Former Boies Schiller Flexner partner Stacey Grigsby. Courtesy photo

Three more partners at Boies Schiller Flexner are leaving the firm, including Stacey Grigsby, Christopher Renner and Michael Schafler.

The new departures mean that at least 16 partners have left Boies Schiller in 2020. Boies Schiller's leaders said in an interview Wednesday that the firm remains financially healthy and at least some lawyer attrition was part of a planned transition.

Grigsby is an equity partner at Boies Schiller in Washington, D.C., and is slated to join Covington & Burling, her new firm confirmed. Renner, also in Washington, D.C., is planning to move to Davis Wright Tremaine. Schafler recently moved to the Los Angeles boutique of Cohen Williams, according to the firm's website.

Grigsby, who joined Boies Schiller from the U.S. Justice Department in 2014, was part of a team that helped Uber prevail at trial last year against Boston's biggest taxi company. She had a number of positions at the DOJ, including counsel to the associate attorney general, who was then Tony West, now Uber's general counsel.

Clara Shin, who co-leads Covington's commercial litigation practice of about 150 lawyers, said the firm was "very enthusiastic" to welcome Grigsby and said she would be a "core member" of the commercial litigation practice and of the firm's trial capabilities, advising on antitrust and other issues.

"A lot of my colleagues have known Stacey through the DOJ days," Shin said. "She is someone we've had a relationship with for a long time. We also have shared clients."

West, for his part, said in a message that he regarded Grigsby as "one of the most skilled outside counsel we work with."

"I look forward to continuing to seek her help as one of Covington's newest partners," he said.

Renner, who also joined Boies Schiller in 2014, is an antitrust litigator and adviser. He held a number of posts at the Federal Trade Commission, including as attorney adviser to then-chairman Jon Leibowitz. He has been on Boies Schiller's team representing Apple in patent licensing litigation with chipmaker Qualcomm, among other matters, according to published accounts.

Davis Wright confirmed Renner's plans to join the firm. Rob Maguire, chair of the firm's litigation group, said in a statement that Renner has "an excellent reputation in the antitrust bar" and called him "technically superior, entrepreneurial, industry-focused and committed to working collaboratively to provide excellent client service."

"DWT is the only firm I considered," Renner said in a statement. "It is open and entrepreneurial, not hierarchical, and provides great support to lawyers' practice development efforts. Being able to work with such a strong litigation practice and technology and healthcare groups will be great for my clients and me personally."

Schafler joined Boies Schiller when the firm expanded to Los Angeles by combining with Caldwell Leslie & Proctor. According to the website of Cohen Williams, which announced his addition on March 30, Schafler, a former public defender, has defended clients in investigations and cases of white-collar fraud, perjury, money laundering, false statements and other offenses.

Nick Gravante and Natasha Harrison, Boies Schiller's two new managing partners, said Wednesday that the firm remains strong financially and said they planned to announce Thursday that no layoffs, cuts in partner pay, salary reductions or other curtailments were planned in response to the coronavirus pandemic. That's in contrast to several other firms, including Am Law 100 firms, that have made cost-cutting moves in recent days.

Gravante said the lawyers leaving the firm "are our friends," and he praised Grigsby, saying "I think she'll be successful at Covington." But speaking of the general trend of partner departures over the last three months, he and Harrison said the firm's revenue wouldn't be materially impacted. They said the firm has been asking some people to leave and said some departures, even from the equity partner ranks, have been a wash, financially. They didn't refer to any departures in particular.

"We are confident and deliberate about the future of the firm," said Harrison. "The transition is going to bring more changes."

Update: This story has been updated with additional comments from Gravante, Harrison, West, Maguire and Renner.