Boies Schiller Expands In D.C. By Hiring Young Legal Superstars

Who is the latest legal eagle to feather her nest at the elite litigation firm?

“In the end, I chose Boies Schiller because it’s the nation’s foremost litigation boutique,” said Karen Dunn. “I loved being a litigator and trial lawyer, and I wanted to go to a place with excellent litigators whom I could call my colleagues, like when I was at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Dunn also cited the firm’s entrepreneurial spirit, in terms of its seeing the opportunities in crisis management, and the enthusiasm that BSF lawyers bring to their work.

“Once I was in the door, everyone I met was incredibly energized about their work. There was a real sense of ownership — perhaps because it’s relatively young, or perhaps because of the spirit that flows downward from David [Boies] and Jonathan [Schiller] and Don [Flexner].”

(The generous pay probably helps energize people as well. As David Boies explained when I interviewed him in 2012, the firm’s compensation system reflects the view that all lawyers at the firm, partners and associates alike, are “important stakeholders in the institution.”)

Finally, in light of Dunn’s interest in crisis management, Boies Schiller was a natural fit.

“Crisis management is in their DNA here,” she said. “There is a recognition here, based on matters they’ve already handled, that litigation is often accompanied by government investigations, inquiries by regulators, or media scrutiny. Clients need to navigate all of these things as a whole and have one integrated, strategic approach — otherwise your litigation strategy can undercut your government strategy, or your media strategy can undercut your government strategy. If you’re going to solve a big problem, you need to look at all the aspects of that problem and solve them.”

Given Boies Schiller’s strength in helping its clients deal with crises, one can see why Karen Dunn opted for Boies Schiller. What drew Boies Schiller to Karen Dunn? I chatted with co-founder and managing partner Jonathan Schiller about her hiring, as well as that of Michael Gottlieb.

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“Karen is an outstanding lawyer, and we’re really happy to have her with us,” said Schiller. “People like Karen and Mike have experience from the White House and the Justice Department that crosses over a lot of areas of need in Washington. They are familiar with agency practices, they know many people within these institutions, and they understand and are up to speed on policy in key areas that matter to our clients. So they fulfill the fundamental missions of our active Washington practice: the capability to conduct litigation and arbitration globaly, and to represent our clients before the Justice Department, the SEC, the CFTC, and other regulators.”

I asked Schiller: given Dunn’s past work for Hillary Clinton, who might mount a 2016 presidential bid, as well as Dunn’s and Gottlieb’s service in the Obama Administration, is the firm concerned that they might move back into politics or government in the near future?

“That may happen,” he said. “We hope that they stay at the firm and flourish, but we don’t require anyone to take a blood oath to stay here forever. If Hillary Clinton runs for president, there are a number of people here who might want to work with her. We understand that in Washington these sorts of things happen. We’re not set up to be a revolving door, but it comes with the territory of hiring young people who are smart and ambitious.”

Schiller cited the example of Tanya Chutkan, the Boies Schiller D.C. partner recently nominated by President Obama to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“I recruited Tanya years ago out of the D.C. Public Defender Service. She did some major trials for us, including the vitamins antitrust litigation [that resulted in an award of $149.5 million]. Am I sorry that she might be leaving for the bench? No — I’m excited, I’m thrilled for her. We didn’t plan that when she started working for us, but she earned it. She’ll be a terrific judge.”

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And so swings the revolving door — sometimes for the benefit of the public sector and sometimes for the benefit of the private sector, but in a way that allows talented lawyers to serve their country, develop their skills and experience, and pay off their law school loans too. Congratulations to Karen Dunn on joining Boies Schiller, and congratulations to Boies Schiller on hiring Karen Dunn.

White House Legal Adviser Decamps to Boies Schiller & Flexner [Main Justice]
Former White House Lawyer Joins Boies Schiller [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]
Boies Schiller Partner Nominated to D.C. Federal Trial Court [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]

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