Boies Law Firm Upheaval Continues With 4 Partner Defection to King & Spalding

Boies Schiller Law
Boies Schiller Law

The turmoil at Boies Schiller Flexner has continued with four litigators leaving for King & Spalding including a former firm exeutive committee member.

King & Spalding had recruited four more complex commercial litigators from Boies Schiller Flexner, including one who had served on its executive committee. This now amounts to 35 partners who have left the firm.

The departing lawyers include New York-based Damien Marshall, Andrew Michaelson, Leigh Nathanson and Laura Harris and are in addition to the 15 partners who left the firm’s West Coast office in April and just one week after high profile attorneys Karen Dunn and Bill Isaacson left for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

The latter two had clients including Apple, Uber and Oracle.

Marshall, like Dunn, was on Boies Schiller’s four-person management committee and referred to the opportunity presented by King & Spalding as the principal reason for the departure, rather than problems with the Boies firm.

The departures have added to a steady stream of departures at Boies, whose 79-year-old founder has come under scrutiny for his work on behalf of clients including Harvey Weinstein and Theranos chief Elizabeth Holmes.

“The decision-making process wasn’t driven by what was happening at [Boies Schiller] or what was happening with others who were making other decisions about opportunities at the firm,” Marshall said. “It was really about this incredible platform and opportunity King & Spalding was offering us. When it became clear to us this was a unique and great fit for our entire group, we decided to accept it and explore the opportunity.”

While King & Spalding has now recruited 19 partners from Boies Schiller within two months, it also has deferred its distributions for current partners, which were due to be paid around May, by two months, Law.com reported Friday. Sources said King & Spalding had deferred the distributions as a “precautionary measure” and the firm had also developed a cautious and strategic approach to hiring.

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