Changes at Boies Schiller as Firm Imagines a Future Without David Boies

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From Left: David Boies, Jonathan Schiller, Karen Dunn, William Isaacson, Nicholas Gravante Jr.
2015 photo by Steven Laxton for The American Lawyer[/caption] The #MeToo movement was already in full swing in early December, when the partnership of Boies Schiller Flexner gathered in Key Biscayne, Florida, for its annual meeting. The firestorm sparked by allegations against Harvey Weinstein had recently singed Boies Schiller's chairman and highest-profile lawyer, David Boies, who came under heavy criticism after his efforts to protect Weinstein were documented by The New Yorker, and The New York Times angrily severed its relationship with the firm. But the meeting focused on broader issues facing Boies Schiller. At the two-day affair, the partnership agreed to modify the way it is governed, increasing the number of lawyers elected to the firm’s executive committee from the then-seven members serving to 11, and adding more women and younger partners to the group. The firm is “making sure the next generation is not only ready to take over, but is in the process of taking over," Boies said in an interview. Boies, who will be 77 in March, said the changes grew out of leadership succession efforts the firm began to tackle several years ago. There are now three women on the executive committee—up from zero before October 2017—and a mix of lawyers who have relationships with some of Boies Schiller’s most important clients. Boies stressed that it would be “incorrect” to draw a line between the recent management changes and the Weinstein drama. The negative publicity over his Weinstein work hasn't affected firm management, he said. Instead, the moves reflect the firm's strategic planning for a future when he and co-managing partner Jonathan Schiller, who is 71, take less active leadership roles, Boies said. Last year, Boies Schiller’s third name partner, Donald Flexner, retired from the executive committee and his co-managing role (though he remains a partner) so succession questions naturally have arisen at the firm. At the December partnership meeting, 42-year-old Karen Dunn was elected to the executive committee. Dunn represents Uber Technologies and has close ties to Washington's Democratic power elite. Earlier in the fall, 44-year-old Natasha Harrison was elected to the committee. Harrison is the managing partner of the firm's London office, and is described by Boies as "someone who is widely recognized within the firm as a current leader and someone we will be looking at in the future." Also in September, 57-year-old William Isaacson, who counts Apple Inc. as a major client, was elected to the committee. There are also key longtime committee members still serving, such as New York litigator and firm general counsel Nicholas Gravante, 57. In recent years, Boies and Schiller, who started the firm in the late 90s, have made a conscious effort to cement relationships between clients and younger partners and to expand the firm’s geographic footprint, according to Boies. “Even though David Boies has the energy of a 4-year-old, he is in the twilight of his career,” said Peter Carter, Delta Air Lines’ chief legal officer and executive vice president, who regularly hires Boies Schiller. But it’s not as if Boies has already left the building, Carter and other clients said. The legendary litigator, who represented the prevailing plaintiffs for marriage equality at the U.S. Supreme Court and Al Gore in the disputed 2000 presidential election, still ranks as “the spiritual leader” of Boies Schiller, and “his fingerprints are all over that firm,” Carter said.

'Full Confidence'

Given Boies' close public association with the firm he founded, some clients did ask questions after the news broke in November that Boies had contracted with former Mossad agents to derail reporting into Weinstein's sexual history. According to Boies, the firm responded by telling clients that Times executives knew that Boies represented Weinstein (he no longer does) and that the newspaper had signed a conflict waiver agreement. The news accounts rattled not just clients, but also some lawyers at his firm, Boies acknowledged. “There were a number of younger partners who were frustrated with the coverage, its incompleteness,” he said. For his part, “I have been covered long enough to have a relaxed perspective,” Boies said. Boies said that in the wake of the stories about his work for Weinstein, reporters had tried to find evidence of sexual harassment at the firm. "One major publication interviewed over 250 people that we know about, asking them if they knew of any sexual harassment by any partners at Boies Schiller,” he said. They found nothing, he said. The firm “has been very very sensitive from the very beginning making sure that women were treated with respect and totally equality,” Boies said. At the meeting in December, Boies and others leaders emphasized "the many paths available to employees" to report any allegations of sexual harassment, "and that they should take the one with which they felt most comfortable," according to Boies. They also stressed that all members of the executive committee, which now has more women, were available hear such grievances, he said. As for clients' reaction to the reporting about Boies and Weinstein, the most public was The New York Times' itself. The paper said in November that "it should have been treated better," calling it "a grave betrayal of trust" that Boies Schiller "secretly worked to stop our reporting on Harvey Weinstein at the same time as the firm’s lawyers were representing us in other matters." (Opposing counsel have also been quick to bring up the controversy, in the context of accusing Boies Schiller of deploying explicit photos of an opposing party as a litigation tactic in two separate cases.) Other clients strongly stood up for Boies Schiller when contacted for this story, however. They said the Weinstein-related allegations have not undermined their admiration for the firm—or for Boies himself. “David Boies’ representation of Harvey Weinstein has not changed the firm’s status with us," Delta's Carter said, noting that Boies Schiller partners James Denvir and Michael Mitchell are currently representing Delta in antitrust litigation in federal court in the District of Columbia. "The firm is not about just one person. It has tremendous depth and breadth," said Jonathan Hughes, a former chief legal officer for fantasy sports website DraftKings and managing director at Barclays who relied on the firm while at both companies. Mark Califano, managing counsel for litigation for American Express, referred questions about the firm to a spokesperson, who emailed this statement: "We work with a number of the lawyers at Boies Schiller Flexner and have had a long, steady relationship with the firm. We have full confidence in their ability and judgment on our matters." With 14 offices in the United States and London, the litigation firm has 54 equity partners who each took home in 2017 an average net income of $3.15 million, according to the 2017 Am Law 100 rankings. On its website, Boies Schiller touts an enviable roster of clients, including Goldman Sachs, PIMCO, and Merck & Co., though top in-house lawyers at those companies did not respond to requests for comment about the firm. “I’d feel bad for David and feel for the firm” if their images were somehow marred by Weinstein's "deplorable" conduct, said Delta's Carter. “It is important to our justice system for people who have been accused of heinous things to have access to lawyers." “Even if David made a mistake, it wouldn’t result in me deciding to fire the law firm. The law firm is bigger than one person,” Carter said. For now Boies and Schiller remain the only managing partners, with final authority over key client decisions. In December the partners re-elected Boies as firm chairman—a position he's held since founding the firm in 1997. "When David decides to retire, the firm will consider at that time who should replace him," said Harrison, the firm's new London-based executive committee member. Until then, Schiller stands ready to take the reins if that suddenly becomes necessary, both Boies and Harrison stressed. For now, Boies suggests he's willing to subordinate his zeal as a litigator to Boies Schiller’s institutional longevity as he remains the public face of the firm. “I think my interest in taking on a client would have to yield to the firm’s interests,” he said.