A practicing lawyer at the National law firm of Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, and based in Los Angeles, Mr. Kieffer was named by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals as one of the “Top 100” attorneys in California in 2010. In 2000, Mr. Kieffer was named by the Los Angeles Daily Journal and San Francisco Daily Journal as one of the 100 most influential attorneys in California, and he has been regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in America. The Los Angeles Business Journal has named him one of the 500 most influential people in Los Angeles since the Journal starting tracking in 2016 and Best Lawyers in America named him Los Angeles Administrative/Regulatory Lawyer of the Year in 2019.
An advisor to both business and elected leaders, he has been recognized for his public service by numerous civic organizations, including the Urban League, the Coro Foundation and the Pat Brown Institute. In 2013 he received the Anti-Defamation League’s Jurisprudence Award. In 2018 he received the Los Angeles Heritage Award on behalf of his law firm, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, LLP.
Mr. Kieffer was a principal co-author of the new Los Angeles City Charter, adopted in 1999 – the first full revision since 1923. He is Regent Emeritus and Chair Emeritus of the Board of Regents of the University of California.
He is the author of the Strategies of Meeting published by Simon and Schuster.
Mr. Kieffer lives in Los Angeles and is married with two sons, Geordie and Ian, both in the arts.