A new law firm formed by defectors from Boies Schiller Flexner and other prestigious firms created a 15-attorney boutique that touts itself as a "new Big Law model" with offices in Miami and New York.

Roche Cyrulnik Freedman opened its doors the first week of January and is the first major spinoff from the two-decade-old Boies Schiller. Former Boies Schiller attorneys Kyle Roche, Vel Freedman and Jason Cyrulnik are name partners. Freedman, based in Miami, and former Boies Schiller equity partner Ted Normand, based in New York, are the firm's co-chairs.

The announcement follows last week's report that three Boies Schiller partners in Miami — Mark Heise, Luis Suarez and Patricia Melville — left the firm to launch their own litigation boutique: Coral Gables-based Heise Suarez Melville.

Like other small spinoffs from Big Law firms, Roche Cyrulnik positions itself as a boutique armed with the talent of Big Law at lower, more flexible price points. Attorneys came from Boies Schiller; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd.

Firm lawyers will work with clients on both the defense and plaintiffs side under alternative fee arrangements — including defense-side contingency, flat, success and equity fees.

Cyrulnik said the flexibility and alternative arrangements will give the firm a competitive advantage.

"Looking at it from the perspective of many general counsel, we know that clients value efficiency and predictability so we've come up with a menu of options on the client side," he said.

But it's the firm's compensation model that will differentiate it from other litigation boutiques, like Wilkinson Walsh Eskovitz. Compensation will be fully transparent and based on a formula that values business generation and contingency work as much as the billable hour.

"We tweaked the formula in a way that still makes sense for lawyers coming in on contingency. Because we value those [cases] as much as billable hour cases, we created incentives for them," Freedman said.

The firm founders believe the transparency will help attract the sort of high-profile talent they seek as they continue to grow. The firm will also pay "above market" for associates, while also giving them meaningful work from day one — a strategy made possible largely because they will operate without the constraints of the billable hour.

Freedman and Roche left Boies Schiller six months ago to form the firm Roche Freedman with former Paul Weiss associate Joseph Delich and Robbins Geller associate Constantine Economides. The goal was to maintain a small firm that handled one or two major cases at a time. Freedman and Roche made headlines for their work on a $10 billion bitcoin lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida that they say will likely go to trial at the end of the year.

But over the next few months, Freedman, Roche and Cyrulnik began discussing a broader vision, which culminated in the newer, larger firm.

"It was extremely attractive to build a plaintiff-side practice with the rich institutional client work coming over with Jason and others," Roche said.

Boies Schiller is in the midst of a leadership transition with vaunted and recently controversial leader David Boies ceding some responsibilities to New York-based partner Nicholas Gravante and London-based partner Natasha Harrison. The firm now operates under four managing partners: Boies, Gravante, Harrison and name partner Jonathan Schiller.

The firm confirmed Tuesday that it shut down its small Orlando office and relocated three attorneys to Miami.

Roche, Cyrulnik and Freedman said the leadership transition at Boies Schiller was not the reason for their departure.

"This is really a project that Jason, myself and Kyle were talking about for a long time. Our focus is to see what we can accomplish," Freedman said.

In a statement, Boies Schiller managing partner Schiller said, "We wish them well at their new firm."

The 10-person defection from Boies Schiller is not the only recent breakaway from the firm.

Below is the full list of Roche Cyrulnik attorneys and their former firms:

Partners:

• Jason Cyrulnik (Boies Schiller)
• Joseph Delich (Roche Freedman)
• Katherine Eskovitz (Boies Schiller)
• Paul Fattaruso (Boies Schiller)
• Vel Freedman (Boies Schiller)
• Amos Friedland (Boies Schiller)
• Nathan Holcomb (Boies Schiller)
• Ted Normand (Boies Schiller)
• Kyle Roche (Roche Freedman)

Counsel

• William Dzurilla (Boies Schiller)
• Constantine Economides (Robbins Geller)

Associates

• Stephen Lagos (Boies Schiller)
• Alex Potter (Boies Schiller)
• Stephanie Scutti (Boies Schiller)
• Richard Cipolla (Cleary Gottlieb)

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Three Boies Schiller Partners Splinter Off To Create New Litigation Boutique