Furth won't move law firm

Colorful class-action attorney Fred Furth has abandoned plans to relocate his boutique law firm from San Francisco to Santa Rosa, opting instead to downsize his practice and partner with a larger antitrust law firm.

Furth, owner of Chalk Hill Estate Winery in Healdsburg, had planned to move The Furth Firm LLP to the top floor of the North Coast Bank building at 50 Santa Rosa Ave. beginning March 1.

In early January, the prominent attorney said the move was designed to save money for the 12-attorney firm just as the rent on its offices in the former Standard Oil Building was set to soar.

At the time, Furth denied he planned to shrink the firm or scale back the practice. He even took out an option for additional space in the building, predicting the firm would expand its operations here.

But Tuesday, Furth confirmed he recently called off the move to Santa Rosa and laid off all but two attorneys. He is taking his open cases to Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP, a larger firm with offices in San Francisco.

Few attorneys at The Furth Firm were willing to relocate 60 miles north of San Francisco, he said. His age was another factor, the 74-year-old litigator said.

"Maybe it's partly a feeling on my part that with all these cases, I'm not getting any younger," Furth said. "I've been practicing for 50 years."

The appellate expertise of Zelle Hofmann is a third reason the partnership makes sense, he said.

Two years ago, Furth's firm won a $172 million class-action judgment against Wal-Mart on behalf of California workers who claimed they were denied lunch breaks. Wal-Mart has appealed that ruling, and recently hired an additional law firm to assist in the effort, Furth said.

Partnering with Zelle Hofmann will give Furth the resources he needs to ensure the firm prevails in the appeal, which could be lengthy, he said.

Zelle Hofmann has more than 80 attorneys and is the second-ranked antitrust firm in the nation, said partner Dan Mason.

The decision has nothing to do with a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former employee, Carolyn Burton, Furth said.

Burton, in a case filed in San Francisco Superior Court in November, claims Furth cheated her and other attorneys of the firm out of their share of $56 million in fees from the Wal-Mart case.

Despite promises of lucrative bonuses, Burton claims Furth's "unconscionable scheme" was to pay "zero or low bonuses" and then "forc(e) attorneys out of the firm, so as to avoid paying earned bonuses when substantial profits were realized."

Furth said those who left the firm have done so voluntarily and he never forced anyone out.

"My firm's bonuses were at my discretion," he said.

The firm will seek to sublet the space in the North Coast Bank building, Furth said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.

Fred

Furth

Attorney and

his law firm won

a $172 million class-action suit against Wal-Mart two years ago.