Isaac to Head Kindel & Anderson Unit

Law firm Kindel & Anderson, Los Angeles, has tapped Godfrey Isaac, one of the city’s better-known trial lawyers, to be the new head of its litigation department.

Isaac, who joined the 92-lawyer firm in 1987, will direct a staff of 32 attorneys that has become Kindel & Anderson’s most significant department.

The 66-year-old attorney is perhaps best known for his involvement in wrongful termination lawsuits. Recently, Isaac successfully represented former professor Reginald Clark in his claim that he was denied tenure at Claremont Graduate School because of racial bias.

In some of Isaac’s other high-profile cases, he represented former county Coroner Thomas Noguchi in his battle against demotion; Watergate defendant Charles Colson; Francesco Quinn, the son of actor Anthony Quinn who was acquitted of felony charges in an alleged beating, and, for a time, Los Angeles General Services chief Sylvia Cunliffe, who was forced from office in 1988.

Observers said Isaac’s penchant for such cases could enhance the firm’s profile in the increasingly competitive civil litigation market.

William L. Yerkes, managing partner of Kindel & Anderson, said Isaac’s prominence might attract additional clients, but the change does not represent a major shift in direction for the practice. The litigation department previously was led by Carlos Solis.

Isaac also described the change as evolutionary, though he expects his style to have an impact on the department. “I’m into hustle, enthusiasm and high-energy trial work,” he said.

Isaac was graduated from Loyola University School of Law in 1951 and admitted to the Bar in 1952.