A Look at the ‘Real L.A. Law’

I enjoyed your articles on lawyers and law firms in Los Angeles. The reading of the same brought back many conversations I had with my father, Isidore B. Dockweiler, who was born in this city in 1867, and renewed many old memories of early attorneys.

It is interesting to note that no family in Los Angeles can say that some of its members will have continuously practiced law in Los Angeles for 100 years since Oct. 14, 1889, when my father was admitted to practice in this state, and opened his first office in the Bryson or Burdick block. I believe either one of these locations is where The Times building now stands today.

I am the last of the Dockweilers to practice law and I have been practicing since 1935, with the exception of the war years when I was in the service. Out of 11 children of eight boys and three girls, five of his sons were lawyers, one of whom, John, was a congressman and later district attorney; and another, George, a judge. Three of my father’s grandsons, Marcus E. Crahan, Judge Brian Crahan and Sean Crahan are all lawyers. So I think the grandsons will pass the 100-year mark of continuous law practice.

FREDERICK C. DOCKWEILER

Los Angeles