Star Litigator David Boies Will Step Down From Helm of Firm (1)

Star litigator David Boies will step down from the chairmanship of Boies Schiller Flexner at the end of next year, with managing partners Sigrid McCawley and Matthew Schwartz considered two of the front-runners to succeed him.

The next leader, whoever it is, faces the difficult task of steering a firm whose founder has been the face of the business for decades and which has seen its revenue and head count decline dramatically with a wave of partner exits.

David Boies

Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg

Co-founded with Jonathan Schiller in 1997, Boies Schiller grew into a litigation powerhouse in the ensuing decades. Boies’s career spans his victory in the US antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. and his loss representing Al Gore against George W. Bush in their epic legal battle over the 2000 presidential election. It also includes criticism over his representation of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the convicted sexual predator.

Read More: David Boies, Superstar Lawyer Tied to Weinstein, Is Staying Calm

Most recently, Boies represented victims of Jeffrey Epstein in a class action against JPMorgan Chase & Co., in which the bank agreed to a $290 million settlement of claims that it ignored red flags to keep Epstein as a client.

The Wall Street Journal reported Boies’s plan to step down earlier. Boies Schiller confirmed through a spokesperson that 2024 would be the 82-year-old lawyer’s last year as chairman, and said the partners are expected to elect a new chair on Dec. 8, to start in 2025.

“David’s leadership and guidance have been a constant for Boies Schiller Flexner since the firm opened its doors,” McCawley, Schwartz and managing partner Alan Vickery said in a statement. “As we have taken over the day-to-day affairs of the firm over the last several years, we’ve benefitted tremendously from his advice and experience.”

They said they would continue to benefit from Boies’s input as partner and a member of the Executive Committee.

The Front-Runners

Manhattan litigator Schwartz and South Florida trial lawyer McCawley are in the vanguard to succeed Boies, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Schwartz joined the firm in 2015 following a decade as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, where he prosecuted Bernie Madoff’s $64 billion Ponzi scheme. McCawley is best known for her work representing victims of sex trafficking by Epstein.

Boies Schiller reported $220 million in revenue last year, down from $420 million four years earlier, according to data compiled by The American Lawyer, as several notable rainmakers left for competitors and took clients with them.

Its roster of lawyers has been cut almost in half over the same period. The ranks thinned amid questions about who would succeed Boies, and a wave of departures came as he faced criticism over his work for Weinstein and Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder who was convicted of fraud.

Notable departures include Nick Gravante and Natasha Harrison, who were widely seen as successors to Boies after being tapped for leadership roles in late 2019. Gravante jumped to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft a year later after unsuccessfully lobbying Boies to consider merging with the firm. Harrison later left to launch her own firm, taking much of Boies Schiller’s London office with her.

Boies Schiller is expected to get a significant chunk of the $667 million in legal fees awarded to lawyers in a class action against Blue Cross Blue Shield. Those lawyers helped craft a $2.7 billion settlement in the case.

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To contact the reporters on this story:
Ava Benny-Morrison in New York at abennymorris@bloomberg.net;
Christopher Opfer in New York at copfer5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Peter Jeffrey at pjeffrey@bloomberg.net

Angela Moon

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