David Boies, Managing Partner at Boies Schiller Flexner: A Profile of Leadership

Summary

David Boies is the managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, one of the preeminent law firms of the 21st century. In this article, we explore David Boies's incredible career and the remarkable success he has achieved in his professional and personal endeavors.

David Boies was born in 1942 in Syracruce, New York. He graduated with honors from Yale Law School in 1966. After school, he moved west and worked as a law clerk to the United States Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas. He also worked at Cravath Swaine & Moore, a prestigious New York law firm.

In 1982, David Boies founded Boies Schiller Flexner. From the start of the firm, Boies sought to create a different kind of law firm, one that held the client's interests at the center of everything they did. He steered the firm towards areas of law that he felt passionate about and away from the sort of work that he didn't like.

Boies' greatest successes have been in the area of antitrust law and corporate litigation. He was chosen to represent the US Government in its landmark antitrust litigation against Microsoft and was also the lead counsel in several high profile cases involving the music and movie industries.

Boies was also successful in his personal endeavors. He is an avid golfer and philanthropist, and he and his wife, Mary Boies, have been married for over 50 years.

Throughout his career, Boies has earned numerous honors and awards. He was named one of the “30 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by the National Law Journal, and was also named “Litigator of the Year” by the American Lawyer magazine. In 2019, Harvard Law School awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

David Boies is an inspiration. His remarkable career has taught us that hard work and dedication can lead to unimaginable success. He has made the legal world a better place through his passion for justice and his commitment to client service. His story is one of determination, perseverance, and success.
 

David Boies: Managing Partner of Boies Schiller Flexner

David Boies is the managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, an American law firm that specializes in a variety of legal services. His practice focuses on representing high-profile clients in complex litigation and arbitration disputes. Boies is also well-known for his involvement in some of the most high-profile cases in recent memory, ranging from defending the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 to representing Al Gore in Bush v. Gore.

Boies was born in Syracruse, New York in 1941 and attended college at Amherst College, graduating with his degree in 1964. After graduation, he then attended Yale Law School where he received his law degree in 1966. During his time as a student, he was heavily involved in civil rights activism, including participating in Freedom Rides and picketing segregated restaurants. He also authored a paper on civil rights that won the school's prestigious George Woodward Hitchcox Prize.

David Boies joined the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore in 1966, making him the first associate to be hired directly from law school. After spending nearly 20 years at the firm, he became a partner at Cravath in 1985. During his time there, Boies worked on some of the most high-profile cases of the time, including the historic antitrust case against Microsoft and the 2000 merger between Time Warner and AOL.

In 1997, Boies left Cravath, Swaine & Moore to found Boies & Schiller with fellow Cravath attorney Jonathan Schiller. The firm was later renamed Boies Schiller Flexner in 2006 and now has offices across the United States. Boies Schiller Flexner is widely recognized for its representation of some of the world's most recognizable brands in complicated and high-stakes litigation.

Under Boies' leadership, the firm has continued to take on some of the most important cases in the United States. In 2010, David Boies and Ted Olson represented the plaintiffs in a legal challenge to the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. The case was eventually appealed all the way to the Supreme Court and resulted in a ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Any attorney's career that can count winning a major decision against Microsoft as one of its highlights obviously qualifies that attorney for inclusion among the industry's elite. Add to the mix a major role in the 2000 case that would ultimately decide who would serve as president and a client roster that includes the likes of the New York Yankees, Calvin Klein, Tyco, and Texaco, and an argument could be made that David Boies is the premier litigator of our times.

The cinema has long been enamored with the figure of the courtroom attorney, a barrister using his verbal powers to sway a judge or jury away from bias and preconception; but rarely has there been an actual figure with an abundance of charisma fit to make Hollywood stand back and take notice. Enter David Boies. From an associate position at the famous Cravath, Swaine & Moore to the establishment of his own firm, Boies, Schiller & Flexner; David Boies has cemented himself as one of the country's most brilliant litigators.

At first glance he looks like a less cynical Bill Murray: a ruddy face, receding brown hair and gentle eyes befitting the narrator of a Christmas story. His taste in clothing will not be winning him any accolades from Joan Rivers. However, if it is not revealed in his appearance, it certainly manifests itself in his eccentric decorum: David Boies is one of the greatest attorneys of his generation, the man the National Law Journal dubbed the "Michael Jordan of the courtroom."

It began in Illinois on March 11, 1941. David Boies, the eldest of five children born to two school teachers, was raised in the rural Midwest before the family moved to California. Half a century later, the boy from Sycamore would stand atop the legal profession.

Boies, now 63, has had a long and distinguished career that has lasted over three decades. Through the years he has represented some of the country's biggest corporations and the media's biggest newsmakers. His clients have included CBS, the New York Yankees, Don Imus, Napster, Calvin Klein, Texaco, Gary Shandling and Tyco. Those he has wrestled large sums of money from include auction staples Christie's and Sotheby's. Michael Milken felt the sting of Boies' singular talent when the attorney was able to get a $1 billion settlement from the financier.

However, two cases in recent memory will serve as the highlights of his resume for years to come. In 1999, Boies, working for the United States government, was the lawyer largely responsible for the defeat of Microsoft. The software giant was accused of monopolizing web browsers by including Internet Explorer along with Windows. Ironically, Boies had previously defended IBM against the Justice Department's monopoly charges. For his accomplishment, The National Law Journal named him the "Lawyer of the Year." Boies' fame spread beyond professional circles. That same year, Vanity Fair admitted him to the magazine's Hall of Fame, a testament to his pop-culture credence.

How does one top the largest antitrust case of the decade? Well, there's always the issue of who should be the leader of the free world. For an encore to his dazzling display in the Microsoft case, Boies took the helm of Al Gore's challenge for the 2000 presidential election. The media blitz glued Americans to their televisions for hours on end, quality time with CNN that few will be able to forget—-no matter how hard they try. Aside from Rorschach-tinged, butterfly ballot nightmares; David Boies at work may be the indelible image of the process. Despite numerous obstacles and a lower court's decision, Boies managed to secure a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court allowing for a recount. Gore was ultimately unsuccessful in the United States Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote:

"Given all these factors, and in light of the legislative intent identified by the Florida Supreme Court to bring Florida within the 'safe harbor' provision of 3 U. S. C. §5, the remedy prescribed by the Supreme Court of Florida cannot be deemed an 'appropriate' one as of December 8."

However, Boies' handling of the Vice President's dispute earned him further admiration. Time selected him as its "Lawyer of the Year" in 2000. Despite the rare occasion of his being on the short-side of a decision, Boies' stock increased more dramatically than those of his opponents in the case. As the political effects of the case are still reverberating, posterity may provide an even greater place for him in years to come.

Mr. Boies displays the kind of innate qualities other attorneys dream about. He possesses a ruthless work ethic, a memory that enables him to eschew reliance on notes, and a manner that is both natural and effective. Mr. Boies is able to carry his courtroom prowess over to the media stage. As anyone who watched him during the Florida maelstrom can attest to, he is able to be comfortable in front of the camera without pandering to it, a tendency many find hard to resist.

The Illinois native began his education at the University of Redlands and went on to earn a B.S. from Northwestern in 1964, a LL.B. magna cum laude from Yale in 1966, a LL.M. from NYU in 1967, and LL.D. from Redlands in 2000. His academic background is even more impressive when his dyslexia, which prevented him from reading in his early grade school years, is taken into account.

Mr. Boies is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and a trustee of St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital Medical Center. He is the father of six and currently resides in Westchester, New York with his third wife Mary, an attorney in her own right.

Boies, Schiller & Flexner is one of the nations' burgeoning law firms. With offices across the country and headquarters in Armonk, NY, it is quickly becoming one of the hottest places for attorneys to work, due in no small part to the reputation of its founding partner.

Though he's traded in Wall Street for the suburbs, David Boies still takes cases that have heavy social ramifications as well as legal consequences. Be it the enigma of Internet technology or the fate of the government's political future, David Boies will certainly be the attorney at the forefront of any development.