband Don is the association's president.

Even State Farm - which Rake says covers the bulk of condominium homeowner associations in the San Fernando Valley - respects Greenspan for its work.

Praise from opposition

"There is no learning curve for them; they hit the ground running during the negotiation process," says Todd McGrath, State Farm's regional catastrophe coordinator. "They're very well-read, understand insurance contracts very well, and have a good understanding of the claims in general and repair techniques."

About 75 percent of Greenspan's clients are commercial (homeowners associations are included in that category). Its client list reads somewhat like a Forbes pullout, and includes such companies as Lockheed-Martin Corp.; the Standard Shoe Co. chain; Image Entertainment Inc.; Mattel Inc.; the Cask & Cleaver and Rusty Pelican restaurant chains; the Pep Boys hardware chain and Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Mall, to name but a few.

And since this is L.A., Greenspan also has some show business clientele, including television producer Norman Lear, musicians Don Henley and Sergio Mendez, and actor Tom Bosley.

Larry Schwartz, president of Los Angeles-based Standard Shoes, says Greenspan has represented his company on various claims since the 1950s, but could not provide any more specific information.

"I don't stop to get involved with them," he says. "I have confidence in what they do."

Climbing the ladder

Rake, 52, joined the company in 1971, after working at a small Philadelphia law firm following his graduation from Temple University law school in 1967.

"I had received an offer I couldn't refuse," Rake says.

The job offer came from company founder Sid Greenspan, who also happened to be Rake's uncle. Rake was named president in 1985. He continues to hold that title, but became the company's top-ranking official after Greenspan died in 1987.

Despite recent successes, Rake and his six partners seem to be keeping an eye on their costs as much as those of their customers. Greenspan's headquarters is in a fairly cramped office space in a 1960s-era Koreatown high-rise at Wilshire and Kingsley.

And despite its longevity, the company only began advertising within the last year. Its campaign is confined to radio spots and ads in trade journals.

Greenspan partner Scott also concedes Greenspan would not be in its current position without some luck, despite California's string of calamities. "We opened a San Francisco office not long before the Loma Prieta quake, and did some other expansion that turned out to be fortuitous," he says. "It gave us the ability to handle all the extra business without eroding the quality of our work. Otherwise, we would have wound up turning a lot of clients away."

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The Greenspan Co.

Business: Public insurance claims adjusting for policyholders

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Year founded: 1946

No. of employees then: 1

No. of employees now: 105

Officers: William G. Rake, president; Robb Greenspan, executive vice president; William Greenspan, Gordon Scott, Randy Goodman, Gary Johnson, partners