WALNUT CREEK, CALIF., June 17, 2008 – Archer Norris announced today that Steven L. Kester and Francis E. Quinlan have joined the firm of counsel in its Newport Beach office to establish a Financial Services and Specialty practice group.  Kester and Quinlan are founding partners of the Newport Beach firm Kester & Quinlan LLP.  Kester, along with associate Caryn Margolis, started at Archer Norris effective June 1, 2008.  Quinlan, currently on active duty as a Brigadier General in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, will follow after completing his present engagement.

“This is a significant high profile addition to our business practice," said managing partner Gene Blackard.  "We now have a financial services practice with substantial scope and scale – by geography, practice and experience – to assist our clients throughout California.  Our transactional and litigation expertise puts Archer Norris at the forefront of the legal marketplace for financial services."

“We recognize that managing risk and capitalizing on financial opportunities requires experienced, tested counsel,” said Rich Vanis, who heads Archer Norris’s Newport Beach and Los Angeles offices.  “We are thrilled that Frank Quinlan and Steve Kester, with their significant ties to the community, have chosen to join our rapidly expanding practice in Newport Beach.  Our new financial services practice will help our clients achieve their goals, fund projects and accomplish transactions even in turbulent times.”

Quinlan is  Chair of the Audit Committees and member of the Boards of Directors of three corporations, General Counsel of the Marine Corps University Foundation, Chair of the Board of Advisors of the University of California, Irvine’s Center for Study of Unconventional Security Affairs and member of its Law School Dean’s Advisory Committee He served initially after law school with the F.B.I. as a Special Agent investigating bank fraud and embezzlement, white collar crime, public corruption, insurance and real estate fraud and organized crime:  and later established a practice in Newport Beach specializing in bank representation which formed the foundation for Kester & Quinlan LLP. He is licensed to practice law in California and Colorado and is admitted to all U.S. District Courts of California and the U.S. Court of Claims.  He holds a Master of Laws ( LL.M.) degree in Taxation from Boston University.
Quinlan is a Naval Aviator and licensed commercial pilot. He has completed study at a number of professional schools including the National Defense University, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, the Air War College, the Army War College, and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He has served in command positions at the Squadron, Air Group, Air Wing, Marine Expeditionary Force and Joint Force levels. 

Kester, a Marine Corps veteran, focuses his practice on business transactions and litigation, civil litigation and environmental law.  Prior to forming Kester & Quinlan LLP, he served as a trial attorney.  Kester began his legal career as a Deputy District Attorney with the Orange County District Attorney’s office where he served on the Felony Trial Panel and in the Writs & Appeals Department.  Since 1993 he has also been a Temporary Judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court.  Kester is licensed to practice in California and the District of Columbia and is admitted to all U.S. District Courts of California and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  He received his J.D. from Southwestern Law School, his M.A. from the University of California, Davis, and his B.A. from California State University, Northridge.  Kester belongs to the American, Orange County, and San Francisco Bank Attorneys Bar Associations.

Margolis concentrates her practice on estate planning, probate and litigation matters. A member of the Orange County Bar Association, she is licensed to practice in California, and is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Central District.  Margolis received her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Colorado.

About Archer Norris

Archer Norris, a Professional Law Corporation, is headquartered in Walnut Creek, with more than 80 attorneys and offices in Newport Beach, Los Angeles and Sacramento, California. The firm counsels clients in complex litigation, insurance coverage, bad faith litigation, business, health care,  public entity, environmental, and real estate transactions.

For further information:
Jann Dudley, Marketing Director
Telephone:  (925) 930-6600 
WWW.ARCHERNORRIS.COM
Email Jann Dudley