They respected their individual strengths: Cohen is "the natural" and brings a bit of panache to the table; Murphy diligently analyzes cases and is a respected leader; and Rosen, with his photographic memory, excels at focusing on important details.

Today those skills serve them well as partners in Murphy Rosen & Cohen, a Santa Monica, Calif., boutique litigation firm they founded in 2003.

"We constantly bounce ideas off each other," Murphy says. "We have the ability to just focus on the case and boil it down to what's important."

Each took a different path after USC Law, with Murphy joining Davis, Polk & Wardell in New York, Rosen practicing with Manatt, Phelps & Philips before joining O'Neill Lysaght & Sun, and Cohen a sole practitioner in criminal defense.

Murphy returned to Los Angeles in 1995 and joined O'Neill with Rosen's encouragement. Eight years later, they found themselves at a crossroads when the firm decided to merge with Jones Day. Following weeks of discussing potential partnerships that involved other lawyers, Murphy decided to make a move. He called Cohen and Rosen, and the trio formed their own team.

The decision to start up their own law firm was an easy one, all three say, due in large part to the personal and professional relationships they forged at USC Law.

"We trust each other, and it's built up over the years - and you can track it all back to 'SC,'" Murphy says. Rosen adds: "I think it's a rarity when you're in a firm where you have great respect for the people you're working with; we all get along."

In the firm's three years, Murphy has continued to focus on complex civil litigation and business-related crimes. Rosen specializes in complex business and commercial litigation, while Cohen practices criminal defense and handles six to nine trials a year. At times, their cases bring them back in touch with other Trojans.

"I'm hoping this is how my career ends - we do our thing and ride off into the sunset," Cohen says. "The nature of the relationship between Paul, David and I removes so many of the difficulties normally associated with running a law firm because we always remember we are friends first and lawyers second."