The exodus of Biglaw heavyweights into the boutique enviornment rolls on, with Brown Rudnick’s high litigators main the cost this time.
Michael Bowe and Lauren Tabaksblat, previously co-chairs of the Am Regulation 200 agency’s litigation follow, introduced earlier this week the opening of Brithem LLP, a New York-based agency devoted completely to high-stakes courtroom advocacy. At launch, Brithem has 13 professionals — together with 9 legal professionals, two investigators, and two paraprofessionals — and expects to achieve at the very least 20 attorneys by the primary quarter of 2026. Early hires embrace a former Supreme Courtroom clerk becoming a member of as of counsel and two Quinn Emanuel alumni stepping in as companions.
Bowe and Tabaksblat hope to make a huge impact with their new impression litigation agency, and Bowe has been fairly direct about what differentiates Brithem from the agency he and Tabaksblat left behind. “[Biglaw] is drunk on leverage and billables that ship little bang for the buck,” he mentioned. “Sensible shoppers of authorized providers know higher, need another, and love supporting a agency that can be closely dedicated to combating youngster abuse, human trafficking, discrimination, and different injustices.”
Maybe some of the placing particulars of the this new boutique is its compensation mannequin. The agency pays above the Cravath scale, and in a pointy departure from Biglaw lockstep, associates won’t be slotted strictly by class 12 months. Bowe explains what which means:
“We’re paying above the Cravath scale and aren’t rating by class 12 months. In case you are performing above your class stage that’s the place you receives a commission. Under you receives a commission there. You’ll be able to go up after down when you get there. And it’s based mostly on efficiency and talent worth not billables. We would like a system that rewards associates who display the will to change into autonomous first-chair legal professionals. We’re satisfied this can lead to a product purchasers will flock to.”
That merit-based method is designed to speed up the event of younger trial legal professionals — a message bolstered by Tabaksblat, whom Chambers sources have mentioned “instructions the courtroom.” She famous that Brithem’s construction “gives a quick monitor” to turning into a reliable trial lawyer and has already attracted important curiosity from formidable associates. Tabaksblat went on to share what litigators will actually love in regards to the agency:
“Brithem is dedicated to the artwork of trial lawyering and utilizing that artwork to make a distinction. Our title shouldn’t be on the door as a result of the agency is about our purchasers, not us. Our old flame is being courtroom advocates who ship outcomes for purchasers and make a distinction.”
By pairing premium affiliate pay with a quick monitor to the courtroom, Brithem is positioning itself as each a client-focused various and proving floor for the subsequent technology of trial legal professionals.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Regulation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any ideas, questions, feedback, or critiques. You’ll be able to comply with her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or join together with her on LinkedIn.
