It would be easy to expect some hiccups in the integration of the litigation practice Nick Gravante and his litigation partners brought to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, given the timing.

Gravante, the former co-managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, joined Cadwalader at the beginning of the year to head the firm’s commercial litigation practice alongside fellow Boies Schiller partners Philip Iovieno, Karen Dyer and Lawrence Brandman. Making a lateral move during a COVID spike cut out all the usual getting-to-know-you lunches, after-work drinks, and shoulder-to-shoulder in-office work that firms usually rely on to integrate new partners in the fabric of firm culture.