Christopher to Step Down as Head of Law Firm : People: The police reform commission chairman will remain a partner at O’Melveny & Myers.

Warren Christopher, whose name has become inexorably linked to police reform in Los Angeles, has announced that he will step aside as head of O’Melveny & Myers, the city’s oldest and one of the country’s most prestigious law firms.

Christopher, 66, who has been chairman of the firm’s management committee for 10 years, will continue to be a partner but will hand over the role of directing the firm to Charles W. Bender, currently its managing partner.

In a letter to his clients Monday, Christopher said the change will become effective next February, when he will assume a newly created position, chairman of the firm.

Members of the firm said Christopher’s new role would be akin to that of “senior statesman,” aiding in the transition of the management and continuing to consult with the firm and clients.

Christopher was unavailable for comment about his reason for stepping aside.

A man long known in legal circles as one of the state’s best and most sought-after lawyers, Christopher’s skills in law and diplomacy have been tapped by two Presidents. Within days of his appointment by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley last spring to head the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department in the wake of the Rodney G. King beating, the panel became known as the Christopher Commission.

The commission’s recommendations became the basis for Proposition F, the police reform measure approved by voters in last week’s election.

Christopher’s statesmanlike leadership qualities have become apparent to the public during the past year when he remained a voice of reasoned calm even as the debate between other city leaders and Police Chief Daryl F. Gates got ever more shrill.

And while Christopher has put his personal stamp on O’Melveny & Myers, attorneys from within and outside the firm expect very little change in how the 540-lawyer firm operates.

In today’s legal environment, Christopher’s tenure has been unusually long, and many observers had been expecting the leadership transition this summer.

Bender, 56, has been the firm’s managing partner for six years. In that capacity, said O’Melveny & Myers partner C. Douglas Kranwinkle, Bender has been Christopher’s “right-hand assistant.” While Bender has been “concentrating on financial matters and the nitty-gritty of running the firm, he’ll now move more toward the steering role” held by Christopher, Kranwinkle said.

Christopher joined O’Melveny & Myers in 1950 after serving as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. He served as deputy U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1967 to 1969.

In 1977, Christopher joined the Carter Administration as deputy secretary of state and became the country’s chief negotiator during the Iran hostage crisis. He rejoined O’Melveny & Myers in February, 1981, and took on the firm’s leadership in December of that year.