Tony Cochran (from left), Tom Bever and Emily Ward, who will join Smith, Gambrell & Russell on Jan. 6. (Not pictured: Sarah Gordon) (Courtesy photo)

Well-known Atlanta trial lawyers Tony Cochran and Tom Bever have left litigation boutique Chilivis Cochran Larkins & Bever to head a white-collar defense practice for Smith, Gambrell & Russell, an Atlanta-based Am Law 200 firm.

The Chilivis firm will become Chilivis Grubman Dalbey & Warner when Cochran and Bever join Smith Gambrell on Jan. 6 with associates Sarah Gordon and Emily Ward.

Nick Chilivis started the high-profile litigation boutique in 1984 with Gary Grindler. Chilivis retired in 2002 but remained with the firm as of counsel until his death on Oct. 4, 2016. John Larkins Jr., the other name partner in Chilivis Cochran Larkins & Bever, retired last year.

Randy Dalbey (Courtesy photo)

The new name partners in the Chilivis firm are Scott Grubman, John D. "Randy" Dalbey and Lauren Warner. Their boutique, which handles white-collar defense, government investigations, qui tam matters and complex commercial litigation, with a focus on health care providers, will have six lawyers after the four lawyers' departures in January.

In an interview, Bever and Cochran, whose practices include white-collar defense, government investigations and commercial litigation, said the larger scope that Smith Gambrell affords appealed to them, adding that they've often worked on cases with Smith Gambrell lawyers, representing different parties. Both were federal prosecutors before joining the Chilivis firm.

Smith Gambrell's chairman, Stephen Forte, said that he first tried a case with Cochran 30 years ago, involving the Lake Arrowhead resort in Cherokee County, in a jury trial that lasted two months.

"We know each other quite well," Forte said. "This is an opportunity to add two of the truly elite trial lawyers in Atlanta, if not all of Georgia. It enhances the brand of the firm and deepens our expertise in health care and white-collar litigation, where we have an increasing need to help clients."

Lauren Warner, Chilivas Grubman Dalbey & Warner (Courtesy photo)

Bever and Cochran said they often work on federal qui tam cases, particularly in health care, with big general practice firms, including Smith Gambrell, where they will represent individual executives while the larger firm will represent the corporation.

"Going forward, we may represent the institution and refer individuals needing representation to other counsel," Bever said, adding that the increase in corporate internal investigations also made Smith Gambrell's larger platform a draw.

"It's been a privilege to practice law with our partners at Chilivis Cochran Larkins & Bever," he said. "They are excellent lawyers and will continue to thrive."

Next Generation

Scott Grubman (Courtesy photo)

Soon-to-be name partner Scott Grubman of Chilivis Grubman Dalbey & Warner said that,while he was sad to see his colleagues go and he wishes them well, "we are looking forward to the next 40 years—and continuing this firm, which is all of their legacy."

"The Chilivis firm in all of its iterations has been an institution as a litigation boutique in the white-collar world for almost 40 years," said Grubman, who took a break on Monday to speak to the Daily Report during the trial of his client, Jenna Garland, a former press secretary for ex-Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, for allegedly violating the Georgia Open Records Act.

(Garland was charged with a criminal misdemeanor for ordering a subordinate in 2017 to delay producing water billing records for Reed and other city officials that had been requested by Channel 2 Action News. The trial, which started Monday, is expected to continue through Wednesday.)  

Grubman, who's now leading the Chilivis firm's white-collar practice, is a former federal prosecutor who's been in practice for 11 years. Before joining Chilivis Cochran in February 2015 he worked for the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia, where he prosecuted health care fraud cases under the False Claims Act.

While Grubman represents clients in a variety of industries, he said the majority are in the health care industry in government investigations, False Claims Act matters and other white collar cases.

The firm's lawyers are defending health care providers in six or seven whistleblower cases that are in litigation, he said, and defending "dozens more" FCA and white-collar criminal cases in active investigations.

Grubman's law partner Dalbey said he joined the Chilivis firm as a young associate in 1990 for the chance to work with Nick Chilivis. "Nick was extraordinary. I had the greatest job of any associate in the city working for him."

"We have a lot of very and good interesting matters that we are working on, and we're excited about continuing the firm into the future," said Dalbey, who handles commercial litigation and matters for health care providers, including hospitals and doctors, encompassing government investigations, whistleblower claims, regulatory issues and general business disputes.

Warner, who will become a name partner in January with Grubman and Dalbey, joined the Chilivas firm in September 2017 from King & Spalding, where she was a senior associate. She was named a partner at the beginning of 2019. In practice for 14 years, Warner handles complex commercial litigation, government and internal investigations and white-collar defense.