Boies Schiller’s Virus Loan Totaled $10 Million, Records Show

Boies Schiller Flexner, the large law firm founded by famed trial lawyer David Boies, received a total of $10 million in federal pandemic assistance loans, according to records released late Tuesday.

The Small Business Administration previously disclosed that Boies Schiller was approved for a loan ranging from $5 million to $10 million. The newly released records, made public in response to a court order, provide more detail about a pair of assistance programs that distributed more than $700 billion in total loans to combat the economic crisis posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Boies Schiller appears to be the only firm among the 100 largest in the country to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan. The firm brought in $400 million in revenue and paid equity partners more than $3.3 million on average last year, according to The American Lawyer.

Firm spokeswoman Jennifer Edward didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Boies Schiller has seen a raft of departures in recent months, as associates and partners have jumped to other Big Law firms. The firm has also faced criticism over David Boies’s recent representation of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and scuttled Silicon Valley blood testing startup Theranos, as well as ethics questions related to his work for certain accusers of alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Another 44 law firms with revenues ranked in the top 200 by AmLaw also received pandemic loans, ranging from $2 to $10 million. Those firms reported more than $100 million in revenue last year and paid equity partners, who hold ownership stakes in those firms, as much as $2.1 million a piece, according to AmLaw data.

Other firms receiving PPP loans included Cole Scott & Kissane, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, and Kobre & Kim.

The loans came with a 1% interest rate and are payable over two to five years. The agency has said it will forgive loans for employers that use the money for eligible payroll costs, payments on business mortgage interest payments, rent, or utilities.