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Cultivating an environment where every person can be the most genuine version of themselves is integral to who we are as a firm, and to the quality of legal services we provide to our clients.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion at Allen Matkins transcends race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, country of origin, and political affiliation. We value and encourage diversity, equity, and inclusion with respect to each individual’s work style, career path, and professional and life experiences. We continually strive to build and maintain a culture that values and gathers strength from our differences.
To achieve these goals, a dedicated and active group of partners and business professionals lead our firmwide Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The firm also supports numerous affinity groups, including Asian American Pacific Islander, Black, Latinx, First Gen, LGBTQ+, Parents, and Women Attorneys to ensure that our programs and policies address the needs of our entire community.
Building a Legacy...
On May 1, 1977, a day honored as “Law Day” throughout the United States, five California attorneys embarked on a mission to create a new type of law firm – a firm that has since evolved to become one of the West Coast’s preeminent law firms. Attorneys Fred Allen, Michael Matkins, Brian Leck, John Gamble, and Richard Mallory, friends and partners at the firm of Stephens, Jones, LaFever & Smith, founded Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory, with a different vision – spending their professional lives with attorneys they liked and respected and to “do great work for great clients.” The firm first opened offices in Los Angeles and Orange County, intending to remain small and nimble, but quick business growth prompted the firm’s rapid expansion, with the firm adding West Los Angeles and San Diego offices in less than ten years.
As our firm has grown, so have our opportunities to contribute to the greater good. We do pro bono work for a simple but compelling reason: to make the legal system accessible and fair, especially to the disadvantaged and to the nonprofit organizations that serve them.
We’ve secured landmark victories, received accolades for our achievements, and partnered with clients to maximize the impact of our work.
Over the years, our attorneys have provided pro bono services to individuals seeking asylum, victims of domestic violence, members of the U.S. military, and families seeking assistance with foster care, guardianship and adoption, all with the end goal of improving lives, bettering our communities and deepening our own professional experience.
Giving Back To The Communities Where We Practice And Live...
ORIGINS & EVOLUTION
The prescient Allen Matkins founders attribute the firm’s success and fast growth to principles that still define the firm’s character and structure — good attorneys and support teams committed to consistently turning out top quality legal work on a timely basis, loyal clients the firm’s attorneys enjoy working with and trust and respect, an atmosphere of teamwork and camaraderie, and effective management operating the firm as a business enterprise. According to founder Fred Allen, the firm also ran into a bit of luck, and he often analogizes, “We went out to sell mules, and a gold rush came along.”
We went out to sell mules...
Undoubtedly, the initial focus on real estate helped inform our success. At the time Allen Matkins was founded, larger law firms didn’t seem particularly interested in real estate, but typically had corporate departments that also handled real estate. John Gamble attributes the firm’s growth to not only the firm’s strong legal work, but the Allen Matkins approach to business: “Our styles were such that we liked people. We liked the marketing side of the practice of law. And we were really good at it. I think the way we developed business was new in the legal marketplace versus the old firms and institutional relationships.”
We like people...
Since its inception, Allen Matkins has had a strong focus on California’s booming real estate market, with four of the five founding partners practicing in real estate and the other practicing in corporate law. Today we maintain a prominent and thriving real estate centric mix of practice groups including litigation, corporate, tax, labor, land use, and environmental practices, servicing clients across myriad industries.
Our Firm's foundation...
Los Angeles AND
ORANGE COUNTY OPENED
1977
Summer Associate Program Began
1979
25 Attorneys
1980
1986
50 Attorneys
1986
Century City OPENED
1987
San DIego OPENED
Monica Olson, First Woman Elected To Partnership
1987
100 Attorneys
1990
San Francisco OPENED
1997
2004
200 Attorneys
“Natsis” Added To Firm Name
2006
Allen Matkins UCLA Anderson Forecast Launched
2007
Firm MILESTONES
They made a dream into a reality...
Click to learn more
“OUTSTANDING ATTORNEYS
SERVING OUTSTANDING
CLIENTS.”
- Fred Allen
Founding Partner
PURPOSE LEADS TO PROGRESS
We are dedicated to building stronger communities through local partnerships that make a difference in the lives of people in our communities. From mentoring diverse students to empowering underprivileged women to pursue their career goals, our community involvement efforts provide our professionals with many opportunities to use their talents to serve those in need in our communities.
Our attorneys and business professionals translate compassion into action with impact, bringing energy and enthusiasm to every initiative we undertake. At the same time, each office brings a sense of fun and creativity to the neighborhoods where we practice and live — from quarterly bingo and inter-office competitions to walks for a cause, bake sales, coastal clean-ups, and cooking at Ronald McDonald House.
Lead By Example...
Allen Matkins would not be the firm it is today without the significant influence and impact of its female leaders. In 1987, the firm elected its first female partner, Monica Olson, a highly successful commercial real estate attorney in Orange County. Monica became a trailblazer for the many female firm leaders who have followed in the decades to come.
As of 2022, the firm boasts more than 25 female partners and enacts its commitment to supporting and promoting women in the law in various ways. The aptly named the Women Attorneys at Allen Matkins is led by and composed of women practicing in each of the firm’s offices. In addition to the work the group does to advance the interests of women within the firm, many Allen Matkins attorneys lead and participate in a variety of outside organizations focused on paving a path for women to succeed as attorneys in the broader legal industry.
Focus on Women
in Leadership...
A commitment to diversity is a cornerstone of the firm’s culture, and in 2020, the Diversity & Inclusion Committee ignited a renewed and expanded Diversity Initiative to promote diversity in the workplace, in the legal profession, and in the related business community. The committee’s work fueled the creation of The Allen Matkins Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt private charity, to raise funds and make grants that promote the Foundation’s mission “To increase diversity within the legal profession and related industries by funding scholarships and awarding grants to worthy causes that advance the development of aspiring legal and business professionals of color.”
Already, the Foundation has established endowed diversity scholarships at both UCLA School of Law and UC Law, SF. Allen Matkins is fortunate to be able to aid students from disadvantaged backgrounds to overcome obstacles to find their way into the profession. Through the Foundation, Allen Matkins will continue to partner with and support a variety of organizations dedicated to advancing diversity in the legal profession.
Our Firm's foundation...
Now, over four decades since the firm’s founding, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis is the professional home of over 240 attorneys based in Century City, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, San Diego, and San Francisco. The firm serves clients throughout the United States and beyond.
“It’s been an incredible journey and it’s not over,” Allen Matkins Founding Partner, Mike Matkins.
It’s been an incredible journey and it’s
not over...
Central to the firm’s success is its thriving long-term client relationships. As a testament to the firm’s work and culture, Allen Matkins proudly has served many clients who have been with the firm for 30 years or more – some as far back as the firm’s founding in 1977.
Allen Matkins takes great pride in the high degree of service and experience each attorney brings to every client relationship. We have enjoyed working with businesses across a wide range of industries and being a part of these companies’ growth and evolution. Their success drives our success, and the symbiotic relationship between client and counsel has been paramount to our long history and favorable reputation.
BUILDING A BUSINESS ON REAL RELATIONSHIPS...
Fred Allen
Mike Matkins
Brian Leck
Tony Natsis
John Gamble
Rick Mallory
They made a dream into a reality...
Click to learn more
A truly inspirational leader, Fred provided counsel to many of the nation’s most prominent development and investment companies in connection with hundreds of successful major projects in California, Hawaii, and throughout the country. Fred represented real estate owners, developers, institutional investors, lenders, pension fund advisors, contractors, and asset management companies with respect to a wide range of projects, including the acquisition, financing, development, leasing, management and sale of office buildings, industrial parks, shopping centers, mixed-use projects, residential development, hotels, resorts, and golf course projects.
Fred Allen
Founding Partner — Retired
For the past five decades, Mike has brought a distinct business savviness to his law practice. Known as a dealmaker, Mike has a deep understanding of the real estate marketplace and works with clients on all types of transactional matters, including the acquisition, sale, financing, and development of real property. Mike has represented sophisticated entrepreneurs in transactions involving complicated financings for multi-asset, multi-state deals. From portfolio sales to one-off investments in large-scale industrial, mixed-use, retail, recreational, and office developments, he is known for his ability to accurately judge and quantify risks and rewards and communicate them within the context of his clients’ goals. His clients trust his ability to understand what they want to accomplish, to gauge other’s motivations, and negotiate beneficial terms in real estate deals that range from millions to billions of dollars.
View Practicing Biography
View Practicing Biography
Mike Matkins
Founding Partner
Brian Leck had extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate securities, and executive employment and consulting agreements. He served as the firm’s Managing Partner from the day the firm was founded through 2011, and under his leadership, the firm grew to become an AmLaw 200 firm. Following his long tenure as the Managing Partner, Brian served as an advisor to the managing partner and the management committee before retiring in 2019.
Brian Leck
Founding Partner — In Memoriam
In addition to running a thriving transactional practice focused on real estate development, acquisition, finance, and joint ventures, John Gamble served in many firm leadership roles, including serving as the Operating Partner of the firm’s San Francisco and Orange County offices and leading the firm’s recruiting and marketing programs. He is the past President of the Orange County Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks and was an active member of the Urban Land Institute.
John Gamble
Founding Partner — Retired
Rick Mallory represented landlords and tenants in a broad range of office, industrial, and retail leasing. A frequent speaker at real estate industry seminars and conventions throughout the country, he also published many articles on the subject of commercial leasing. In addition to being a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and a member of the honorary land use society of Lambda Alpha International, he served on the advisory board of the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) and was the San Francisco chair of the PLI annual Commercial Real Property Institute, for more than 20 years.
Rick Mallory
Founding Partner — Retired
Tony Natsis’ work on high-profile transactions throughout the country made the firm more visible and helped cement the firm’s reputation in the real estate and construction industries. He continues to lead the firm’s Global Real Estate Practice Group to this day. Tony is a founding board member of The Ziman Real Estate Center under the joint auspices of the UCLA Anderson School of Business and the UCLA Law School. He is the creator of Allen Matkins View From the Top, the premier annual real estate industry summit and is a frequent speaker for national real estate groups such as ULI, Georgetown Leasing Institute, American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and BOMA, and serves as the chief consultant for the California Continuing Education of the Bar Commercial Leasing Series
Tony Natsis
Name Partner
View Practicing Biography
View Practicing Biography
Los Angeles and Orange county opened
1977
25 Attorneys
1980
1986
50 Attorneys
1986
Century City OPened
1987
San DIego OPENED
1987
100 Attorneys
1990
San Francisco OPENED
1997
200 Attorneys
2004
New York Opened
2023
Firm MILESTONES
Allen Matkins Foundation Established
2020
“Our styles were such that we liked people. And we liked the marketing side of the practice of law..”
- John Gamble
Founding Partner
2023
New york
opened
- John Gamble
Founding Partner
1979
2006
2007
2020
Summer Associate Program Began
Monica Olson, First Woman Elected To Partnership
“Natsis” Added To Firm Name
Allen Matkins UCLA Anderson Forecast Launched
Allen Matkins Foundation Established
OVER 250
Attorneys
2024
