TIPOFF : BATTLE ROYAL OF LEGAL FIRMS SHAPING UP.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

WHEN all else fails, turn to the lawyers. From the start, it was clear the Belmont Learning Center situation would end up in court. What no one could foresee is that it would be the battle of the city's legal giants.

O'Melveny & Myers, the largest law firm in the city and one of the most powerful in the nation, is the subject of the legal attack by the Los Angeles Unified School District on allegations of giving the district bad advice and having a conflict of interest.

But, since a lawyer representing himself has a fool for a client, O'Melveny & Myers has turned to another high-powered local firm - Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher - to represent it.

In the meantime, a relatively new firm - with a great deal of environmental expertise - has emerged as the representative of the school district. The firm of McClintock, Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava and MacCuish will take on its legal contemporaries.

Gov. Gray Davis' decision to not pursue any additional legal appeals for Proposition 187 - the anti-illegal immigrant measure approved by voters in 1996 - has resulted in a recall campaign.

Glenn Spencer, who had formed the pro-187 Voice of Citizens Together, has formed a new group called the Recall Davis Committee and filed the papers needed to begin the drive.

The governor was served last month with a notice of intention to have the recall and, on Thursday, the committee was told it could begin circulating petitions.

The group needs more than 1 million signatures to qualify the effort, but realistically would have to gather between 1.3 million and 1.5 million to force a recall, experts said.

Last year, when the City Council was trying to fight off Mayor Richard Riordan's effort to get a new City Charter as well as the San Fernando Valley secession drive, it held a series of meetings around the city.

Once a month for 10 months in different council districts they held meetings that proved to be highly popular in the community, with hundreds of people attending both day and night sessions to see their council at work.

However, since the election and the approval of the new City Charter, the council has remained firmly ensconced at City Hall East for its thrice-weekly meetings.

Asked about it, Council President John Ferraro said it wasn't up to him to declare the outside meetings.

``All a member has to do is submit a request,'' Ferraro said.

No member offered to host a meeting.

District Attorney Gil Garcetti likes to play down his opposition in next year's election, but one challenger - environmental attorney Barry Groveman - got a chance recently to stand in for the DA.

At a meeting of the Rotary Club of Santa Monica, Garcetti was to be the headlined speaker and asked to begin speaking at 12:30 p.m.

The time came and went, and no Garcetti. At 12:45, there were some increasing nerves by the event organizers. At 1 p.m., still no Garcetti.

At 1:05, the head of the group announced that if Garcetti wouldn't appear, they had someone who wanted his job, and a very surprised Groveman was asked to speak.

About 10 minutes into his remarks, Groveman saw Garcetti arrive and stepped away from the podium. Garcetti, unfazed, coolly made his own speech to the group without acknowledging Groveman.

The California Institute put out a report recently that confirms what all of us know instinctively - there is more going out than coming back.

The organization, which represents California interests in Washington, D.C., reported this month that the state sent $19.4 billion more to Washington than was returned, marking the largest such imbalance for any state in history.

The previous high was $14.3 billion. By California.