Fast-Growing Pierson Ferdinand Passes 150 Partner Mark (Law360)

Article by: Adrian Cruz
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Newly formed Pierson Ferdinand LLP announced that with the hiring of 24 new partners over the past month and a half, the firm has added over 150 attorneys since its January launch.

A breakaway law firm started by former FisherBroyles LLP attorneys, Pierson Ferdinand launched at the start of the year, saying it would emphasize a "diverse partnership, technology-focused infrastructure and client-centric model that redefines what a modern, elite law firm can be."

"We're incredibly humbled and excited," co-chairman Joel Ferdinand told Law360 Pulse Thursday. "It's just the beginning for us. We're focused on building a culture of family, collaboration and merit, and we'll continue to organically grow with people who are elite lawyers who happen to be wonderful human beings."

According to Pierson Ferdinand's Wednesday announcement, out of the firm's recent new hires, 10 joined the corporate practice and nine focus on litigation, with four intellectual property and one employment partner also joining.

While a number of the new partners were fellow FisherBroyles breakaways, outside hires include corporate partner Dean Wang, who most recently ran a Hawaiian business law boutique, IP partner Christi Coleman from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, employment partner Benjamin Jacobs from Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, corporate partner David Gilbert from Blank Rome LLP, and IP partner Greg Chopskie, most recently at Squire Patton Boggs LLP.

Co-chairman Michael Pierson told Law360 Pulse that he and Ferdinand attribute the firm's fast growth to three core factors of culture, technology and leadership, which they added has drawn many attorneys from traditional AmLaw 100 firms to the nascent Pierson Ferdinand.

"By focusing on these three areas, we think we've really hit a nerve for people looking for major improvements to the practice of law," Pierson said. "Massive investments we've made in the technology that underpins our firm very much speaks to people's needs and wants when it comes to practicing law and automating things that have been very manual. When they look at our technology, I think people get very excited to see a firm that has automated many of the tasks they did manually at previous firms."

When it comes to leadership, Pierson, who previously served as FisherBroyles' global corporate managing partner, said that a main focus for Pierson Ferdinand is to have a diverse management team, citing women leaders in the litigation and intellectual property practices as an example of the culture they're trying to build.

"We want to work not only with the most talented lawyers we can find, but also really great humans," Pierson said. "We build a culture of meritocracy, radical inclusion and utmost respect for our partners regardless of their background. We committed to having a very diverse management team. When people see that there's diverse leadership, it allows them to see a different sort of firm."

Pierson Ferdinand operates as a fully remote firm, with attorneys practicing out of 15 states, Washington, D.C., and the United Kingdom, according to its website. Ferdinand said that the firm's decision to be "geographically agnostic" allows it to have more access and opportunity to hire top talent as a result.

"We do embrace remote working, which means that our lawyers don't have to physically live within commuting distance from a major metropolitan area," Ferdinand said. "It allows us to hire the best lawyers wherever they happen to live and for us, that's part of our secret sauce. If a lawyer trained at a large firm in New York City and no longer happens to live there, they can continue to practice at the highest level of the profession even though they're working remotely."

Some of the ways Ferdinand said he and Pierson work to keep the firm culture active despite everyone working remotely include daily phone calls with team members, interdepartmental meetings, occasional in-person events and the implementation of a mental health program.

"By being there for them, knowing their birthdays, diagnoses, likes and dislikes, we make it a point to really get to know everybody so that they're all available and not siloed," Ferdinand said. "We also constantly work together on each other's work, which helps make the firm culture stronger."

Going forward, Pierson said that the main goal is to continue refining and developing Pierson Ferdinand's operation model to make it both a top destination for prospective attorneys and a competitive option for potential clients looking for service similar to an AmLaw 100 firm at a lower cost.

"We are really building something special here," Pierson said. "We're not only building the elite law firm of the future, but also transforming the way legal services are delivered through our tech-driven model. We offer our partners unparalleled compensation in terms of the billable hours they're recording and we offer our clients unparalleled value."

In addition, the ability to avoid paying built-in real estate and overhead "is a huge point of competition for us," Pierson said.

--Editing by Robert Rudinger.