(Photo
by
Gary
Hershorn/Getty
Images)
Tibor
Nagy
isn’t
a
stranger
to
the
boutique
law
firm
life.
A
veteran
of
Susman
Godfrey,
Nagy
was
the
first
attorney
to
join
Stephen
Susman
in
setting
up
a
New
York
office
back
in
the
day.
As
2025
dawns,
Nagy
has
launched
his
own
firm
Nagy
Wolfe
Appleton
LLP
—
along
with
partners
Gregory
Wolfe
and
Tracy
Appleton
—
guided
by
the
“vision
of
an
early
Susman
Godfrey,”
building
a
tight-knit
collegial
team
working
on
high-stakes,
complex
commercial
litigation.
Not
even
a
week
into
the
year,
the
firm
is
already
busy
with
three
trials
lined
up
over
the
coming
months.
Boutique
firms
aren’t
new,
obviously,
but
the
launch
of
a
new,
small
firm
aimed
at
top-dollar
legal
work
is
a
reminder
of
the
growing
demand
for
this
business
model.
As
the
top
of
the
industry
consolidates
through
more
and
more
Biglaw
mergers,
boutique
firms
increasingly
fill
industry
gaps.
Bigger
firms
mean
bigger
lists
of
conflicts.
And
as
Nagy
points
out,
it’s
not
just
existing
clients,
but
“conflicts
that
they
hope
to
have,”
citing
instances
from
his
own
career
where
he
took
on
cases
because
big
firms
steered
clear
of
going
against
big
fish
clients
that
some
partner
dreamed
of
bagging
down
the
road.
Boutiques,
on
the
other
hand,
offer
freedom.
For
Nagy,
that
freedom
extends
to
both
sides
of
the
“v,”
with
a
mix
of
clients
on
both
the
plaintiff
and
defense
side.
“I
love
that
representing
a
plaintiff
can
change
someone’s
life.
And
I
have
great
experiences
on
defense
side,
but
wouldn’t
want
to
do
only
that.”
He
noted
that
staying
flexible
in
this
way
“gives
you
the
freedom
to
learn
about
both
sides
[of
areas
of
law]
that
you
wouldn’t
otherwise.”
But
it’s
one
thing
to
watch
Biglaw
firms
close
themselves
off
to
work
and
another
to
build
a
firm
that
can
seize
that
business.
Complex
commercial
litigation
is,
for
lack
of
a
better
term,
complex.
These
are
the
sorts
of
cases
that
bury
a
firm
in
documents
and,
by
extension,
overhead
as
the
firm
builds
out
enough
capacity
to
deal
with
it.
Yet
that
obstacle
doesn’t
seem
to
deter
boutiques
as
much
as
it
did
20
or
even
10
years
ago.
In
part,
this
a
story
about
legal
technology.
“I
think
it’s
fantastic
to
launch
right
now,”
Nagy
said.
“The
technology
makes
it
easier
to
do
everyday
things.”
Need
phones?
Zoom
will
get
you
a
number
cheap.
Need
401(k)s?
There’s
a
swift
solution
for
that.
“I
had
a
case
with
a
massive
volume
of
documents,
we
had
a
team
of
five
people
[within
the
firm]…
and
three
did
most
of
the
work.”
Citing
improved
discovery
tech
and
skilled
vendors
and
contract
attorneys,
he
explained
that
small
firms
are
getting
bigger
matters
done
with
confidence.
Though
one
of
the
best
ways
to
save
money
is
to
shrink
the
office
footprint.
“You
don’t
need
massive
office
space
if
you
allow
people
to
work
remotely
and
a
lot
want
to,”
he
said.
It’s
easy
to
stay
connected
and
the
pandemic
taught
even
the
most
tech-skeptical
lawyer
how
to
work
seamlessly
from
home,
so
there’s
no
reason
to
waste
resources
on
massive
offices.
As
long
as
the
firm
hires
people
who
don’t
need
someone
looking
over
their
shoulder,
the
only
facetime
you
need
is
on
the
smartphone.
Clients
appreciate
it.
“They
hire
the
lawyer,
not
the
firm,”
Nagy
observed
of
big
clients
showing
more
confidence
to
make
personal
hires
than
chase
brand
name
law
firms.
But
the
partner
at
the
top
of
the
matter
still
needs
to
deliver
a
team
that
clients
trust.
“What
we’re
selling
are
our
people,
their
talent,
their
drive,”
he
explained.
“We
try
to
find
really
smart
and
driven
people.”
And
if
it
can
save
the
client
some
money
to
get
top-notch
work,
all
the
better.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
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