Litigation Boutique Expands Once Again in NY
"I would say within five to seven years, we're going to replace Quinn Emanuel as the next dominant global litigation firm, no question," said former Quinn Emanuel partner John Pierce, now managing partner of Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht.
August 03, 2018 at 07:42 AM
5 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Less than a month after picking up 13 lawyers in New York , a Los Angeles-based litigation boutique is expanding again in the Big Apple, and making some big-time promises in the process. Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht announced this week that it has absorbed Creizman LLC, a small New York-based trial and white-collar criminal defense firm led by name partner Eric Creizman. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Latham & Watkins K&L Gates Founded as Pierce Sergenian n early 2017 by Pierce and his former Quinn Emanuel colleague David Sergenian, who has since left the firm, the litigation boutique has rapidly expanded and undergone several iterations in its short lifetime. “I've been looking for the right group of people and the right team to join where there will be synergies, where there will be other people who can really handle the cases that we're working on and do a great job for our clients,” said Creizman, who began his legal career two decades ago at Sullivan & Cromwell. “I think Pierce Bainbridge really fit the bill.” After two years at Sullivan & Cromwell, Creizman joined now-defunct Heller Ehrman, where he spent seven years. When Heller Ehrman collapsed in 2008, Creizman joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he spent nearly the next three years before forming his own shop in June 2011. . Over the years he has represented a wide array of clients, including U.S. Air Force veteran Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, who in 2016 was accused of providing materials to ISIS. (Pugh was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 35 years in federal prison .) . After being introduced to Pierce Bainbridge by former Creizman associate and MSNBC on-air analyst Caroline Polisi, now of counsel at the firm , Creizman said the opportunity to join up with John Pierce and company was simply too good to pass up. “I'm really happy to just be able to focus on my clients and I have the support and expertise of people who are at the top of their game in litigation,” Creizman said. After his sudden exit from K&L Gates, where Pierce briefly served as co-head of the firm's litigation group in early 2016, he re-emerged as managing partner and co-founder of Pierce Sergenian, which quickly nabbed a role on a high-profile case against Snap Inc. also made several notable lateral hires, including former Kirkland & Ellis litigation partner Darin Beffa and Quinn Emanuel of counsel Joseph Ashby, and secured funding from Scottsdale, Arizona-based litigation financier Pravati Capital LLC . But in November 2017, Sergenian and Ashby left to form their own Los Angeles-based shop, Sergenian Ashby, and their former firm took on the name Pierce Burns following its addition of former Quinn Emanuel associate Julian Burns King. She, too, would soon leave the short-lived Pierce Burns to form her own firm, Los Angeles-based King & Siegel, along with fellow former Quinn Emanuel associate Elliot Siegel. bringing on solo practitioner James Bainbridge and several other lawyers “I'm often accused of hyperbole, but the world's never seen anything like this before and I think people are finally starting to sit up and take notice,” Pierce said. “What you're seeing now is just a natural flood of talent to our platform.” And Pierce Bainbridge isn't stopping its expansion anytime soon, Pierce said assuredly. With some 25 lawyers scattered across its offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., Pierce said the firm is eyeing a move to San Francisco and is working on an overseas acquisition, although he declined to discuss any specifics. Pierce Bainbridge's rapid expansion doesn't mean a huge investment in capital, Pierce said. “For us when we 'launch' in a major market, that just means that we're investing in talent, we don't get floors of skyscrapers and mahogany wood or glass. We're more like special operations forces that travel light and strike hard,” said Pierce, a former tank platoon leader in the U.S. Army. trade secrets suit filed against Stubhub Inc. class action filed against Facebook Inc. "We have litigation funders pounding on our door to try to get involved in what we're doing," Pierce said. "We fully intend to continue using litigation funding, because even though we don't need it to keep the lights on, it provides rocket fuel to litigate these big cases against these massive firms." “I would say within five to seven years we're going to replace Quinn Emanuel as the next dominant global litigation firm, no question,“ Pierce said.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLong Island Midsize Firm and Managing Partner Sued for Sexual Harassment, Discrimination
6 minute readKing & Spalding Adds Veteran Antitrust Litigator From White & Case in New York
3 minute readTroutman Pepper Accused of Inattentive Case Management in $59M Malpractice Suit
7 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Infant Formula Judge Sanctions Kirkland's Jim Hurst: 'Overtly Crossed the Lines'
- 2Abbott, Mead Johnson Win Defense Verdict Over Preemie Infant Formula
- 3Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 4Greenberg Traurig Initiates String of Suits Following JPMorgan Chase's 'Infinite Money Glitch'
- 5Data-Driven Legal Strategies
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250