Not sure what Brainz.com is but I AM sure what law.com is. Though this article is three years old it accurately describes a boutique litigation firm. If I recall it sizes them from 11 attorneys to 96. We are currently doing a matter with one which is ranked in the top 3 for the last 3 yearsand is listed at the bottom. Note how the decription differs from yours.
Whatever this firm is that EDIG has hired is a boutique according to their own description and website. They are also in San Diego and most likely all EDIG could afford. Unless they went inhouse with Cucomelli LOL. They are saying "boutique" instead of small.
Ultimately the only thing that matters is whether revenue flows regularly to EDIG, which I have been saying for about 5 years now, but I doubt seriously you can find this new "boutique" firm of EDIG's listed on any site as a recognized firm of importancce.
From Law.com:
Top Litigation Boutiques of the Year
Practicing law at a litigation boutique is nothing like working at a big firm. Boutique lawyers say it's much better
The American Lawyer
January 5, 2009
¦Litigation Boutique of the Year Winner: Bartlit Beck
On the day that Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber opened its doors, name partner Lawrence Robbins took special note of a package of yellow Post-it Notes. Robbins and three of his fellow founders had left the safety and security of Mayer Brown partnerships to venture out on their own, and there had been a few misgivings. But as he stood in the supply room amid the new firm's pens, notepads and Post-its, Robbins thought to himself: "These are my yellow sticky notes. This is my firm." It was a feeling of ownership, he says, that he'd never had before.
Practicing at a litigation boutique is different from practicing at an Am Law 200 firm. To be clear: We are not referring to the quality of the boutiques' cases or the level of their advocacy. The firms we considered for Best Litigation Boutique honors -- which ranged in size from 11 to 96 lawyers --are involved in some of the highest-profile, highest-stake cases in the country, in both the civil and criminal arenas. Their clients are banks, accounting firms, airlines, energy companies, tobacco and pharmaceutical giants, hedge funds -- a list that any big firm might aspire to.
Instead, where they diverge from the big firms is in their culture, a word worn to banality in the recruiting brochures of The Am Law 200. At litigation boutiques, culture is not a cliche. It's Gibbs & Bruns's lockstep compensation, Bredhoff & Kaiser's determination not to handle management-side labor work, Wallace King Domike & Reiskin's deep commitment to a diverse partnership. Would a big firm refuse to bill by the hour or hire laterals? Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott does. How about letting associates vote on whether to take a contingency-fee case, as Susman Godfrey does; or paying five-figure bonuses to staff members when the firm has a good year, which is Robbins, Russell's policy?
The clients of these firms told us that the boutiques, in the main, deliver what they promise: They are nimble, efficient, flexible and smart. They're also often a lot less expensive than their big-firm competitors -- a quality that clients now appreciate more than ever. Several boutiques even told us that they turned away work in the last year. How many big firms can say the same?
RELATED ARTICLE: WINNING FIRM
Litigation Boutique of the Year Winner: Bartlit Beck
No hourly fees, no leverage, no laterals. And Bartlit Beck's lawyers are always prepared to go to trial. The firm's model is unique -- and its results are, too
David Bario
The American Lawyer
More than any of the other litigation boutiques we considered, Bartlit Beck stood out for the sheer breadth and magnitude of its trial work. In the last two years, its attorneys tried more than 15 cases to verdict in at least 10 states -- and they prevailed in all but three. In areas as diverse as mass torts, securities, antitrust and intellectual property, the firm's wins reverberated throughout the industries involved.
