To Our Clients, Colleagues, and Friends,

This time last year, I was reflecting on the fact that odd-numbered years, and their lack of Olympics and federal elections, give us an opportunity to take a breath. There was no taking a breath in 2024. This last year was packed with every bit of action you could imagine. And it moved quickly. Blink and you missed it.

If you were to ask me, “What did 2024 mean to DTO?” you’d get a (potentially) weird response: Duality.

In May 2024, DTO celebrated its five-year anniversary. It was an opportunity to reflect on the early days with five attorneys in a cramped, far-too-loud WeWork office, buying “conference room credits” so we could prep witnesses for an impending patent trial. We also reflected on how far we had gotten in a short amount of time: twenty attorneys in three (real) offices in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and New York. Candidly, it was an amazing feeling to know that so many colleagues and clients had come to a similar conclusion: DTO was the right choice for them.

But there was little time to engage in the backward-looking glow of past accomplishments. We spent so much time this last year laying the foundation for the future. Both our Los Angeles and Redwood City offices expanded into bigger digs to accommodate both their present size and future potential. We engaged in a complete overhaul of our IT infrastructure to ensure we were staying on the cutting edge of law firm technology. We invested in training of all different sorts to help us get better at our craft. We continued to expand both our client base and our practice areas. We finished the year with a hard, strategic look—not just at the future of DTO but the future of the practice of law in general.

In a weird sense, I feel as though we are back at the starting line—only this time, better equipped and far more capable to handle our client’s thorniest problems. Will there be obstacles along the way in 2025? Of course. There always are. And, in response to that, I quote the great philosopher, Deadpool (of the best movie in 2024, Deadpool and Wolverine): “Let’s ******* go!”

Best,