History

Lawrence & Lewis, LLP

history

Like all companies with dual founders, the firm of Lawrence & Lewis, LLP was born out of a strong working relationship and years of mutual respect between Randy Lawrence and Patrick Lewis. While the firm’s founding took place in August 2009, the story of how it came into being began well before then, in 1986, after Patrick Lewis left South Africa to work at the Beverly Hills accounting firm where Randy Lawrence was the senior tax partner.

Luck has a major part in many things you do in life and it was no different here. Randy recognized in Patrick a young man with great potential and began mentoring him in tax compliance work. And thus began a long-term relationship that would last for 28 years as Patrick moved up the ranks from staff to senior accountant, from manager to senior manager, and finally, partner. But that’s not where this story ends.

In 1995, Randy left that small local firm of twenty employees to lead the Century City office tax compliance group for a national accounting firm, known as the 15th largest CPA firm in the nation with over 400 employees. In doing so, he invited Patrick and four other CPAs to join him for what would be a major move up in both rank and workload. Over the next few years, they helped build Altschuler, Melvoin and Glasser LLP (AM&G) until 1999, when it was acquired by American Express Tax and Business Services.

At that point, Randy served as the managing director of tax for the Los Angeles office and the California region for American Express Tax & Business Services, while Patrick left to work as the controller for the largest independent group of retail grocers in Southern California. After fifteen months in that capacity, Patrick realized he missed public accounting and rejoined Randy Lawrence at a tax accounting firm in Brentwood, CA.

Four more years passed, at which point, Randy and Patrick decided that they could improve their personal service for their clients by forming a partnership, and that’s what they did. In August 2009, Lawrence & Lewis, LLP was founded with the mission of providing tax and consulting services for the residential and commercial real estate industries in Southern California and beyond. Working together over the next five years, Patrick and Randy doubled the size of their client base, specializing in real estate work but also serving clients across a broad range of other industries.

In November 2014, Randy Lawrence passed away suddenly at the age of 68, leaving the legacy he had created at Lawrence & Lewis. Today, the firm still upholds his name as a testament to his integrity and expertise. Says Patrick, “I chose to keep the firm’s name because of the goodwill and trust that came from our working together. It was a business and a friendship. He was very easy to work with and brought that outgoing, well-liked personality trait to his clients which helped build our practice. If there’s one thing you could say about Randy, it would be that he enjoyed life to the fullest.”

In August 2020, partner Michael Embree joined the firm bringing his 40+ years of extensive experience in accounting, tax, and consulting services for the real estate and construction industries.

Today, Lawrence & Lewis stands out for its ability to weather the storms of change by providing good practical advice and fast, efficient service to its host of clients.