2025 Marks Historic Year for Boutique Law Firm Formation

Law360 examined the proliferation of boutique law firms throughout 2025, a year that saw elite small firms launch at unprecedented rates as federal lawyers departed government service and some attorneys left BigLaw positions in response to political and institutional pressures.

Early 2025 saw the Trump administration target several BigLaw firms with punitive executive orders, prompting some attorneys to leave when their firms reached controversial agreements to cooperate with the administration. One prominent example emerged when Paul Weiss reached a settlement in March, followed two months later by the departure of key attorneys who formed Dunn Isaacson Rhee, a litigation boutique that has since grown to approximately 28 attorneys.

Lauren Drake, co-managing partner of Macrae's DC office, described how these institutional decisions influenced attorney movement. "Some litigators either were unhappy with their firm's decision to make a deal with the Trump administration or, more often and more likely, just felt limited by a firm's decision," she told Law360.

With BigLaw firms flooded with applications and becoming highly selective, launching independent practices became an attractive alternative for many experienced attorneys. Several new boutiques explicitly positioned themselves to counter Trump administration policies, while others focused on specialized practice areas or benefited from reduced conflicts and improved AI tools that make boutique operations more viable.

Read the full Law360 article by Daniel Connolly here: How 2025 Became The Year Of The Boutique

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