Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy, a former U.S. representative and acting secretary of the Army under President Barack Obama, has left Dilworth Paxson after a short stay to join the cybersecurity and data privacy group at FisherBroyles in Philadelphia.

Murphy made the move after just three months at Dilworth Paxson, drawn to FisherBroyles' distributed firm model, better compensation and growing cybersecurity and data privacy group, which includes more than two dozen attorneys.

The firm works with Facebook on intellectual property issues, including data privacy and cybersecurity, and counsels several health care systems on cybersecurity matters.

Murphy was the first veteran of the Iraq War to be elected to the House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's eighth congressional district from 2007 to 2011. Also a former federal and military prosecutor, and a former partner at Cozen O'Connor and Fox Rothschild, Murphy, 46, focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation and emerging companies.

"I need a national and international platform, I serve on the federal boards of Adobe and Cerner, and the board of BAE Systems Inc., the fourth largest defense contractor in the world," Murphy said.

Murphy was appointed to the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission in 2018, intending to use that experience to support his clients, he said. He asserts the biggest threat to the U.S. financial system are cybersecurity attacks. As commissioner, he advises C-suite leaders on cybersecurity and data privacy with recent updates to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which governs corporate disclosures.

"We are in the middle of a congressional hearing promoting a 'whole of nation' approach to cybersecurity, and how the private sector and the government can do more in terms of cybersecurity and data privacy," Murphy said.

"Other countries are attacking our electrical grids, stealing our IP, and ransomware, while other cybercrime is happening—North Korea, China and Russia are the biggest adversaries."

As for changing law firms, the compensation model at FisherBroyles also attracted Murphy.

"You retain 80% of the revenue that you bring in, and I anticipate there will be other lateral moves to the firm," Murphy said. "FisherBroyles is distributed, they do not have the same overhead costs in terms of real estate and other creature comforts common to Big Law."

Murphy said that Chimes, one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the country, intends to move with him as a client, along with the rest of his clients.

Michael Pierson, managing partner of FisherBroyles' global corporate practice, said Murphy "brings strength to our firm's government affairs and emerging companies practices, since we act for a number of fintech and financial services matters, and for companies on a number of legislative matters."

Pierson added, "We currently represent a large enterprise technology company focusing on financial services for over 300 firms before the [Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency], under the Treasury Department, regarding the market structure of the U.S. financial system and trying to move forward the regulatory framework within the U.S. on behalf of this client."

Ajay Raju, Dilworth's managing partner, declined to comment on Murphy's departure.

Pandemic-induced closures instituted across the country since mid-March, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, have forced attorneys to work remotely, and Murphy said that influenced his decision join FisherBroyles, as lawyers have become more comfortable with this model.

FisherBroyles is the first and largest virtual law firm, with more than 270 attorneys practicing in 23 markets, most working remotely outside physical offices.

"Working remotely during the pandemic made a distributed firm more attractive to me," Murphy said. "COVID-19 is going to change how the people in America do business, including the legal profession."

FisherBroyles has added 32 partners in 2020, including 10 in London, and the majority were onboarded during the pandemic, according to Pierson.

"The coronavirus is certainly accelerating our recruiting and the number of partners interested in our firm," Pierson said. "We continue to deliver legal services from where we are, and every Am Law 100 partner is doing that right now."

In 2019 the firm grew by approximately 30%, said Pierson, earning $98 million in gross revenue, which puts the firm close to being an Am Law 200 firm.