Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP

The narrow streets and alleys ran between decrepit adobe buildings roofed with “brea” from tar pits west of the city. Bicknell had summed up his philosophy this way when counseling a younger lawyer: “The safe way is to select a business that you will be satisfied to follow and build up a business of your own.” He began to follow his own advice. By the 1880s, he had attracted one of the region’s most important clients, the Southern Pacific Railroad.