Yes, There Is (Professional) Life After Biglaw
What it's like opening up a firm (in the middle of a pandemic).
Connie Bertram
It’s been three years since Connie Bertram helped to shake up the staid world of Biglaw by being one of the early trend setters of partners suing their firms, in her case it was Proskauer Rose. Though the case settled for an undisclosed amount, the allegations — which included that there were “substantial gender disparities” at the firm, that Bertram was objectified by two partners, and that her compensation lagged behind that of similarly situated male partners — helped to break the silence surrounding these issues in the legal industry.
After the settlement, Bertram joined Polsinelli, but now the time has come for another big career move. Bertram is saying goodbye to Biglaw and opening up her own firm, Bertram LLP. It’s something she says she’s “had in the back of my head for 10 or 15 years. I’ve had several clients that encouraged me to do this.”
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And, no, it isn’t a reflection on Polsinelli. She tells Law.com the move “had nothing to do with Polsinelli. It was a great firm. I had a good experience there.” That firm similarly wishes Bertram all the best, “We thank Connie for her commitment to our firm over the past two years and wish her well in her future endeavors.”
As with all new business endeavors launched during the pandemic, there are some questions hanging over the project. For example, Bertram, who is at the moment the only attorney at the new firm, is holding off on getting permanent office. But since she has an existing client base from her 20 years of practice, she doesn’t see much of a problem. On opening her own shop Bertram says, “It depends some on who you are and what kind of practice you have. If you were coming out of government, hanging up your shingle with no clients, [I] would be nervous.”
The new firm will focus on employment counseling, investigations and litigation including whistleblower claims, executive and board disputes, restrictive covenants, trade secret disputes and government contractor compliance. And Bertram hopes to grow the practice to as many as 50 lawyers over time. Her focus will be on hiring women and minorities:
Bertram said throughout her career she held management roles and worked on client service along with associate development and “trying to be ‘the voice in the room’” for women and minorities. As a result, she would like to focus on hiring women and minorities at her firm.
“It’s more on bringing together very like-minded people … who want to do exceptional work, but maybe had some challenges in the practice of law. I’ve found that a lot of attorneys actually have had difficult life experiences and it pushes them to be more exceptional,” she said.
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Best of luck to this new firm.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
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