A8 dailybusinessreview.com MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW

by Julie Kayjkay@alm.com

When Ari Tenzer told colleagues, cli-ents and friends he was leaving one of the premiere — and highest paying — law firms in South Florida to hang his own shingle at the tail end of a reces-sion, the reaction ranged from surprise to disbelief.

“Most people were very surprised,” said Tenzer, 34. “The market wasn’t great. There really wasn’t a clear path to what I was doing. In their defense, I didn’t really know where I was headed. Everyone said I was brave and admi-rable, but behind closed doors I’m sure they thought I was crazy.”

That was two years ago. Now, Tenzer has a partner, a secretary, a host of cli-ents and some of the fanciest office space in town. His downtown Miami offices, featuring a pool table, pricey espresso machine, tropical fish tank and sleek furniture, resemble a South Beach club more than a downtown law firm.

For Tenzer, the decision to leave White & Case was not gutsy or angst-filled but a natural move for the son of Canadian en-trepreneurs who speaks six languages.

“We started at the right time,” said Tenzer, who was joined in his new firm by fellow White & Case associate Juan Delgado. “We’re young ambitious guys who are hard-working and were not married and had no children. White & Case taught me how to be a good lawyer, but I wanted to be more hands-on and have more flexibility with regard to how much I charge, what clients I rep-resent, what tech-nology I use. And, I wanted to work in an office that was a reflection of who I am.”

The Tenzer and Delgado partners are part of a new wave of Big Law attorneys fleeing large law firms to start their own shops.

While litigation boutiques have been popping up for years, transactional lawyers, appellate attorneys, and bank-ruptcy and reorganization specialists are now going out on their own — a bit of a rarity in past decades.

Attorneys who have left large South Florida firms to strike out on their own in recent years include Elliot Kula, former appellate head at Greenberg Traurig; Linda Leali, former senior asso-ciate at White & Case; Jason Alderman, a former partner at Carlton Fields; Pedro “Tony” Alvarez of White & Case; Alejandro Arreita, a partner at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff; and

Jim Leshaw, former chair of Greenberg’s Florida bankruptcy and restructuring group.

Others include Adam Schachter and Gerald Greenberg from Stearns Weaver; Paul Savage, formerly with Greenberg Traurig; Gus Lamelas, formerly with Greenberg Traurig, DLA Piper and Squire Sanders; Kubs Lalchandani, formerly with White & Case; Jeff Bast, a partner at Hunton & Williams and Holland & Knight; and Tony Golden and Tania Soleto of Shutts & Bowen.

Life After Big LAwWhat is behind the recent Big Law

exodus?Legal experts say more attorneys are

rejecting a career in Big Law for life as a solo or small-firm attorney. Their reasons include frustration with their inability to make partner, a desire for flexibility with fees and clients, a yen for more family time and an entrepreneurial spirit.

“The reality is there are fewer op-portunities for associates to make part-ner today than there were 10 years ago, and that’s because of the change in the marketplace in the new normal,” said Bill Brennan, a law firm consultant with Philadelphia-based Brennan Strategy. “They may be reading the tea leaves and deciding they may as well go off on their own. Only 60 to 70 percent of associates are going to make partner these days.”

The good news, according to Brennan, is that nearly all of those breaking away from big firms find success and happi-ness running their own firms.

“There’s a pe-riod of intense anxiety but it’s extremely reward-ing,” he said. “They say. ‘I wish I did it sooner.’ They love it.”

In some cases, of course, lawyers are forced to hang their own shingle after being shown

the door or having their pay cut for eco-nomic reasons.

But nearly a dozen Big Law refu-gees interviewed by the Daily Business Review said they left the mother ship of their own volition. Not one expressed re-gret at leaving a big firm to start his or her own shop.

Certainly not Kubs Lalchandani. While he enjoyed working as of coun-sel for Jones Day and White & Case, the Cornell University law graduate has nev-er been happier than he is now, running his own firm.

Lalchandani, 36, whose family runs successful New York City bars, said he has “an entrepreneurial spirit, being

Special Section New Partners

j. albert diaz

Juan Delgado and Ari Tenzer say it was a perfect time for them to leave White & Case and go on their own: “We’re young ambitious guys who are hard-working and were not married and had no children,” Tenzer says.

lAW FIRMS WITH THE MOST lATERAl PARTNER HIRING

Firm new partners lateral hires promoted Fowler White Boggs 9 9 0

Berger Singerman 7 7 0

Akerman Senterfitt 15 6 9

GrayRobinson 8 5 3

Gunster 7 5 2

Bilzin Sumberg 6 4 2

Brinkley Morgan 4 4 0

Holland & Knight 6 4 2

Kelley Kronenberg 3 3 0

Klett Mesches & Johnson 3 3 0

Liebler Gonzalez & Portuondo 5 3 2

Partners and veteran associates of large law firms are increasingly launching their own shops. The lure: More career control, the promise of better pay and a chance to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit.

“ White & Case taught me how to be a good lawyer, but I wanted to be more hands-on and have more flexibility with regard to how much I charge, what clients I represent, what technology I use.”

Ari Tenzer Founder, Tenzer delgAdo

Watch video of Ari Tenzer on dbr.tv at DailyBusiness review.com

BIG lAW ReFuGeeS

DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013 dailybusinessreview.com A9

Indian.” He was formerly a banker and financial analyst.

“I think if I had stayed at White & Case I would have made partner,” he said. “But I’m very into technology. Starting my own law firm geared to technology firms was something I was very attract-ed to. I wanted to run something myself.”

Lalchandani persuaded fellow White & Case lawyer Danny Simon to join him in Lalchandani Simon in 2010. Since then, the Miami firm has moved four times, expanding each time. After start-ing with a 250-square-foot temporary of-fice, they now occupy permanent space with six offices and a lounge.

Lalchandani’s strategy was to attend every technology-related event in Miami to connect with the burgeoning Miami high-tech movement. The firm will be a key host of the first Miami Legal Hack-a-Thon in May, which will put lawyers and tech developers in the same room to brainstorm. Lalchandani also travels the country giving speeches on the legal

pitfalls of social media.After three months of “losing hair,”

the two partners said they are now ap-proaching their White & Case salaries and looking to hire three more lawyers.

SteakhouSe StrategyOther Big Law refugees are Pedro

“Tony” Alvarez, Alejandro Arrieta and Albert Diaz-Silveira. Formerly with White & Case and Stearns Weaver, the lawyers teamed up in July to form Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira in down-town Miami.

The firm bills itself as a “boutique business and corporate law firm” tar-geting foreign and domestic companies, entrepreneurs and investors. They play up their “50 years combined law firm experience” in brochures and on their website.

Like other former large firm lawyers, Arrieta stressed his group’s desire to have a closer relationship with clients, no billable hour requirement, lower

rates and less paper pushing.The Alvarez Arrieta founders said

they hatched the idea to start a firm over lunch at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables. The friends had practiced to-gether for 5½ years.

With little fanfare, the firm was launched in temporary space. They used savings to help fund the venture, but secured a line of credit line from City

National Bank, thanks to an extensive business plan. “Our banker said it was the most well-prepared business plan he had ever seen,” Arrieta said.

Arrieta’s biggest challenge wasn’t finding clients but handling administra-tive matters — securing IT services, staff, malpractice insurance, furniture and art

j. albert diaz

Albert Diaz-Silveira, Alejandro Arrieta and Pedro “Tony” Alvarez formed a “boutique business and corporate law firm” where they tout their 50 years of combined law firm experience.

See partnerS, page 10

LAW FIRMS WITH THE MOST INTERNAL PROMOTIONS

Firm New partners Promoted Lateral hires

Akerman Senterfitt 15 9 6

Greenberg Traurig 12 11 1

Carlton Fields 5 5 0

Stearns Weaver Miller 5 5 0

Hamilton Miller & Birthisel 4 4 0

Cole Scott & Kissane 3 3 0

GrayRobinson 8 3 5

Greenspoon Marder 3 3 0

Weiss Serota 5 3 2

Astigarraga Davis 2 2 0

Bilzin Sumberg 6 2 4

Gunster 7 2 5

Holland & Knight 6 2 4

Liebler Gonzalez & Portuondo 5 2 3

Lydecker Diaz 4 2 2

Wicker Smith 2 2 0

Zumpano Patricios & Winker 4 2 2

BIg LAW ReFuGeeS

A10 dailybusinessreview.com MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW

work and office space.“Coming from a big firm, you’re

spoiled from the administrative end,” Arrieta said. “Juggling administrative functions has been a challenge. Luckily we have some back office help, and it’s becoming less and less burdensome.”

The firm has a 3,500-square-foot of-fice, an associate, an of counsel attorney, an office manag-er, a receptionist and a bookkeep-er. Arrieta said he would eventu-ally like to grow the operation to include 20 to 25 attorneys.

“We’re taking it back to how the legal profession was years ago,” Arrieta said. “It’s much more of a personalized, re la t ionsh ip -based practice, whereas a lot of times, given the business model of Big Law, it’s more of a project by proj-ect practice approach. Ours is a more ho-listic approach.”

‘Doesn’t Happen overnigHt’Dan Gelber, a former state senator and

representative, and two Stearns Weaver partners, Gerald Greenberg and Adam Schachter, launched Gelber Schachter & Greenberg last year.

The three partners said they wanted to practice in a smaller work setting and handle a wider variety of cases. They had discussed their dream for awhile, but “it doesn’t happen overnight,” Schachter said.

With three children each, the partners said it wasn’t a decision without risk. But they launched Gelber Schachter & Greenberg, a boutique firm focused on complex civil litigation and white-collar matters.

Like many other new firms, find-

ing clients was not a problem. “They come from the most unexpected places,” Greenberg noted. “Referrals from attor-neys we know well, some come from attorneys we have had passing relation-ships with. Fortunately, there has been a steady flow of clients.”

The challenges have been in the de-tails, like securing their website domain

name, gsgpa.com. It was held by an older Miami lawyer who wasn’t us-ing it. Gelber and Schachter convinced him to make the name available to them.

The former Stearns part-ners said they have no regrets about making the move, and frequently field calls from other large firm at-torneys seeking

advice on how to make a similar jump.“I tell them six months away is the

best time to make a move,” Greenberg said. “But it’s just a matter of eventually having the confidence to make the leap.”

spousal supportFor former Carlton Fields partner

Jason Alderman and former White & Case senior associate Linda Leali, the decision to start a firm was easier be-cause both have spouses with good jobs with benefits. Alderman’s wife, a former Carlton Fields partner, is general coun-sel for Turnberry Country Club. Leali’s spouse works for the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

“That gave me a feeling of security that I can fail,” Alderman said. “It starts with the support of your spouse. The real heroes out there are the people who have stay-at-home wives who do this.”

Alderman said he was looking for

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Partners: Launching firm means plenty of risk, potential big rewards

j. aLbert diaz

It was less of a leap of faith for Jason Alderman and Linda Leali to start their own firm: Both have spouses with good jobs and benefits.

law firms with new Partners in south florida

Firm New partners Promoted Lateral hires

Akerman Senterfitt 15 9 6

Alderman Leali 2 0 2

Arnstein & Lehr 1 0 1

Assouline & Berlowe 2 1 1

Astigarraga Davis 2 2 0

Baker & McKenzie 1 1 0

Bercow Radell & Fernandez 1 1 0

Bilzin Sumberg 6 2 4

Berger Singerman 7 0 7

Brinkley Morgan 4 0 4

Buckingham Doolittle & Burroughs 2 0 2

Carlton Fields 5 5 0

Christine D. Hanley & Associates 1 1 0

Coffey Burlington 1 1 0

Cole Scott & Kissane 3 3 0

Colodny Fass 1 1 0

Concepcion Martinez & Bellido 1 NA NA

Conrad & Scherer 2 1 1

Edwards Widman Palmer 1 1 0

Freedland Harwin 2 0 2

Foley & Lardner 1 0 1

Foley & Mansfield 1 1 0

Fowler White Boggs 9 0 9

Fox Rothschild 2 1 1

GrayRobinson 8 3 5

Greenberg Traurig 12 11 1

Greenspoon Marder 3 3 0

Genovese Joblove & Battista 1 1 0

Gunster 7 2 5

Hamilton Miller & Birthisel 4 4 0

Heller Waldman 1 1 0

Hinshaw & Culbertson 2 1 1

Holland & Knight 6 2 4

Hughes Hubbard & Reed 1 0 1

Hunton & Williams 2 1 1

Hyman & Mars 1 1 0

Infante Zumpano 2 1 1

K&L Gates 1 0 1

Kaye Bender Rembaum 1 0 1

Kelley Kronenberg 3 0 3

Klett, Mesches & Johnson 3 0 3

Lash & Goldberg 1 1 0

Levine Kellogg 1 0 1

Liebler Gonzalez & Portuondo 5 2 3

Lydecker Diaz 4 2 2

Markowitz Ringel 1 1 0

Jones Foster 1 1 0

Richman Greer 1 1 0

Sedgwick 1 1 0

Smith Currie & Hancock 1 1 0

Stearns Weaver Miller 5 5 0

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan 1 0 1

Ward Damon 1 0 1

Weiss Serota 5 3 2

Wicker Smith 2 2 0

Zumpano Patricios & Winker 4 2 2

Total 154 73 80

Na: Not available

“ I wanted to build something rather than leasing my life out to someone else. Before, I could work on a trial for three weeks and win and get a pat on the back. now, I get $100,000 for it.”

Jason alderman Founder, alderman leali

DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013 dailybusinessreview.com A11

more money and flexibility. Leali, a 12-year White & Case associate, was far from making partner at the firm, where only one woman has made partner in Miami. She and Alderman, law school buddies, discussed opening a firm for years before finally making the leap. Based in Miami Shores, Alderman Leali has one associate and one office staffer.

“I wanted to build something rather than leasing my life out to someone else,” Alderman said. “Before, I could work on a trial for three weeks and win and get a pat on the back. Now, I get $100,000 for it.”

Alderman says he is now making “close to seven figures.”

“If you have a certain pedigree and work hard, work will come to you,” he said. “There is a litiga-tion boom right now.”

Possibly more important, though, is the flexibility he now has. Alderman said he can leave the office every Friday at 3 p.m. to take his daughter out for ice cream or pony rides and take off six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

Leali is hoping to use her bankruptcy experience to secure receivership ap-pointments.

Thinking of themselves as business people first and lawyers second was a big short for the pair.

Importance of collaboratIonFor Elliot Kula, the former

Greenberg Traurig appellate head, a key to starting Kula & Samson two years ago with former Greenberg as-sociate Daniel Samson was collaborat-ing with other Big Law dropouts.

“We started to see high-caliber liti-gators starting up their own shops,” Kula said. “We realized these folks don’t have appellate lawyers. We

thought, ‘We could all col-laborate togeth-er.’ ”

At GT, Kula found himself having to turn away clients due to conflicts and rates.

Another GT appellate at-torney, for-mer Florida Supreme court chief justice Arthur England, recently joined the Aventura firm.

Despite form-ing his own firm, Kula recognizes there will always be a place for big law operations.

“If you are the VP of legal affairs for Yahoo, as smart as I am, they shouldn’t use me,” he said. “That way, if the case goes south, they can say, ‘I went to the No. 1 firm in the universe, don’t blame me.’ There will always be a place for Big Law.”

Julie Kay can be reached at (305) 347-6685.

j. albert diaz

Since forming Lalchandani Simon in 2010, Kubs Lalchandani and Danny Simon have moved four times, expanding each time. They now occupy permanent space with six offices and a lounge.

“ I think if I had stayed at White & Case I would have made partner. But I’m very into technology. Starting my own law firm geared to technology firms was something I was very attracted to. I wanted to run something myself.”

Kubs LaLchandani Founder, LaLchandani simon