For more than a decade, John Lowe (pictured center at a 2023 LAL awards ceremony) has guided Los Angeles Lawyer as its editor. Since joining the magazine in 2013, he has helped shape and celebrate the publication’s evolution alongside an extraordinary team of colleagues and contributors. Now, as he prepares for retirement, John shares his parting reflections and gratitude for the years spent at the heart of this vibrant institution.

Pictured: (front row) John Amberg, Melissa Grant, John Lowe, Ann Park, Norm Chernin, Brianna Strange; (second row) Shannon Lee, Hon. Betty Munisoglu (retd.); (third row) Brad Pauley, Seth Chavez, Carmela Pagay, Sharon Glancz, Jeff Daar; (fourth row) Amy Nashon, Carolin Shining, Tyna Orren, David Rawi; (fifth row) Linda Bekas, Terrence Boga, Tom Ara.

 

 

 

A Farewell from John Lowe, August 2025

My favorite story about coming to work for Los Angeles Lawyer in the spring of 2013 relates to the hiring process. It is the only job I have ever held for which I did not apply. One day I received an email from the Los Angeles County Bar Association Human Resources Department asking if I was interested in interviewing for a position as editor. At first, I wasn't sure if someone was pulling my leg, but when I discovered the position was with the magazine, I leapt at the opportunity. Over 25 years earlier, when I first began working at Skadden-Los Angeles (then known as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom), Los Angeles Lawyer appeared on every attorney's desk at the beginning of each month. I soon learned to eagerly look forward to each issue. So, my love affair with Los Angeles Lawyer began many years before I was lucky enough to become editor.

I was hired to work as associate editor by then-acting Managing Editor Eric Howard in the wake of the illness and later death of then-Publisher and Managing Editor Sam Lipsman. My previous experience, other than working in corporate law, had been as copy editor at a scientific publishing company in Washington, D.C. and as editor of an academic journal at UCLA while completing a doctorate in modern economic history of the Middle East. In both positions I learned the necessity for detailed concentration that is the sine qua non of professional publishing.

I was very fortunate to join a staff at Los Angeles Lawyer that already maintained the highest degree of journalistic acumen. Sam had been an editor in charge of the Time-Life series on the Vietnam Conflict prior to 20 years' helming Los Angeles Lawyer. Working with Sam as editors were Lauren Milicov, a UC Berkeley Law graduate who retired shortly before I came on board, and Eric, who had vast editing experience in the academic publishing industry and was a published poet. Artists Les Sechler and Patrice Hughes were in charge of providing art and design components, respectively, which have helped make the magazine what I like to call the "New Yorker of legal publications." Les, who retired a few years ago as art director, and Patrice, who now serves as art director, also have engaged and coordinated with outside artists who provide unique visual images that really give Los Angeles Lawyer its special cutting edge. Tom Keller, a private photographer with a very enviable catalog, has made the magazine's cover one of the most sought-after honors in the Southern California (and beyond) legal community. The talents and professionalism of all these individuals have been matched by the lady who brought in the money: Linda Bekas, our ad director for over three decades, and her former assistant, Matty Baby, and our current administrative coordinator, Shannon Lee.

An absolutely paramount element in the tremendous success of the magazine is the editorial board, made up of very dedicated LACBA members—all Bar-admitted attorneys (some who are judges) —who solicit and review various types of articles, from substantive discussions of significant policy and caselaw issues to carefully delineated practice guidance narratives and interviews with some of the most celebrated practitioners in our legal community. Without this key aspect of human intelligence and honed skill, there would be no magazine at all, no content to be reviewed and processed or to inspire amazing artistic images. These magnificent people with extraordinarily busy schedules assisting in ensuring the justice system works give up their time with no monetary reward to bring the legendary content of Los Angeles Lawyer to the public. I am both in awe of them and inspired by them.

In its four decades of existence, Los Angeles Lawyer has undergone massive changes in production, from completely manual layout processing in the beginning to the advent of digital online publication. When I started, it was still a print publication being processed in-house within a centralized site. Now, it is entirely digitized with many web applications processed by offsite staff who communicate and coordinate tasks electronically with major economies of scale. The quality of editorial and attractive layout has not diminished one whit as these changes have transpired.  

Over the years that I have been privileged to serve this distinguished award-winning institution, I have received many favorable comments, but two stand out above all others. The first was from a very senior attorney in San Francisco, who is the head of his own long-time firm. This gentleman indicated that in his opinion Los Angeles Lawyer is the best resource for legal research after standard reference works like Deering's, Westlaw etc., and academic law reviews. More recently, an editor with Thomson Reuters who was in the process of honoring one of the intellectual property articles published in Los Angeles Lawyer for the second year in a row commented that she considered Los Angeles Lawyer the finest legal trade publication in the nation. I couldn't agree more.

This magazine has a history of providing relevant, well-prepared, qualitatively annotated legal commentary that specialists can rely upon. The quality that engenders this trust comes from the love and dedication that flows from authors, editorial board members, and staff with support from the Los Angeles County Bar Association. The tradition of excellence and its manifestation in each issue of Los Angeles Lawyer is what creates that loving bond with all who support the magazine's mission.

As I move forward to the next stage in my life, when I plan to produce my own published narratives—whether in fictional or essay form—I acknowledge a huge debt of gratitude for my experience as editor of Los Angeles Lawyer and to all the wonderful personal relationships developed in consequence of this experience.

(The May 2008 cover of LAL featured Sophia Loren, making it one of Lowe's favorite issues.)