Is virtual law firm FisherBroyles about to lose 140 lawyers? Details of ‘significant new venture’ to come
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Two practice leaders at virtual law firm FisherBroyles’ have confirmed they are leaving and plan to “announce details of a significant new venture shortly,” according to a report by Law.com.
The two lawyers are Joel M. Ferdinand and Michael Pierson, according to Pierson, who confirmed their exit to Law.com. One clue to their new venture is the name of a new entity registered in Delaware: Pierson Ferdinand.
About 140 FisherBroyles lawyers could be joining Ferdinand and Pierson at their new law firm, Law.com says, basing the information on “sources familiar with the matter.”
FisherBroyles founder and managing partner James Fisher confirmed to Law.com that several partners are leaving, but said the publication’s count is inaccurate.
“As a leading Am Law 200 firm, we look forward with confidence to 2024, and providing our clients with all the world-class legal services they have come to expect from FisherBroyles,” Fisher said in a statement he provided to Law.com.
Ferdinand led FisherBroyles’ litigation department while Pierson led the law firm’s fintech and blockchain practice. FisherBroyles had nearly 300 lawyers at the beginning of 2023.
Law.com describes FisherBroyles as a “distributed law firm,” another name for a virtual law firm. Founded in 2002, FisherBroyles made American Lawyer’s list of Second Hundred law firms in 2021, based on its 2020 revenues.
According to a January 2022 Reuters story, FisherBroyles pioneered a model in which a lack of offices allowed lawyers to keep up to 80% of what they bill. A key feature of the firm is that profits are not redistributed to other partners.
