Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP

What Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP does

Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP is a boutique litigation and white collar defense law firm founded in 1986 and headquartered at 7 Times Square, New York, with a second office in Newark, New Jersey. The firm represents hedge funds, private equity sponsors, institutional investors, major corporations, government entities, and individuals in high-stakes complex commercial litigation, securities and bankruptcy disputes, government investigations, white collar criminal defense, and corporate transactional matters. Practice areas span antitrust, employment, intellectual property, real estate litigation, and alternative dispute resolution, supported by an in-house e-discovery team staffed with Certified E-Discovery Specialists who manage the full Electronic Discovery Reference Model workflow using industry-leading review software.

The firm's business model is a traditional professional services construct: partner-led hourly billing as the primary revenue stream, supplemented by contingency and alternative fee arrangements in appropriate cases (notably investor-side litigation). Customer acquisition is driven by partner reputation, referrals, and Chambers USA / Legal 500 Tier 1 rankings rather than outbound sales; the firm invests in thought leadership through publications in Law360, the New York Law Journal, and the Hedge Fund Law Report, plus speaking engagements at PLI, NYSBA, and industry conferences. Marquee engagements include $1.3 billion in recoveries for hedge funds against the Republic of Argentina, $1.6 billion in Stanford Ponzi scheme settlements, and dismissal with prejudice of an $85 million lawsuit for the FDIC as Receiver for Signature Bank. The firm also serves as outside counsel to the State of New Jersey across more than 1,700 matters.

Operationally, the firm runs as a privately held New York limited liability partnership owned entirely by its partners, with no external investors, private equity backing, or parent company. Governance is exercised through a Management Committee. Growth has been entirely organic, driven by lateral partner recruitment from government (former U.S. Attorney, SDNY prosecutors, former Congressman Mondaire Jones), elite judicial clerkships (Second, Third, and Fifth Circuits; SDNY, EDNY, DNJ; NY Court of Appeals; NJ Supreme Court), and internal promotion. The firm rebranded to its current name in February 2023 to recognize partner Lawrence Robbins, who passed away in November 2024. There is no proprietary technology platform; the firm's primary non-legal technical capability is its in-house e-discovery operation, and AI usage is limited to third-party NLP tooling (notably a 2020 collaboration with Eigen Technologies on LIBOR fallback analysis).

Name

Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP

Legal name

Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP

Website

https://fklaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP is a New York/New Jersey boutique law firm founded in 1986 representing hedge funds, major corporations, and government entities in high-stakes complex commercial litigation, white collar defense, and corporate matters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Hourly Billing: Traditional law firm billing model for complex commercial litigation, white collar defense, corporate, and regulatory matters. Partner rates and associate rates billed hourly.
2. Contingency and Alternative Fee Arrangements: The firm handles matters on contingency fee basis in appropriate cases, including major investor litigation and complex commercial disputes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Friedman Kaplan is a boutique litigation and white collar defense law firm representing major public and private companies, investment funds (hedge funds, private equity), government entities, and individuals in high-stakes commercial disputes, government investigations, securities litigation, and corporate matters. The firm operates across more than a dozen practice areas including complex commercial litigation, white collar defense, corporate transactional work, antitrust, bankruptcy, securities litigation, employment, intellectual property, real estate litigation, and alternative dispute resolution, supported by an in-house CEDS-certified e-discovery team.

Product overview

Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP is a boutique commercial litigation and white collar defense law firm founded in 1986, offering legal services through a unified platform of practice areas rather than a modular software product. The firm's core offerings center on complex commercial litigation, white collar defense, and corporate practices, supplemented by specialized groups in investment funds, securities litigation, bankruptcy, antitrust, employment, intellectual property, real estate litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. The firm also provides in-house e-discovery and litigation support services to support its dispute resolution work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Complex Commercial Litigation

Quantifiable outcome

• $1.3 billion recovered for hedge funds against Republic of Argentina
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFriedman Kaplan, together with the Brennan Center for Justice, filed amicus briefs in landmark cases including Trump v. United States before the U.S. Supreme Court and in support of SEC climate disclosure rules.
• Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and EqualitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFriedman Kaplan filed amicus brief on behalf of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and New England Innocence Project in jury selection discrimination case Commonwealth v. Robinson.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Susman Godfrey: Premier trial litigation boutique with an almost identical complex commercial litigation and contingency practice profile, directly comparable in size, headcount, and reputation.
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan: The largest litigation-only boutique globally, founded on the same single-focus model as Friedman Kaplan and competing head-to-head for the largest complex commercial disputes and white collar defense mandates.
• Boies Schiller Flexner: High-stakes litigation and white collar defense boutique founded by a marquee trial lawyer; closely mirrors Friedman Kaplan's complex commercial litigation and government investigations positioning.
• Kasowitz Benson Torres: NYC-based litigation and creditors-rights boutique of comparable size with a parallel complex commercial litigation and bankruptcy litigation practice competing for the same hedge fund and financial institution clients.
• Bartlit Beck: Elite commercial litigation boutique focused on bet-the-company matters; operates on the same model of high-rate, partner-led complex commercial disputes and white collar representation.
• Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick: DC-based litigation boutique concentrating on complex commercial disputes, appellate advocacy, and regulatory/enforcement matters; directly comparable in scale and elite boutique positioning.
• Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll: Litigation boutique built around complex commercial, securities, and appellate practice with elite rankings; comparable in boutique size, federal-court orientation, and plaintiff-side complex disputes representation.

Broad incumbents

• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz: Elite NYC firm with a strong complex commercial litigation practice alongside its dominant M&A franchise; competes for the same high-stakes disputes but as part of a wider portfolio across transactional and litigation matters.
• Munger, Tolles & Olson: Elite West Coast-rooted firm with a nationally recognized litigation practice and significant white collar/government investigations capability; comparable in caliber and partner-led model but with broader practice scope.
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore: Elite NYC firm whose litigation practice overlaps with Friedman Kaplan on the largest complex commercial disputes, though Cravath's broader transactional and corporate governance practice makes it a broader incumbent rather than a pure litigation boutique.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/friedman-kaplan

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP