Former Boies Schiller Flexner Managing Partner and LawFuel law star Natasha Harrison has launched her London litigation firm with most of her former firm’s legal staff joining the high flying lawyer.
Harrison said Pallas Partners, named named after Pallas Athena in Greek mythology, the goddess of wisdom, would be the ‘blueprint for a modern law firm’, working from the heart of London and to include twelve fee earners, including five partners.
The five founding partners at Pallas Partners apart from Harrison include financial services regulatory specialist Tracey Dovaston, Will Hooker (commercial arbitration), Fiona Huntriss (banking and finance litigation), Matt Getz (white collar crime) and Neil Pigott, who returned to the firm in July 2020 following a stint at Nomura working on distressed special situations.
Harrison’s surprise departure was confirmed in November and reported in LawFuel, when she said that her new firm would focus on litigation work in the financial services sector.
She told the Daily Telegraph that when she revealed her plans to take ‘almost all’ of Boies Schiller’s London office, chairman David Boies (another LawFuel law star) had been “really supportive”. Harrison was anticipated as replacement for Boies before her departure.
Two new Boies Schiller partners — David Hunt and Prateek Swaika — will be left as permanent members of Boies Schiller’s London base alongside an associate. Fellow Boies Schiller partner Duane Loft splits his time between London and New York, according to the firm’s website.
Faltering Powerhouse Law Firm
New York-based Boies Schiller has been a powerhouse law firm but has said in a firm statement that it remained committed to its London office and would be bringing in new legal talent to strengthen the firm.
The firm has suffered severe upheaval with three office closures and a hefty staff reduction with its peak legal-load of 350 lawyers being reduced to less than 200.
David Boies has been and remains a star litigator but nearing 80 and with the current lawsuit against Prince Andrew he is seen understandably as someone who is no longer one to take the firm into the future.
His stellar career however is one that has seen him regarded as one of the most remarkable litigators of his generation, having handled massive victories such as the US Department of Justice antitrust victory over Microsoft, the overturn of the ban on gay marriage in California and others.
Speaking to the Financial Times last year, Harrison said Boies Schiller “doesn’t just rotate around David now”.
The question now, in London anyway, may be whether the Boies Schiller shine will rub off on Pallas Partners – and just what future Boies Schiller has on either side of the Atlantic.
