Founded in 1927 in the historic Merchant's Exchange Building, Long & Levit LLP is one of San Francisco's most enduring law firms. For over three-quarters of a century, we have represented many of California's most prominent lawyers, judges, design professionals, employers and insurers. 

The firm's founders, Bert Levit and Percy Long, were distinguished San Francisco lawyers devoted to professional excellence and public service. Percy Long served as the San Francisco City Attorney. Bert Levit was President of the San Francisco School Board, the Chief Deputy District Attorney of San Francisco and Chief Deputy Attorney General of the State of California. He was also a member of Governor Pat Brown's cabinet serving as both head of the Department of Transportation and the Judicial Appointments Secretary. 

Bert Levit was likewise one of the founders of the California Fair Plan and several other insurance companies. This gave the firm an insider's understanding of the business of insurance which has placed it at the forefront of serving the insurance industry for over half a century. During this time, we have represented virtually every major insurer in the United States as well as many major European carriers. 

In the 1970s, Long & Levit again rose to national prominence as one of the few firms devoted to the defense of lawyers and judges. As lawsuits against lawyers and disciplinary proceedings against judges became less and less unusual, the firm undertook to study and summarize the emerging jurisprudence of legal malpractice in the defense of the legal profession. The firm's continued national and local leadership in this specialized practice is clear from our partners' regular participation as chairs of the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability, the ABA Litigation Section Professional Liability Litigation Committee, and the Legal Malpractice Section of the San Francisco Bar Association. The firm also sponsors the ABA's Bert W. Levit Essay Contest which encourages and awards original and innovative research and writing in the areas of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance and loss prevention. 

Our tradition of representing lawyers and judges has meant that our work has had to satisfy the most exacting and sophisticated of clients. It has also meant that some of our most important work has occurred outside the public spotlight. Today, we bring this continuing commitment to professional excellence and discretion to all our clients' matters. 

In the early 1990s, Long & Levit again responded to the legal needs of another highly sophisticated group of professionals: architects, engineers and other design professionals. In 1993, Natkin Weisbach Higginbotham, a nationally-known firm which focused entirely on defending and counseling design professionals, became of counsel to Long & Levit. The two firms merged in 1995. The firm is proud to now represent some of the largest and most successful architecture, engineering and landscape firms in the world as well as dozens of emerging talents. 

Also in the 1990s, Long & Levit was increasingly asked by its professional and insurer clients - who are also employers - for assistance in responding to the new wave of employment litigation. We leveraged our in-depth knowledge of our clients' business with a commitment to build a team of experienced employment litigators and counselors. Today, we offer a full array of employment law services not just to law and architecture firms and insurance companies but to employers from all sectors of the economy including health care, not-for-profits, consulting, and places of entertainment such as theaters, night clubs and restaurants. 

In 2004, Long & Levit returned to its birthplace in the recently restored and technologically updated Merchant's Exchange Building. We see the building as a fitting symbol for the firm - an important piece of the historic fabric of the city that has embraced change while preserving its traditions. Even as we adapt to meet the evolving needs of our clients, we will never lose sight of our heritage. Today's Long & Levit stands ready to devote our accumulated wisdom and experience to your most challenging legal needs.