Our work is interesting and challenging. We provide our attorneys with the opportunity, training, tools and autonomy needed to excel. 

Our associates receive better assignments and opportunities. Because we staff matters more efficiently, even our most junior associates are doing the kind of legal work traditionally reserved at other firms for more senior attorneys. First-year associates at our firm have opportunities to work directly with clients, negotiate deals, argue motions in court, take and defend depositions, and draft key legal documents, all with the assistance and supervision of more senior attorneys, as appropriate.

Our associates tend to stay with the firm. While most big firms lose two-thirds or more of their associates within their first five years, two-thirds of the associates who joined Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP in the last five years are still with the firm.

Our associates are not departmentalized or compartmentalized. While most firms try to fit their associates into a box, at our firm there are several different litigation, transactional, and "hybrid" teams. Although individuals primarily work with the attorneys on their team, they also have ample opportunities to work with attorneys on other teams.

We have adopted a five-day business casual dress policy. Business suits are not required unless you are meeting with a client or are appearing in court, and Friday is somewhat more casual and relaxed. This policy reflects the firm's culture of promoting diversity and individuality, while continuing to adhere to the highest professional standards.

We promote individual initiative. While other firms tend to stifle their employees' initiative, we pride ourselves on consistently being able to "think outside of the box."

Our attorneys have a competitive advantage. By consistently focusing our practice on the representation of businesses, institutions and individuals involved in all aspects of the real estate industry, we are able to provide our clients with a unique depth and breadth of experience in handling real estate projects and activities.

We stand on a strong financial foundation. Our business model was "battle-tested" during the California real estate industry depression of the early 1990s. During this period, several real estate boutique firms literally disappeared, and real estate departments at the large firms suffered through years of major layoffs. Despite the worst industry downturn in the country's history, Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP maintained its profitability and avoided associate layoffs, in large part due to its strong brand and business model of serving all sectors of the real estate community. In good times and bad, the real estate industry generates considerable legal work, and our mission is to provide those legal services. We firmly believe that our prosperity in the future depends on doing the right things today. This strategy has served us well for more than fifty years, and we trust it will continue to do so in the future.

We support our associates' client development efforts. This is a distinguishing feature of the firm's culture. We help our attorneys understand the business of our clients and our firm in addition to learning the practice of real estate law. We also encourage them to become leaders in their practice areas, and make sure they have direct client contact and responsibility, even in the early years of their practice. In our view, the sooner an associate can market not only his or her area of expertise but the services of the firm overall, the greater the business development potential for that individual and the firm, and so we actively encourage and assist in our associates' marketing efforts.