Brown Rudnick
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Legal services |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Founder | Charles Rome, Matthew Brown, Alford Rudnick, Hirsh Freed |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Legal services (bankruptcy, litigation, brand and reputation strategy, corporate deal-making) |
Brown Rudnick is a U.S.-based legal practice with expertise in areas such as bankruptcy, litigation, brand and reputation strategy, and corporate deal-making.
The firm was established in 1948 by Charles Rome, Matthew Brown, Alford Rudnick, and Hirsh Freed, initially operating under the name Rome, Brown, Rudnick & Freed. It grew through strategic mergers, notably joining forces with Berlack Israels & Liberman in 2002.
Noteworthy matters
In 1995, Brown Rudnick acted on behalf of Massachusetts in litigation against the tobacco sector. After the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, a national arbitration panel awarded the firm $775 million and it sought an additional $1.3 billion for legal services. In December 2023, a jury approved an extra $100 million in fees. The firm achieved international prominence by representing Johnny Depp during the 2022 Depp v. Heard case, which set viewership records and resulted in associate Camille Vasquez being elevated to partner. This trial was subsequently documented in a 2023 Netflix series.
The firm also provided defense for Mexican singer Gloria Trevi amid civil actions filed in California in 2022. In October of the same year, Brown Rudnick was engaged by Kanye West for legal advice on business affairs; however, the collaboration ended after West declined to withdraw contentious statements.
In February 2024, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice appointed Brown Rudnick to oversee communications with justice departments in the United States and United Kingdom.
In June 2021, Brown Rudnick initiated legal proceedings against Aylo (previously MindGeek) and Visa on behalf of victims of child sex trafficking, accusing Pornhub of benefiting from unlawful content. Attorney Michael Bowe appeared in the 2023 Netflix documentary Money Shot: The Pornhub Story. A U.S. judge ruled in July 2022 that it was plausible Visa knowingly enabled MindGeek to host illegal material, allowing the lawsuit to advance. Following this decision, Visa and Mastercard halted payments related to TrafficJunky advertisements.
Additionally, Brown Rudnick challenged Johnson & Johnson’s LTL Management subsidiary’s contentious Texas two-step bankruptcy maneuver, playing a role in its dismissal and related financial consequences.
Pro bono initiatives and community involvement
In February 2021, Brown Rudnick partnered with Lawyers for Civil Rights to file a lawsuit against Worcester, Massachusetts. The complaint argued that the city’s at-large election method for school committee members diluted minority voting strength, violating federal voting regulations. The city ultimately settled by agreeing to abandon the at-large system.