The Las Vegas office of business law firm Lewis and Roca has hired three employment lawyers, which will bring the office's employment law practice to five lawyers. Meanwhile, the San Francisco-based law firm of Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft has opened a Las Vegas office with five attorneys and the lawyer referral Web site LegalFish.com has expanded its service into Las Vegas.

Each company's actions signify its confidence in the growth of the Las Vegas Valley's legal industry.

"We know Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.," Dominica Anderson, managing partner of the Las Vegas office of Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft, said. "The legal needs tend to grow with that. We are very excited to be in the community."

Anderson said the firm's Las Vegas office hopes to add more lawyers within a year. The firm specializes in business litigation, including employment litigation, breach of contract disputes and insurance litigation. She said the firm has represented clients in Nevada previously and she has been a Nevada Bar member since 1986.

Anne Wellborn, Peter Whalen, Elizabeth Kim and Matthew Gabe will practice in the Las Vegas office.

Anderson focuses her practice on commercial, business and insurance litigation. Wellborn focuses her practice on commercial litigation such as insurance coverage disputes. Whalen, Kim and Gabe practice in the areas of business, construction and insurance litigation, complex liability as well as technology and intellectual property disputes. The firm also has offices in Tahoe City, Calif., Los Angeles and London.

Joshua Fuhrmark, managing director of Chicago-based LegalFish.com, said the Web site helps sole practioners and small law firms market their services and brings potential cases to the firms. Fuhrmark said the Web site is free to consumers who want to find an appropriate lawyer for their cases. Member lawyers pay a fee to be listed on the Web site.

The company's legal staff also helps determine the value of potential cases to help lawyers in the client intake process. The Web site has ten member lawyers who subscribe in the Las Vegas Valley area and one independent sales representative targeting local lawyers to join the service, Fuhrmark said.

"Because Las Vegas is growing at a significant rate we thought that our service would work well for the citizens of the area," Fuhrmark said. "We are essentially an advertising service for attorneys. We have members that have experience in the whole spectrum of law from basic civil law all the way up to trademarks and patents for businesses. We're strongly consumer driven."

Jim Berchtold, a partner in the employment law group at Lewis and Roca's Las Vegas office, said the addition of three employment lawyers will help the firm better address the area's growing employment law niche. The firm hired David Dornak, William Daley and Anthony Martin to shore up the office's employment practice.

He said the growing areas in employment law in the Las Vegas Valley include overtime disputes, sexual harassment litigation, age discrimination disputes, Family and Medical Leave Act litigation and class action litigation.

"Our goal is to be a full service firm," Berchtold said. "That is certainly an area employers are focusing attention on now days. I think employees are becoming more aware of their rights and I think employers are becoming more aware of the costs of litigation and not paying attention to their employee handbooks, employee contracts, federal laws and state laws, all of the things that can result in litigation."

The firm also has offices in Tucson and Albuquerque.

Alana Roberts covers courts and labor relations for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at alanar@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4059.