Law firm Boies Schiller Flexner has seen exodus of 'dozens of attorneys' amid staff anger at 'Harvey Weinstein and Elizabeth Holmes being taken on as clients' and fury over son of firm's founder 'caught using n-word'
Top law firm Boies Schiller Flexner has seen an exodus of dozens of attorneys after staff have taken issue with some of its client base, the founder's son's alleged use of the n-word and his other son's alleged favorable treatment in securing an office design contract, according to a report.
Multiple insiders at Boies Schiller Flexner told CNBC there has been a dramatic exodus of talent from the legal powerhouse due to a series of controversial decisions made by founders David Boies and Jonathan Schiller.
In 2020 alone, the workforce shrank by more than a third, from around 320 attorneys to 200 by the end of the year, including the loss of almost 60 partners, Bloomberg reported.
Last week, the woman thought to have been tapped to become the firm's successor - Natasha Harrison - stood down from her leadership role. She will stay on at the firm at least through the end of 2021. Harrison is based in London, with sources citing the ongoing COVID restrictions on people from the UK visiting the US as the reason for her departure.
Some staffers are said to have been upset over Boies' decision to represent convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein and disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, CNBC reported.
Meanwhile, others are said to have taken issue with the way the company dealt with Schiller's two sons.
Sources said staff were left 'horrified' when Josh Schiller, an attorney at the firm, allegedly used the n-word at a company party.
The issue was allegedly raised to the firm's leadership and a member of the management committee demanded an investigation but no one from the party was ever contacted over the incident, reported CNBC.
This January, Josh was also arrested for domestic abuse and put on temporary leave. He has since returned to work at the firm after prosecutors dropped the charges and the law firm's outside investigators cleared him.
Schiller's other son Aaron Schiller, boss of architecture firm Schiller Projects, was also accused by some staffers of being granted special treatment in securing a contract to design the law firm's offices in New York, San Francisco and Washington.
Sources claim that some staff are unhappy with the firm's glittering new Hudson Yards offices in NYC, because its open-plan layout is not conducive to private conversations with clients.
A spokesperson for Boies Schiller told CNBC the two founders were not making all the decisions at the company and that it is the managing partners that oversee the day-to-day running of the firm.
Top law firm Boies Schiller Flexner has lost around 100 attorneys in the space of a year after staff have taken issue with its 'unsavory' client base, the founder's son's alleged use of the N-word and his other son's alleged favorable treatment in securing an office design contract, according to a report. Founders David Boies (left) and Jonathan Schiller (right)
Some people were driven to quit over Boies' decision to represent convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein (left) and disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (right), the insiders said
Matt Schwartz, one of four new co-managing partners at Boies Schiller, said the founders are 'part of' discussions about deals with outside vendors but are far from 'running everything.'
'David and Jonathan are on the executive committee. Of course they are part of those discussions,' said Schwartz.
'They hold the titles of managing partners and are an important resource for us. But truly and honestly in every way the four new managing partners of Natasha [Harrison], Sigrid, Alan and myself run the day-to-day operations at this firm and we do so under the guidance and oversight of the executive committee.
'Whoever is telling you that the founding partners are running everything is wrong.
'The short answer is if I want to know how much money we are paying for any particular vendor or item, yes, that is something that is knowable.'
Boies Schiller was founded by Boies and Schiller in 1997, before becoming one of America's largest law firms.
That year, Boies was hired to represent the US government in its high-profile antitrust case against software giant Microsoft.
Boies then famously represented then-Vice President Al Gore in his Supreme Court battle over the 2000 presidential election recount.
Since then, the company has represented some of the biggest corporations including Facebook and American Express and high-profile clients including Weinstein, Holmes and Jeffrey Epstein victims including Virginia Roberts.
Insiders told CNBC that the firm's ties to Weinstein and Holmes had pushed several employees to leave.
Others are said to have taken issue with the way the company dealt with Schiller's two sons. Sources said staff were left 'horrified' when Josh Schiller (pictured), an attorney at the firm, allegedly used the n-word at a company party
This January, Josh was also arrested for domestic abuse and put on temporary leave. He has since returned to work at the firm after prosecutors dropped the charges and the law firm's outside investigators cleared him. Josh with wife Melissa Siebel Schiller in 2007
The jury at Weinstein's 2020 rape trial heard testimony from a lawyer at the firm admitting it had previously acted as a go-between helping the disgraced media mogul hire private investigation firm Black Cube.
He did so to try to squash a damning 2017 New York Times report which revealed Weinstein had paid off multiple women to make their sexual harassment allegations go away.
The report was released and ultimately led to Weinstein's downfall and the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Weinstein is now facing fresh sex-related charges in Los Angeles.
Boies also admitted to contracting Black Cube on Weinstein's behalf.
Insiders told CNBC a group of employees raised concerns about Boies' work with Weinstein with a member of the management committee.
Then, several staff members also confronted Boies at a private retreat in 2017.
Boies admitted in a 2018 interview that he has made mistakes but was just doing his job.
Boies Schiller told CNBC in a statement: 'Retaining Black Cube for Weinstein was a serious mistake as David has, himself, said. We have since implemented procedures ensuring that never happens again.
A spokesperson for Boies Schiller told CNBC the two founders were not making all the decisions at the company and that it is the managing partners that oversee the day-to-day running of the firm. David Boies pictured
'Having said that, I don't believe there is another firm where you can consistently do well while doing good at the scale and level we have historically done that and continue to today.'
Boies also previously represented Holmes in her dispute with the Wall Street Journal over its plans to release its damning expose on Theranos.
Despite efforts to quash the story, it was released.
Holmes is currently on trial accused of defrauding investors and customers in her medical company Theranos by falsely claiming to have developed technology that could run a wide range of health tests on a single drop of blood.
Her trial was put on pause Friday just three days after it began after a juror came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
As well as the 'unsavory' clients, several employees are said to have quit after being unhappy with its handling of issues with Josh Schiller, reported CNBC.
Josh allegedly tried to imitate a joke by black comedian Dave Chapelle comparing the use of the n-word to a homophobic slur while at a party hosted by then-partner Susan Estrich.
He later allegedly claimed it was a joke, a source told CNBC.
The incident is said to have left many staffers 'horrified' and Estrich sent a memo to leadership calling it inappropriate. She later left the firm.
Harrison was also allegedly unimpressed with the company's treatment of Josh - which was topped off by the domestic abuse allegations leveled against him in January, reported CNBC.
Weinstein in court during a pre-trial hearing in July after being extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face sex-related charges in California
Josh is married to California Governor Gavin Newsom's sister-in-law Melissa Siebel Schiller, whose sister is Newsom's wife Jennifer.
Sources told CNBC several leaders were also unhappy that they weren't consulted about Josh's brother Aaron being awarded work on the company's new offices.
Schwartz told CNBC that Schiller was not responsible for deciding to give the work to his son's company.
'It was made by other members of the firm management and was the process of competitive bidding,' Schwartz said.
Harrison, who was seen to be next-in-line to lead the company, announced last week she was stepping down from her role as deputy chair.
This means she will no longer be able to be appointed to chair.
While she told CNBC she is 'not in discussions with any other law firms, nor do I plan to enter into discussions with any other law firms, and any suggestion to the contrary is false,' insiders said she could be leaving the firm soon.
Several sources said there have been concerns for some time around who will succeed the founders, citing a lack of succession planning in place.
Schwartz told CNBC he did not know of any plans for the founders retiring yet and insisted the law firm is 'now run by a group of people that is much broader than the founding partners.'
'The day to day is run exclusively by the four new managing partners, with guidance from, but not control by, the founding partners. That is the succession plan in action,' he said.
A spokesman for Boies Schiller Flexner said: 'The Daily Mail is rehashing an article that purports to break new ground while relying solely on anonymous sources complaining about topics that have been covered ad nauseam for more than a year.
'Printing a story today that our firm reduced its headcount in 2020, while positioning it as breaking news, is grossly unfair — although perhaps not as unfair as giving our firm 17 minutes on a Saturday morning to provide a statement before posting a pre-written story online.'
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