Cooper News
Stephen Kaus to Lead Litigation Practice at Cooper, White & Cooper LLP
Mark Tuft Steps Down After Twenty-Two Years
Monday, February 05, 2007
Mark Tuft, who has chaired the litigation department at Cooper, White & Cooper LLP for 22 years, has stepped aside to devote more time to his work as a litigator and advisor and in the field of "the law of lawyers.” The new head of Cooper’s litigation department is Stephen Kaus.
“I have done this since 1985 and it is time for someone else to take over,” said Tuft, who did not seek reelection to the position. “Representing lawyers and law firms on professional responsibility and law practice matters is very rewarding and I am looking forward to being free of administrative tasks.”
Cooper’s Chairman Mark Schreiber praised Tuft’s leadership. “Mark has been the face of Cooper’s trial attorneys for almost a quarter of a century and has been at the helm while litigation has transformed from books and maybe an overhead projector to computerized databases of law and evidence and dueling forensic displays,” Schreiber commented.
Kaus came to Cooper in 1993 after working in smaller firms and as a Deputy Public Defender in Contra Costa County. He was on the Board of Directors of the Bar Association of San Francisco in 1999 and 2000 and serves as the chair of the BASF Committee on Conflicts, which oversees the program to provide counsel to indigent criminal defendants when the Public Defender cannot provide representation. He has an unusually broad litigation practice that includes business matters as well as representation of clients in varied areas such as communications, construction, and journalism. He has been on Cooper's litigation steering committee and is co-chair of the employment practice group.
“We have great lawyers, clients and support,” said Kaus. “I look forward to having this responsibility, but I am happy that Mark will be close at hand to give advice.” Schreiber views "Steve's breadth of experience and close connections with the firm's younger lawyers as vital to leading the firm's litigators through the challenges of developing their practices as the marketplace for their services continues to evolve."
In addition to representing clients, Tuft is a leading figure in the area of professional responsibility. He is currently is a vice chair of the State Bar's Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct and the former chair of the State Bar's Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct. Tuft also is the co-author of the leading California treatise on lawyer law, the California Practice Guide on Professional Responsibility, published by the Rutter Group; he is an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and a frequent writer for various professional publications.
About Cooper, White & Cooper LLP
Cooper, White & Cooper LLP, a fifty-attorney firm with offices in San Francisco and Walnut Creek, was established in 1896. It is best known for its litigation and transactional skills in connection with representation of clients in the areas of business, corporate, employment, media, telecommunications, home building, finance, public utilities, and real estate law.
Press Contact
Mark Schreiber
mschreiber@cwclaw.com
415-433-1900
