Boies Schiller Flexner Adds Los Angeles Litigation Boutique

Boies Schiller Flexner is pleased to announce that Caldwell Leslie & Proctor—one of California’s preeminent litigation boutiques—will join its ranks, effective April 17. The combination of these firms will give BSF added strength to serve clients in key California markets, and will provide Caldwell Leslie’s attorneys with a global platform from which to serve existing and future clients.

“The attorneys at Caldwell Leslie are highly respected trial lawyers, and they share our values as litigators and our dedication to excellence. Any major law firm would be proud to have them as members, and we are fortunate that they have chosen to join us,” said BSF Chairman David Boies.

Like BSF, Caldwell Leslie is dedicated to providing clients with strategic, creative representation in complex, high-stakes litigation, taking on and winning cases in a variety of industries. Both firms regularly represent clients as plaintiffs as well as defendants, Boies said.

“The Caldwell Leslie team has built an outstanding reputation, and they will provide added strength to help our clients manage their most critical legal issues, especially in Southern California. Their arrival continues our expansion and emphasis on our core capabilities in complex business litigation,” BSF Managing Partner Jonathan Schiller said.

BSF partner Bill Isaacson said: “We have always been about trial work and difficult cases. I look forward to working with the excellent lawyers of Caldwell Leslie, and the added strength that they will bring to BSF on the West Coast.”

Caldwell Leslie co-founder Christopher Caldwell said: “We were particularly excited to join BSF because of the firm’s unique strength in the litigation realm and our shared understanding of the role litigation has in helping clients solve problems. The move will strengthen our ability to serve our clients, while providing us an opportunity to bring our expertise to serve BSF’s existing clients.”

Caldwell has built an extensive practice encompassing all aspects of criminal and civil litigation. Splitting his time between plaintiff and defense work, he focuses on cases in the entertainment industry and in the areas of intellectual property, securities, employment, professional liability, and white collar crime. He advises major media companies, movie studios and the Motion Picture Association of America, and also regularly represents Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes securities class actions, SEC enforcement proceedings, criminal investigations, and employment disputes. Caldwell was named “Lawyer of the Year” by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2016 and was admitted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in March 2017.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for us to join forces with a firm, which, like us, believes in preparing each case with a firm eye on trial, and each trial with an eye on appeal,” said David Willingham, who served as chair of Caldwell Leslie’s White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance practice. Willingham will now lead the West Coast Global Investigations and White Collar Defense practice at BSF.

“Among Caldwell Leslie’s core values is our dedication to pro bono work. With BSF’s shared commitment, our attorneys will have an even greater opportunity to continue serving those in need,” Willingham added. Caldwell Leslie was named to Law360’s 2016 “Pro Bono Firm of the Year” list, which honors firms who have a demonstrated commitment to serving the public interest.

“One of the things that has made Caldwell Leslie special is its entrepreneurial spirit—a value we share with BSF,”  said Caldwell Leslie shareholder Linda Burrow. Burrow’s practice is focused on the entertainment industry.

In addition to Caldwell Leslie’s commercial, environmental, employment, internal investigations, and white collar crime practices, the firm is keen to expand its entertainment and media practice, which advises some of the world’s leading entertainment companies with their most complex disputes.

Michael Leslie, co-founder of Caldwell Leslie, will also be joining the BSF team, along with many other Caldwell Leslie lawyers, including senior lawyers Robyn Crowther, whose practice includes legal malpractice, trade secrets, real estate and employment disputes, and Michael Roth, who has a vibrant class action and unfair competition practice.

BSF, a leading litigation firm, has recently expanded its presence across the U.S. and in London. In addition to the newly announced merger with Caldwell Leslie, the firm has added new partners in its Silicon Valley, Washington D.C., New York, and London offices. The firm recently moved into a new downtown office space in Washington D.C., and has announced plans to move its New York office to Hudson Yards in 2018.