Fisher Broyles: From 5 Attorneys to AmLaw 200 and Doing it all Remotely (James Fisher & Kevin Broyles)
SCENE: Afternoon. Early 2000s. Because the first internet bubble is popping, two tech lawyers find themselves with not much to do so they go to a matinee showing of Black Hawk Down. Those two attorneys are James Fisher and Kevin Broyles. That particular afternoon was not the only slow one for them. Work for them had dried up and colleagues at their law firm were getting laid off left and right. Although they had opportunities to go to different firms, they started looking around at how their current firm was set up and knew there was a better way of doing things. That is when the seeds were sown for Fisher Broyles. A firm that started with five lawyers and would ultimately join the ranks of the AmLaw 200. From the get-go, James and Kevin concluded law firms had a lot of overhead they probably didn’t need which in turn, required them to charge high rates. Not the least of which they figured, was paying rent. They also understood that while support is important, lawyers are hired for what they know, and not based upon how many support staff a firm has. As a result, they decided Fisher Broyles would be a fully remote, distributed law firm that would run lean and mean. Their business model would permit lawyers to pocket most of their hourly rate rather than it going to pay rent and other office expenses. Fast forward to 2021, Fisher Broyles has almost 300 attorneys and had one of their best years ever bringing in $136 million in revenue. And they did it by leveraging technology and doing remote work before it was even a thing for most other firms.