(photo by David Lat)
It’s sometimes hard to remember that Paul Cravath and George B. Case and Leo Gottlieb were all real people. Their names have hung on the doors of their respective firms for so long that they seem almost mythic. But every one of those lawyers faced a moment where they had to plan for their firm to go on after they finally hung up their practice.
Boies Schiller and Flexner isn’t as old as those firms, having only been founded in 1997, but the firm finds itself at the crossroads that those other firms did in more sepia-toned eras planning the transition of the firm from one helmed by the names on the door. It’s a process that has already shifted a lot of the day-to-day management to a committee, but just yesterday the firm took another big step on this journey by announcing that the firm will vote to name two new managing partners, suggesting the firm has keyed in on the pair that will take on full firm leadership when Boies and Schiller decide to retire.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Boies Schiller this week named for the first time managing partners who don’t have their names on the door. The two new leaders, New York-based Nicholas Gravante Jr. and London-based Natasha Harrison, have been tapped to guide the firm into its second generation.
When asked about the announcement, Boies explained, “I think where we are with two new managing partners who have the support of the entire firm, and who are both able to drive the firm’s commercial success and committed to the firm’s culture, validates the way we have approached the transition.”
Gravante told the Journal that his priority will be reorienting partner compensation to encourage more hustling for new business. It’s a natural shift now that the firm is less dependent on servicing cases brought in by the named partners and more dependent on the next generation.
Not that either Boies or Schiller seem in a hurry to leave the practice. The Wall Street Journal coverage hinted that some might chafe against a transition process with no clear endpoint:
The slow-moving transition, spearheaded by Messrs. Boies and Schiller, has frustrated some partners internally, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Um… this seems like the sort of thing you don’t want to rush. For his part, Boies said “because we started early, we have had the luxury of moving slowly and getting it right.” That sounds like the right idea, especially with a firm going through its first major transition. The third or fourth generation can afford to swing seamlessly to a new regime, but the first move requires some real care.
But with a new regime coming into place, the firm is prepared for the day that will probably come sometime in the next decade.
David Boies’s Law Firm Names Likely Successors [Wall Street Journal]
Earlier: David Boies Dishes On Firm’s Transition Strategy
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.