With the continued success of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the rise of the litigation boutique, we ask leading disputes partners if the market could become saturated and whether litigators sit better within full-service firms?
Terrible conflicts
‘The big firms have terrible problems with conflicts, especially in the banking sector. Therefore, there is a place in the market for people who are free of conflicts. Whether the market is saturated depends on who is in those boutiques and the reputation and marketability of those boutiques. So while you have good people coming out of big firms and setting up boutiques, I guess there’ll continue to be a market for them. You’d have to be first class.’
Edward Sparrow, partner, Ashurst
Manpower required
‘It’s not saturated – if you’ve got a strong enough brand and a strong enough name in the market, then people will always want to go to you. It’s not a surprise that a number of people have set these boutiques up. The problem for them is going to be that it’s all very well having one name, but on the big cases that firms like these want to do, you can’t just have quality, you need manpower. That can be a big challenge because the people that go to the boutiques are fine but if you’re a junior lawyer, where’s your career path? Where will it be in five or ten years’ time?’
Alistair Graham, partner, Mayer Brown
Viable alternative
‘Often clients hire litigation lawyers as individuals. So clients may not want to go for the “IBM factor” of a major firm if they identify individuals with good track records from specialist litigation firms. The litigation boutique is here to stay. If anything it will grow because more and more partners will look at where they are, certainly in the saturated mid-tier firms which are desperately trying to distinguish themselves from their competition or to find merger partners. The problem with the merger option is that there are very few firms left on the dancefloor that are worth talking to. So, talented litigation lawyers at these firms will look at other options and one very credible option is now the litigation boutique.’
Simon Twigden, partner, Enyo Law
Boutiques unsustainable
‘I don’t think the model is sustainable. It’s like airlines, which only fly the most profitable routes. People are trying to cherry pick the most lucrative cases whereas access to justice means people should be able to deal with all airline routes and all cases. I’ve no doubt people will set themselves up in litigation boutiques thinking they can coin the market, but it’ll be a challenge to make it work in the long term. For lawyers in larger firms, it’s important to be in a firm that recognises the importance and value of litigation. It can’t just be a bolt-on to a firm. Ultimately, litigation is part of a full-service law firm and has to be recognised for that.’
Lord Goldsmith QC, European chair of litigation, Debevoise & Plimpton
Quality players will succeed
‘All the big firms have to turn away work over conflicts. If that’s happened to you several times, you might think you’re better off finding a firm that doesn’t have such conflicts or indeed starting up on your own. Some of the boutiques very actively cultivate the large firms because they know that’s where the conflict referral work will come from. There are also other niche firms that only target certain types of litigation. There’s a limit on the number of high-quality boutiques that can survive and prosper in the market. The quality has to be there; otherwise they won’t get the referrals. But if it is, they’ll scoop up quite a lot of work.’
Neil Mirchandani, partner, Hogan Lovells
Big firms can handle success fees
‘Litigators from a big international firm can get a lot of good work from the other parts of the practice. Everybody in a big firm benefits from broad, deep and embedded relationships with the clients. Alternative fee structure arrangements, coupled with smaller firms, means that people who might not otherwise have been able to bring a case have different options in running and financing a case. But that’s not just limited to smaller firms. Alternative funding arrangements is a model used by big firms like us too and in the right circumstances AFAs can indeed make possible cases that might otherwise have not been economically viable for people to run in the past.’
Mark Shillito, partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
Full service needs disputes
‘You can’t offer the client a completely holistic service unless you’ve got a really good litigation outfit. You can’t imagine a full-service firm without a litigation function. We get involved in all sorts of different things all the time. Obviously conflict questions are more frequent and can be more difficult if a firm has lots of different client relationships, and that is how the boutiques pitch themselves.’
Christa Band, partner, Linklaters
Perfect time for boutiques
‘There has never been a better time to establish a litigation boutique: the litigation market is busy (and remains so) and conflicts are becoming more common. A successful firm needs a strong brand. That could be an existing name (like Quinn Emanuel or Hausfeld & Co), or one or two prominent individuals with a good profile in the market. The next crucial thing is to establish credibility in practice. That means demonstrating to clients and peers, through the work you do, the clients you represent and the way you conduct yourself that you are deserving of a place at the litigation “top table”. There is certainly a risk of saturation, but we’re not near that point yet.’
John Reynolds, head of commercial litigation, White & Case