Nationally renowned crisis manager and legal strategist Marc Dworskyannounced today that he will join trial boutique Reid Collins & Tsai to focus on high-stakes, contingent-fee, plaintiff's litigation. In doing so, he is establishing a California beachhead for the Texas-based firm, which also has an office in New York.
Dworsky spent 25 years at Munger Tolles & Olson, LLP ("MTO"), specializing in bet-the-company, multi-billion-dollar lawsuits, primarily in the financial sector, and was the lead lawyer spearheading the nationwide defense of both Bank of America and Wells Fargo throughout the financial crisis. When the financial crisis wound down, Dworsky retired from MTO to reflect on the next stage of his career. After spending the past year consulting and focusing on business endeavors, Dworsky has decided to cross over to the plaintiff's side of the bar, joining Bill Reid, his former adversary and longtime friend at RCT, which Reid founded along with partners Jason Collins and Lisa Tsai in 2009.
"At this stage of my career, I am not driven by the financial rewards of the legal profession, nor the associated accolades. I have no interest in the business or bureaucracy of law. Instead, I am motivated by the intellectual stimulation of litigating sophisticated and often groundbreaking cases shoulder to shoulder with lawyers whom I deeply respect and have a special connection," Dworsky states. Reid adds, "From day one, we have had a mutual admiration for one another. The decision to join forces came about naturally and was inevitable to some degree."
As RCT continues to enhance its national reputation as a "go-to" high-stakes, plaintiff's contingency-fee firm, Dworsky's addition will only serve to propel the firm to even greater success. Longtime RCT client Scott Ellington, the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Highland Capital Management LP, describes the pairing of Dworsky and RCT as "really exciting," and explains, "What Marc brings to the table is a unique skillset. He's been the ultimate fixer, for lack of a better term, macro problem solver, dispute resolution expert, for extremely large corporate clients. Bill's team is the special forces unit of high-stakes, complex commercial litigation, and combining those two will be, in my opinion, an extremely formidable opponent for anyone, no matter what size and sophistication, to take on. They will be truly lethal."
"I have matters with RCT where Bill, another partner, and a couple associates, have taken on literally 40 timekeepers. And Bill's squad is able to bring them to their knees just like a special forces unit can wipe out a battalion by hiding and sniping them; Bill's guys have that ability. When you add Marc to that mix, with his experience navigating some of the most complex financial disputes in our lifetimes, you're talking about a very, very formidable unit," Ellington adds.
Brad Brian, a nationally renowned trial lawyer and longtime, senior partner at MTO, observes of his former partner, "Marc is a brilliant legal thinker and strategist who guided some of our clients through some of their thorniest problems in recent years. We were privileged to count Marc as a partner for over two decades, and we're grateful that he left some of his DNA at our firm. America's legal system depends on having smart, responsible, and ethical lawyers on both sides, and I'm sure Marc will be as formidable on the plaintiff side as he was helping so many of our clients. We wish him every continued success."
Dworsky observes, "Bill's approach to the law is the same as is mine. RCT cuts to the chase, focusing on the merits, rather than the noise. They're aggressive, but scrupulously ethical. Because of the amazing track record Bill and his team have earned, they've positioned themselves to be selective on the intake side, and, unlike most plaintiff's firms, when they approach their adversaries with an offer to negotiate pre-suit, it's backed up with the real promise, not an idle threat, to go to trial. And Bill is one hell of a trial lawyer."
Reid adds, "What clients want are results," and laments that, whether because of their egos or the misconception that suggesting a result-oriented discussion at the outset conveys a sign of weakness, bottom-line merits discussions do not seem to happen often or early enough. "Here at RCT, we shun all of that conventional wisdom and present all of our adversaries with a draft complaint and invite a business discussion prior to launching litigation. We do that as a matter of practice. This approach has served us well over the past nine years in reaching business-minded resolutions before ever filing suit," Reid says, adding, "Yet, there are many people who choose door number two and the public fight, and we have an entire docket of those cases."
"Marc's decision to join our firm both validates what Reid Collins & Tsai has accomplished in just under nine years and sets the stage for us to take our spot on the national stage for the years to come. I am delighted to call Marc a partner and look forward to what we can achieve together," Reid concludes.
RCT is a national trial boutique and plaintiff's contingency firm that focuses on complex business litigation with offices in Austin, Dallas, New York, Washington D.C., and now, with Dworsky, Southern California.