Malkani named law firm director

A Costa Mesa-based law firm announced Wednesday that it has a new executive director.

Tony Malkani will lead Rutan & Tucker, one of California’s largest full-service public agency and business law firms, according to a news release.

Malkani replaces Rich Boden, who joined Rutan & Tucker in 1976.

Malkani was last at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, where he was the Newport Beach-based firm’s chief financial officer. He will lead Rutan & Tucker’s “day-to-day business strategy and operations” with a staff of more than 130, according to a news release.

“While we are pleased to welcome Tony into the executive director role for our firm, we are saddened to see Rich leave and wish him the best of success in his future endeavors,” Kim Thompson, the firm’s managing partner, said in a prepared statement.

Rutan & Tucker’s practice areas include business and real estate litigation, labor and employment law, and municipal and government agency law. It also maintains an office in Palo Alto.

In 2012, Rutan & Tucker represented a coalition of 10 Southern California cities — though not Costa Mesa — that sought to block the decision to dissolve the state’s redevelopment agencies. Many cities, including Costa Mesa, for years relied on the redevelopment funds for various local projects.

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint