Boutique law firm
 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (May 2024) |
A boutique law firm is a law firm specializing in a niche area of law practice. While a general practice law firm includes various unrelated practice areas within a single firm, a boutique firm specializes in one or a select few practice areas. There may be some confusion as legal publications refer to any small- or mid-sized firm as a boutique, though firms with fewer than 100 attorneys generally count. Boutique should apply to those firms that focus on particular areas, regardless of size, though they are typically smaller, except for a few firms such as Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner or Fish & Richardson with over 400 attorneys.[1]
History
[edit]United States
[edit]In the 1980s, American mid-size law firms began losing ground due to consolidation in the legal market.[2] They have been the primary means by which larger law firms from regional centers expanded in key new markets such as New York City.[3] For example, Atlanta-based Alston & Bird acquired 50-lawyer German-focused corporate boutique Walter, Conston, Alexander & Green, P.C. in 2001.[4] The same year, Boston-based legacy firm Bingham Dana & Gould (now known as Bingham McCutchen) merged with boutique litigation shop Richards & O'Neill and Dallas-based Jenkens & Gilchrist absorbed Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl. In 2007, Texas firm Vinson & Elkins acquired Cronin & Vris, a small bankruptcy boutique.[5][6]
The pendulum began to swing back away from consolidation toward the formation of smaller boutique firms with the downturn of the economy in late 2008 and early 2009 as recession-proof niche practices began to separate themselves from the struggling behemoths.[7] For example, Washington, D.C.–based Hausfeld LLP spun out of Cohen Milstein and Birmingham, Alabama–based Frohsin & Barger, LLC spun out of the southern regional firm Baker Donelson. Both Hausfeld and Frohsin & Barger have been cited as examples by The National Law Journal as "somewhat recession-proof" boutiques.[8] Other boutiques, such as Waesche, Sheinbaum & O'Regan, have dissolved.
Boutique law firms have maintained their competitive edge in a number of fields. Firms like Seattle-based Harris & Moure remain a competitive force in the international law practice.[9] The complexities of intellectual property, especially patent law, have made IP boutiques still competitive, including Fish & Richardson, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, Oblon, Spivak, Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, and Wood, Herron & Evans, although New York City IP boutiques Pennie & Edmonds largely joined Jones Day, Fish & Neave merged with Boston-based Ropes & Gray, and a number of Morgan & Finnegan lawyers joined Texas-based Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell.[10][11][12] Additionally, Alexandria-based IP boutique Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis merged with Pittsburgh-based Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney in 2005, Cushman, Darby & Cushman was absorbed by national firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (then Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro), Houston-based Arnold, White & Durkee merged with Howrey (then Howrey & Simon), Los Angeles–based Lyon & Lyon dissolved in 2002, and Silicon Valley boutique Skjerven Morrill & MacPherson LLP dissolved in 2003.
Litigation and corporate boutique law firms based in Europe include Oppenhoff & Partner.
Major boutique firms by specialty
[edit]Intellectual property
[edit]- Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner (Washington, D.C.)
- Fish & Richardson (Boston)
- Oblon (Alexandria, Virginia)
Labor and employment
[edit]- Jackson Lewis (White Plains, New York)
- Littler Mendelson (San Francisco)
- Seyfarth Shaw (Chicago)
Litigation
[edit]- Boies, Schiller & Flexner (New York City)
- Irell & Manella (Los Angeles)
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman (New York City)
- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan (Los Angeles)
- Williams & Connolly (Washington, D.C.)
Technology and venture capital
[edit]- Cooley LLP (Palo Alto)
- Fenwick & West (Mountain View)
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Palo Alto)
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian (Redwood City)
- Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt (New York City)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "About Us". Fish & Richardson P.C. Archived from the original on Mar 13, 2010.
- ^ Tamar Lewin, "Business and the Law: Smaller Firms are Vanishing", The New York Times, March 9, 1987.
- ^ Jan Hoffman, "Oldest Law Firm is Courtly, Loyal and Defunct", The New York Times, October 2, 1994.
- ^ "History". Alston + Bird LLP. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30.
- ^ Vinson & Elkins LLP – Announcements[dead link]
- ^ Edmond, Charlotte (Aug 13, 2007). "Former Wachtell team joins Vinson". Law.com International. Archived from the original on Mar 31, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ^ Pasternak, Petra (February 11, 2009). "Large Firm Layoffs Lead to Small Firm Startups". Small Firm Business. Law.com. The Recorder. Archived from the original on Jun 7, 2011.
- ^ Sloan, Karen (February 9, 2009). "Survival plans". National Law Journal. Archived from the original on Feb 11, 2009.
- ^ Taylor, Steven T. (January–February 2009). "Riding the net's second wave : how lawyers and their firms are applying web tools in game-changing ways". Law Practice Magazine. American Bar Association. Archived from the original on 2009-10-14. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
- ^ Jones Day – News/Press – Pennie & Edmonds Lawyers to Join Jones Day
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Morgan & Finnegan to Fold into Locke Lord - Law360".