Boies, Schiller & Flexner

Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
Headquarters 575 Lexington Avenue
New York City
No. of offices 10
No. of attorneys 240
Major practice areas Litigation
Key people David Boies (Chairman), Jonathan D. Schiller, & Donald L. Flexner
Date founded May 1997
Founder David Boies, Jonathan D. Schiller
Company type Limited liability partnership
Website www.bsfllp.com

Boies, Schiller & Flexner L.L.P. is an American law firm founded by David Boies and Jonathan D. Schiller in 1997. In 1999, the founders were joined by Donald L. Flexner, former partner with Crowell & Moring, becoming Boies, Schiller & Flexner.

The firm has become known for its involvement in high-profile litigation, having represented the Department of Justice in the antitrust action United States v. Microsoft, as well as Vice President Gore in the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore. More recently, Boies successfully challenged the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 in Perry v. Brown, and represented the National Football League in the antitrust litigation initiated by the players' union.[1] The firm drew controversy for its representation of Harvey Weinstein amidst sexual abuse allegations.

Rankings

Boies Schiller "dominates" Vault's litigation practice area rankings. It is listed number two for class actions, and holds top ten rankings in Antitrust Litigation, Appellate Litigation, Products Liability, and General Commercial Litigation. It also has top twenty rankings in White Collar Defense, Securities Litigation, and Labor & Employment.[2] Chambers and Partners ranked the firm in band 3 nationwide, band 2 in New York and band 2 in Florida for their antitrust practice.[3]

In 2010, The American Lawyer's national top 100 firms ranked Boies Schiller fourth in profits per partner, third in revenue per lawyer, and in 2009, the firm was ranked at 89 in gross revenue.[4]

Employment

Boies Schiller hires few associates, generally accepting only the top ten percent of students at the top ten law schools.[2] It is known for its generous and unusual compensation structure, through which associates are paid as equity partners, leading to year-end bonuses as high as $350,000.[5]

Notable clients

Among other high-profile clients, Boies Schiller has long represented film producer Harvey Weinstein, against whom sexual abuse allegations were levied in October 2017. The New Yorker reported in November 2017 that Boies Schiller had, on Weinstein's behalf, directed private intelligence companies to spy on alleged victims of Weinstein's and on reporters who were investigating Weinstein's actions.[6] The New York Times, which was at the same time a target of the reported espionage and a client of Boies Schiller's, considered this "intolerable conduct".[7] The New York Times announced a few days later it had “terminated its relationship” with Boies' firm.[8]

Boies Schiller, and specifically David Boies himself, also notably represented Theranos as it defended itself against various fraud and whistleblower claims, which were later confirmed to be true. Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani were hit with criminal charges from Federal prosecutors in June 2018. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, a best-selling non-fiction account of the events written by John Carreyrou, an investigative journalist from The Wall Street Journal, was highly critical of the aggressive actions of Boies Schiller attorneys.

Political contributions

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Boies Schiller was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.92 million, 90% to Democrats.[9] By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated $2.56 million, 66% to Democrats,[9] while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans.[10] Since 2000, Boies Schiller has contributed $5.5 million to federal campaigns.[11]

Notable lawyers and alumni

The firm's original headquarters in Armonk, New York

See also

References

  1. ↑ Battista, Judy (2011-04-03). "Boies, Star Lawyer, Represents N.F.L. in Lockout Hearing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  2. 1 2 "Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP". www.top-law-schools.com. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  3. ↑ "Firms - Chambers Partners - Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP". Chambersandpartners.com. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  4. ↑ "The Am Law 100 2010 - The American Lawyer". Law.com. 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  5. ↑ "At law firm Boies Schiller, unorthodox system for paying lawyers remains even as firm evolves". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  6. ↑ Farrow, Ronan (6 November 2017). "Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Rutenberg, Jim (7 November 2017). "Report Details Weinstein's Covert Attempt to Halt Publication of Accusations". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Rebecca Shapiro. Nov. 11, 2017. “New York Times Fires David Boies’ Law Firm Over ‘Reprehensible’ Work For Weinstein” https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-times-fires-law-firm-david-boies-harvey-weinstein_us_5a02711ee4b04e96f0c64720
  9. 1 2 "Lawyers & Lobbyists: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics.
  10. ↑ "Energy/Natural Resources: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Organizations: Boies, Schiller & Flexner". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  12. ↑ Boies Schiller Flexner biography
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