Since forming about three-and-a-half years ago, Westwood-based litigation firm Frost has made some bold expansions into outer markets – Phoenix, Nashville, New York.
This time around, the firm – so named for founder Christopher Frost – stayed a little closer to home, with a new outpost launching in Newport Beach. He’s tasked one of his top litigators, Kris Rossfeld, with helming that operation.
I checked in with Christopher Frost last week, having previously written about the firm’s launch with just four attorneys. Now they’re more than 40 strong and in six markets, counting their Silicon Valley outpost.
At the formative stage in 2023, he had no specific growth plans.
“Of course, we were four lawyers in Westwood, and my response was, ‘Ask me in five years,’” Frost told me. “Who could have predicted?”
One part of Frost’s story is emblematic of a lot of L.A.-area law firms in recent years – California remains infamously litigious (“God bless them for it,” Frost quipped) with no end in sight. This new office also follows the firm’s adage of growing with the work, so it’s not surprising that just south of the county border was next in line.
Since forming, Frost has styled itself as having the Big Law credentials with a little more attitude – a place where the founder concurred that lawyers aren’t asked to hang up their personalities at the door.
“A lot of big firms now are worried about reputational risk if they get too aggressive with how they litigate,” Christopher Frost explained. “What we’ve found out is that taking a more aggressive approach to litigation and disputes works because you need people on the other side to understand that you’re going to take this the full way.
“We’re looking for a certain type of lawyer with a personality and who’s hard charging,” he added.
To wit, Frost said he anticipated Rossfeld – who joined the firm a year ago with C-suite and in-house counsel experience at a variety of global companies – will attract a similar pedigree in Orange County.
“We know we’re going to do there what we’ve done here, which is outgrow the space real fast,” Frost said.
The Insider is compiled by Acting Editor Zane Hill. He can be reached at [email protected].
