Heller Dissolution Attorney Moves to Boutique

In addition to the sad process of layoffs, Friday brings a few more Heller partner moves to announce.

Two San Francisco partners have found a new home in Luce Forward, and another is moving to Lovitt & Hannan, Inc., a local complex commercial litigation boutique.

Jonathan Hayden will become the second member of the firm’s four-attorney dissolution committee to make a move out of Heller when he joins Lovitt on Monday. (Dissolution Committee honcho Peter Benvenutti was part of the group joining Jones Day this week). And real estate partner Carl Johnson and business/corporate partner Dan Titelbaum joined Luce Forward, according to an official announcement made today.

Hayden’s move interested us, going to such a small firm, so we asked him a few questions. He’s been very tight-lipped about dissolution matters — we couldn’t get him to cough up the number of employees pink-slipped today — but he chatted for a few minutes about his interesting personal history with his new firm.

“I started working for them in 1979, and I worked for them two and a half years, all the way through law school, with the exception of a second-year summer I spent at Heller Ehrman,” Hayden said.

When it came time to choose a firm after graduating, Ron Lovitt, Hayden’s first mentor, suggested he start at a big firm.

“He said you go work for the big firm and get that experience and get that under your belt because you can always move from a big firm to a small firm,” but the reverse is harder, Hayden recalled.

Hayden becomes the fourth lawyer at the firm, with Lovitt, J. Thomas Hannan and of counsel Henry Bornstein. While Hayden, who joined Heller in 1982, will move to his new firm on Monday, he will continue his work on the dissolution committee from there, he said.

Previously: All our Heller posts in one convenient package.

— Niraj Chokshi

Comments

[Former HE Type]

Only known him for 2 years, but J. Hayden is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and a capable lawyer. A true professional with no ego or desire for meaningless titles.