James Brochin has returned to large firm life after leaving Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to run his own law firm for nine months. He joined the partnership of Steptoe & Johnson LLP last week, representing clients in white-collar defense matters, investigations and commercial litigation.

Brochin spent 16 years at Paul Weiss, which boasts 800 lawyers in Manhattan. He will now base his practice in Steptoe's New York office, which has just under 40 lawyers.

While the former Paul Weiss partner has been getting settled at his new firm, his former law school friend and housemate Brett Kavanaugh has seen his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court increasingly unsettled by sexual misconduct allegations. Brochin said his support for Kavanaugh, whom he met while the pair studied together at Yale Law School. hasn't changed.

Here Brochin, 57, describes his relationship with Kavanaugh, what he thinks about the allegations the nominee faces and Brochin's own career moves, including finding a law firm size that was just right.

Would you describe your relationship with Brett Kavanaugh?

I was friends with him at law school and I remain friends with him to this day.

What is your reaction to the sexual misconduct allegations made public this month?

I would say my reaction was shock and dismay. I think very highly of Brett as a friend, as a person, and I have not seen anything that changes my view. The conduct he's been accused of is completely inconsistent with the person I know.

Did you ever see him act improperly around women?

Absolutely not.

Did you sign any letter of support for Kavanaugh?

I did, after his nomination [before the sexual misconduct allegations were made public]. I signed it despite the fact that I don't agree with him politically.

His politics are not my politics—they're Republican, conservative. Many of his decisions I disagree with, but I have to say there are a number of his decisions in the areas of criminal law that I do agree with and I actually do think he would be a pretty good pro-defendant justice in certain respects, much in the way [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin] Scalia was.

Where do you think the allegations are coming from?

I don't know where they're coming from. I just don't believe they're consistent with the kind of behavior of the person I know.

Now on to your career. Why did you leave Paul Weiss in November and open your own firm as a solo practitioner?

I had a great run at Paul Weiss, it's a great firm and still have close friends there, but I was [at] a point in my career where I wanted to spread my own wings and expand my practice beyond what I was able to do there, the ability to have a mix of clients, that included both individuals and institutions, and the flexibility to do that. I wanted more flexibility [in billing rates and representation of clients] than I had at Paul Weiss.

What was it like running your own firm?

That was great. I thought it was a lot of fun and the ability [to] take on different kinds of clients, along with the challenges of running an office, were exhilarating. I had a banker client who called me an entrepreneur. I hadn't thought about it that way.

Why move back to Big Law?

It was an opportunity that presented itself. I didn't go looking for it. I've known Steptoe as a firm and some of the people for a long time and have admired the firm for a long time. I've had cases with [Steptoe partner] Reid Weingarten for years, in which we've represented co-defendants or similarly situated people. I've had a number of cases with [Steptoe partner] Michelle Levin and had a case with [Steptoe partner] Chris Conte when he was with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reid contacted me after he heard I had left Paul Weiss. We started talking and the more we spoke, the more it seemed to make sense to both of us.

It seems like a great mix of a smaller office than I had been in but a tremendous platform when it comes to a white-collar practice. You'll never have as much flexibility as you would on your own, but the balance that Steptoe offered, along with the opportunity for trial work and the other premier aspects of their practice, was a terrific mix. It offered the kind of change I was looking for, but still something that was familiar.

Did your clients move with you in the last year?

When I left Paul Weiss, I had some clients who joined me, and I have found some clients when I was at my boutique. A number of those clients have come with me to Steptoe, including a mix of white-collar defense clients and commercial litigation. But Steptoe didn't hire me for my book of business. They saw an opportunity in bringing me in and I saw an opportunity. It was the right place, the right time.

This interview was condensed and edited for style and clarity.