When Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner was formed more than two decades ago as a practice dedicated primarily to technology law, the computer age was, in many ways, still in its infancy. The firm was striking out into a field that had very few players, and it quickly established itself as a pioneer that has ultimately been instrumental in helping chart an entire industry’s course. “Information technology and intellectual property were the firm’s earliest successes and gained it notoriety,” says founding partner Peter Brown. But over the years, the firm has morphed from an IT boutique into a substantial multi-practice firm, whose 275 attorneys serve clients in a broad spectrum of areas ranging from real estate finance and leases to white collar criminal defense and bankruptcy – following technology into a varied cross-section of industries.
“The IT piece is just one of the firm’s centers of excellence,” says Mr. Brown. “We realized that many of our clients looked to us as general counsel, so we grew other centers of excellence as well.” The firm’s real estate practice, for example, is one of the top of its kind in New York City – closing some $25 billion of loans for leading investment banks during the past several years. The corporate practice has closed almost 200 private equity transactions for major Wall Street investors and has completed many IPOs. Founding partner Richard Raysman says other growth practices include patent law (which doubled in size over the last year and a half), litigation and corporate law.
What distinguishes Brown Raysman is its dedication to excellence in key core areas of competence. “We’re thought leaders in critical legal specialties,” says partner Julian Millstein. It shows. The firm’s leaders – including Jeffrey Neuburger and Richard Raysman (pictured above with Mr. Brown and Mr. Millstein), as well as Jeffrey Steiner and Barry Felder – have been involved in precedent-setting cases and deals and have authored hundreds of legal articles and lectured extensively around the country.
But in many ways, the firm’s entrepreneurial history remains its lynchpin, its attorneys able to lead clients into uncharted territory with confidence and an adeptness born from years of precedent-setting experience. “As the Internet and technology changes the way we live our lives,” says Mr. Neuburger, “our firm has met the needs of our clients in capitalizing on opportunities and dealing with the challenges they face.”
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