Big Law CEO & The Johnny Depp Effect Upon His Firm’s Profile

Big Law CEO & The Johnny Depp Effect Upon His Firm's Profile

Piper Rudnick CEO’ Stellar Rise

Piper Rudnick CEO Vince Guglielmotti, became the youngest CEO and chairman of Brown Rudnick in June at the age of 41 when he was anointed as head of the firm last year and plans to strongly expand the firm’s growth in the coming years.

The firm has demonstrated some strong growth for the 2022 year with its revenue jumping by almost 11 per cent to $253.63 million while its profits per partner shot up 29 percent to $1.68 million, in a profitable year for the firm in which it outpaced the market. 

But in media interviews recently he also spoke of how the firm will expand upon the ‘Depp Effect’ of their successful representation of Johnny Depp in the recent defamation lawsuit.

Guglielmotti, who has been at Brown Rudnick for nearly 15 years and previously served as managing director of the Firm’s Corporate and Capital Markets Department, told both publications that his plans over the next three years include growing the Firm from around 250 lawyers to more than 300 and increasing annual revenue from $230 million to $330 million.

“London is the real focal point for our international expansion,” Guglielmotti said to the Financial News. “Growing the office there, organically and through lateral hires, is our focus.”

Guglielmotti told Law360 that the Firm has completed deals in countless countries in the last 18 months as a result of the London office, which has a headcount of around 100, and the Firm’s Latin America practice. He added that the Firm will continue to invest in areas of strength, which are crisis management, restructuring, investigations, global litigation, life sciences, technology and brand reputation protection.

“I think we offer a unique value proposition, which is that you’re going to be able to do the highest level work against some of the best firms in the country, but you’re also going to be somewhere you know your partners,” he explained. “We’re a small partnership, everyone knows one another and there is a real willingness to help each other out. You can’t find that at a large firm.”

Guglielmotti told both publications that he plans to build on some of the media attention the Firm has received as a result of the jury verdict that a BR litigation team led by Partners Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez won for actor Johnny Depp in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard.

“I really want to continue to promote our brand and let other lawyers know that this is a place where talent can succeed, where you’re going to be happy to come to work,” he said to Law360.

In his interview with the Financial News, Guglielmotti revealed that publicity for Brown Rudnick has translated to a “noticeable uptick in associate interest at the firm.” He added that his own election as Brown Rudnick’s youngest-ever CEO is emblematic of the Firm’s approach to backing younger lawyers.

“Hard work is rewarded and there are no artificial barriers,” he said. “If there were, I wouldn’t be here.”

Guglielmotti is recognized by The Legal 500 US and Best Lawyers in America. He has been named among the leading Bankruptcy Tax Specialists in the Nation’s Major Law Firms by Turnarounds & Workouts.

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