Be choosy and be ready. That’s the business strategy Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann partner Gerald Silk said the firm has employed from the start. It is highly selective in the cases it handles — and it’s prepared to try them all.

Known for its successful representation of institutional investors in shareholder and investor litigation, the 31-year-old firm counts $25 billion as recovered for clients, and has racked up precedent-setting corporate-governance reforms, all while working on a 100 percent contingency-fee basis.