Ariana Tadler, left, and Glenn Phillips, right. (Courtesy photos)

Ariana Tadler, the managing partner of class action plaintiffs firm Milberg Tadler Phillips Grossman, announced on Tuesday that she and three other attorneys would be leaving to start their own firm, to be called Tadler Law.

Tadler, who has led Milberg Tadler since it was formed 18 months ago by joining the operations of Milberg with resources from the mass torts and personal injury firm Sanders Phillips Grossman, called her new firm a “boutique class action and complex litigation firm” that will have offices in New York City and San Francisco.

Milberg Tadler partners joining her in the move include AJ de Bartolomeo, Henry Kelston and Melissa Clark, according to Tadler's announcement. Some professional staff will also be moving, and Glenn Phillips will take over management of the firm, now known as Milberg Phillips Grossman.

Phillips and Tadler couldn't be reached with questions about the new venture. Profiles of Tadler and the other partners came down from the Milberg Phillips website on Tuesday afternoon, and the icon at the top of the page was replaced with one saying “Milberg Phillips Grossman.”

“We wish Ariana and her new firm great success in the future and have enjoyed working with her and her colleagues over the last 18 months,” Phillips said in the announcement. “We look forward to collaborating on matters of mutual interest.”

Website registration records appear to show that someone created several websites with “Tadler Law” in the name on Feb. 8; one, tadlerlaw.com, displays a logo and a “coming soon” message. Tadler Law LLP filed papers with New York's secretary of state on March 26.

A spokesman for Tadler Law confirmed that tadlerlaw.com is the firm's future website. Asked about the firm's registration activity earlier this year, the spokesman said, “when you launch a new firm, there is preparation time to get things together.”

In addition to her leadership of the firm, Tadler is known for her focus on e-discovery, which is a key part of class action litigation. She describes herself on LinkedIn as one of the founders of Meta-e Discovery LLC, which was created in 2015 when Milberg spun out its litigation support and data hosting services division.

Tadler said that she and her partners at Tadler Law have decades of experience representing investors, consumers and business in direct actions and in securities, consumer and data-breach class actions.

In an email to Milberg Phillips personnel that she excerpted in her announcement, Tadler said, “I have worked collaboratively with the lawyers and staff at Milberg LLP and MTPG for many years—some of you for more than 20 years—during which we have established not only strong, reliable working relationships but personal bonds and friendships.

“I have treasured and intend to continue to honor those relationships by which I am humbled and for which I am so very grateful,” she continued. “As I look forward to the start of my new firm, I am confident that our paths will cross and that those paths will be filled with light, joy and success.”

The development comes shortly after Steven Schulman, a longtime partner at Milberg and its predecessors who faced jail for his role in a scandal involving illicit payments to plaintiffs in class actions, settled a lawsuit he brought against the firm and its successor for allegedly failing to make scheduled payments to him. A lawyer for Schulman declined to comment.

David Bershad, another former partner involved in the payments scandal, said in an April court filing that he was negotiating with the firms. His lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment.