On the Hot List: Firm Earns NLJ Acclaim
February 3, 2014 – The National Law Journal reports today on the firm being named to the “Litigation Boutiques Hot List” – 10 national firms earning national acclaim based on skill, not size. The article, “Relentless, Focused, Choosy,” reports on the firm’s “penchant for matters with a lot of money and business at stake, groundbreaking legal issues or big public policy questions.”
The NLJ reports that Partner William Brewer III explains the zest for big cases with a rhetorical question: Would you rather play in the minor leagues or in the majors?
“You really want to play against the best competition,” Brewer says.
Attorney Frank Finn, of counsel in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight, has encountered the firm many times during his 58 years as a civil defense attorney and a mediator. “I found them very thorough and not afraid to invest hours and hours making sure they cover the waterfront,” Finn says.
Read the report here.
Firm Recognized by National Law Journal: Top Boutiques
May 23, 2011 – The National Law Journal today recognized the firm as one of the nation’s leading litigation boutiques. The reporting, “A Consistent ‘Bare-Knuckles’ Strategy in a Mix of Cases,” chronicles the rise of Bickel & Brewer, reports on the firm’s many notable clients, and comments on its innovations.
For a firm founded a quarter-century ago by just two lawyers in their 30s, Bickel & Brewer has had remarkable success building an outsized reputation, reports the NLJ. “Unlike many boutiques, Bickel & Brewer doesn’t hew to a particular niche. The firm handles a mix of plaintiffs’ and defense-side commercial litigation and arbitrations, shareholder and corporate-governance disputes, white-collar defense work, intellectual property cases, and regulatory and antitrust litigation out of Dallas and a growing New York office,” says the NLJ.
William A. Brewer III tells the NLJ, “I don’t think clients come to Bickel & Brewer because our model is different. Clients comes to Bickel & Brewer to win cases.”
Read the full report here.
Best Lawyers: William Brewer on Cases That Can Make or Break Corporate America
December 9, 2009 — Best Lawyers of America profiles the "New York powerhouse litigation boutique Bickel & Brewer," which has "earned a reputation as the go-to firm in cases where a company simply cannot afford to lose."
“Right now, there’s a seemingly endless supply of businesses facing situations that require legal representation in which, if they don’t get the financial situation worked out or don’t get those supply lines open or don’t get the burden off their back, it will so impact them—that they’ll likely be out of business,” said William A. Brewer III, one of the firm’s founding partners. “We’re built for these kinds of disputes.”
The article, published in a special section of New York Magazine, notes some of the firm's "unusual features," including having an in-house team of former FBI investigators and business specialists, while also focusing on its devotion to public service.
The article states, "Its Future Leaders Program targets talented school kids from economically disadvantaged parts of Dallas, and provides intensive academic and leadership training from fifth grade through high school. The Future Leaders Program grew out of another of initiative, the Bickel & Brewer Storefront, a community law office it established in 1995 in the inner city in Dallas to provide free or sliding scale civil legal services to low-income clients (any fees it receives are funneled back into the Bickel & Brewer Foundation, which funds the firm’s many public service initiatives.)"
“We’ve been blessed,” said Brewer, “and I and my partners feel that whenever we can, we should make ourselves available to help people who need it.”
To read the full article, click here.
The Wall Street Journal Reports on Firm's "Old-School Power Attire"
February 5, 2009 — The Wall Street Journal's Style Section reports on the firm's affinity for formality in the article "Inside a Bastion of Old-School Power Attire." The report states that, at Bickel & Brewer, "even the mailroom clerks wear suits and ties."
"I think people expect high-powered lawyers to look like high-powered lawyers," said Managing Partner William A. Brewer III. "Anything else is sending the wrong signal."
Read the full article here.
Dallas Life Magazine: The Rambo Boys
February 25, 1990 — Dallas Life Magazine publishes an article titled "The Rambo Boys," which states that John Bickel and William Brewer, "proud masters of legal 'hardball,' seem to be toning down the guerilla style that has rankled much of the Dallas legal community." But, the article states, neither Bickel or Brewer are about to "apologize for the tactics that sealed their reputations."
The article refers to Bickel & Brewer's lawyers as "unyielding" — with the firm taking advantage of "every opportunity to erect stumbling blocks for the opposition. Matters that once were resolved by phone or over breakfast at the City Club now are often handled before a judge."
The article discusses how the firm burst into the Dallas legal scene in the mid-1980s, assembling a "top-notch legal team" and wooing "some of the most high-profile clients from established firms." Just years later, the firm has branches in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and its attorneys are the highest paid in the nation.
According to the article, lawyers who have gone up against the firm "agree that Bickel & Brewer attorneys are exceptionally well-prepared and adroit in the courtroom."
National Law Journal: Dallas’ Brash Young Upstarts
January 21, 1990 - The National Law Journal profiled Bickel & Brewer, the fast-growing Dallas litigation boutique founded in 1983 by William A. Brewer III and John W. Bickel II. Known for high associate pay, aggressive tactics, and rapid growth to 41 lawyers, the firm has drawn both blue-chip clients and sharp criticism from Dallas’ legal establishment, earning the nickname “the Rambo firm.” Opponents cite hardball deposition practices and sanctions, while the founders defend their approach as necessary to push cases to trial and resolve disputes quickly. The firm recently expanded to Chicago and is preparing for trial in a multimillion-dollar breach of contract and patent dispute between Motorola and Hitachi in federal court in Austin.
"We introduced a style of litigation to Dallas that was needed by the business community," says Mr. [Bill] Brewer. "They need to know that a lawyer is going to push their case hard and push it to trial. That’s ruffled some feathers. It’s vastly different from the way they are used to practicing around here."
The New York Times Reports on the Firms "Bare-Knuckles" Approach
May 13, 1988 — The New York Times reports on the "back-knuckles" approach of Dallas attorneys at Bickel & Brewer. The article states that lawyers in Dallas say managing partners John Bickel and William Brewer "act like New York lawyers" — commenting on their aggressive tactics.
"New York lawyers are the sharpest in the country," Brewer said." We want to play in that league."
According to the article, the firm opened its own New York office last year and raised salaries — making them equal to that of top New York firms. Bickel & Brewer also has its own in-office mock courtroom, where "lawyers test cases and prepare witness with a run-through of every major trial."
Read the article, "Bare-Knuckles Litigation Jars Many in Dallas," here.
Texas Monthly Profiles Bickel & Brewer — the "Most Unyielding and Difficult Firm in Dallas"
December 1987 — Texas Monthly profiles Bickel & Brewer and its representation of Texas Commerce Bank-Dallas in what has become a "notorious" case involving its lease with Plaza of the Americas.
The article, titled "Behind the Lines: The World War I Theory of Law," states, "Bickel & Brewer is known as a tough fighter, perhaps the most unyielding and difficult firm in Dallas. Although just three and a half years old, with only six partners, five of whom are under forty, Bickel & Brewer has attracted a blue-chip client list that, besides TCB-Dallas, includes American Petrofina, the Dallas Market Center, MCI, MBank, the Richards Group, Sentry Life Insurance, and the Trammell Crow Company."
"We want to try the big cases," said founding partner William Brewer. "If you have two hundred cases in your firm, you're not going to pretend you're going to win them all. We've got about thirty clients, and they are going to pay us several million dollars to win. If you're handling one-hundred-million-dollar cases, you don't compromise for your client even a little bit."
To access the December 1987 issue, click here.