The New York litigator set to replace David Boies at the helm of Boies Schiller Flexner will face a significant task in directing a firm long associated with its legendary founder.
Boies, 82, is handing over the reins of the firm he built into a litigation powerhouse over the preceding two decades, leaving the position open for Matthew Schwartz, a former assistant US attorney in Manhattan. Schwartz had gradually moved up the ranks at Boies Schiller after joining in 2015. He is one of three co-managing partners who secured the chair during a partnership vote at the firm’s annual retreat in Florida. Schwartz will succeed Boies in January 2025 after a year-long transition, the firm said.
Schwartz’s role as chair will include positioning Boies Schiller as an institution that can “outlast” its founders’ personalities. Given Boies’ stature, this will not be an easy feat, according to law firm management consultant Patrick McKenna.
Friday’s vote marks the first time Boies Schiller has cemented a leadership transition with a chair election. Two prior succession plans unraveled, with some potential leaders in waiting leaving as Boies and his remaining founding partner, Jonathan Schiller, resisted fully giving up the reins, according to four sources familiar with the situation. “We had a period of trial and error,” Schwartz said. But he argued the chair vote shows how far removed the firm is from its succession woes. “This demonstrates very clearly that this transition is real.”
‘Our Way’
Schwartz, who is 46 years old, said he’s undaunted by the prospect of succeeding Boies because he doesn’t view it as “stepping into his shoes.” Instead, Schwartz aims to help take the firm in a direction that works for the partnership. A native of Boston who grew up in New York, Schwartz graduated from Columbia Law School before working for nearly a decade in the Manhattan US Attorney’s office. After joining Boies Schiller’s New York office, he established a white-collar defense and investigations practice, where his clients have included Kazakhstan’s third-largest bank in a sprawling fraud cause.
He’ll continue as a managing partner and run the firm’s day-to-day operations before starting a three-year term as chair in 2025. Boies and Schiller will retain sway at the firm as members of the executive committee, which they will remain on as long as they are partners, according to a partnership agreement viewed by Bloomberg Law. In that dynamic, it’s common for partners to defer to longtime chairs even after they shed the leadership title. Legal industry consultant Bruce MacEwen said, “David Boies is legendary and whether you like him or don’t like him he’s earned the legend. It’s nevertheless true that there’s something about three tries and you’re out.”
Boies Legacy
Known for taking on Microsoft in a landmark antitrust case and pursuing legal action in support of LGBT+ marriage rights, Boies established his own litigation shop in 1997 after leaving Cravath Swaine & Moore due to a conflict relating to his representation of the New York Yankees. The firm blossomed into an outfit that represented corporate defense clients while also maintaining an active class-action practice. But a wave of senior-level departures starting in 2018 engendered questions about the firm’s future.
Boies Schiller has lost more than half of its lawyers over the past five years and saw its gross revenue plummet. But the firm has said it’s emerged in a healthy position, with profits that grew by 13% last year and a slate of high-profile cases it has a role in.
“The firm is in excellent shape,” Boies said in a Friday statement. “I look forward to watching the firm’s new leaders guide it into the future, as I continue to focus on my busy trial practice.”