Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum is known as an effective ingredient for pharmaceutical companies fending off products liability cases, but the four-year-old shop has also been cultivating intellectual property and commercial clients. Most of the 14-lawyer boutique’s future growth will be in its Chicago home office, which moved into expanded digs last fall, managing partner Melissa Widen said. With more open space to encourage collaboration and the firm’s reliance on alternative fee arrangements, "we’re really free to work in any way we want to," she said. The firm also has offices in Dallas and Santa Monica, Calif.
Deep litigation expertise is also part of the winning formula. The founding partners’ résumés list Fulbright & Jaworski and Chicago firms Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott and Jenner & Block. Commercial litigation represents about 15 to 20 percent of the caseload, Widen said. About half is in pharmaceuticals and medical devices and the rest is in intellectual property.
