Pierce Bainbridge Continues Record Growth With Addition of Yavar Bathaee as Partner in New York and Park Avenue Office Move

NEW YORK, May 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht ("Pierce Bainbridge") is pleased to announce that Yavar Bathaee has joined the firm's New York office as a partner.  The firm is also announcing its move to new offices in the former space of Oaktree Capital in the J.P. Morgan tower at 277 Park Avenue.

Bathaee joins Pierce Bainbridge after more than a decade in Sullivan & Cromwell's litigation group, where he represented clients in high-stakes litigation and trials.  An experienced trial lawyer, Yavar represented of one of the world's largest software companies in a multi-billion-dollar antitrust lawsuit, resulting in a complete victory after a several-month jury trial and appeal, and defended a financial institution from claims by the U.S. government in one of the only Securities Act of 1933 trials in United States history.  He has represented clients in some of the largest multidistrict litigations and class actions in the United States and has represented a wide breadth of clients during times of unprecedented crises, including the banks and financial institutions sued after the mortgage crisis, and one of the largest U.S. automakers during its sudden bankruptcy and in the emergency appeals that ensued.

"I am excited to join a firm that knows how to win when the stakes are high," said Bathaee.  "Pierce Bainbridge is a new breed of litigation firm, relentlessly focused both on innovation and victory for its clients.  I am delighted to join the firm."

A computer scientist and engineer, Bathaee is also at the forefront of artificial intelligence technology.  He is developing systems based on deep artificial neural networks aimed at eclipsing human expertise in all aspects of complex litigation, particularly human judgments about case outcomes.  "Pierce Bainbridge is one of the only firms that truly understands how artificial intelligence should fit into a practice.  If the technology becomes an integral part of how you practice law?not merely a set of tools?you have an edge in litigation that even the most experienced lawyers will not be able to match," said Bathaee.

Global Managing Partner John Pierce added, "We are once more pleased to be drawing upon top-notch legal talent like Yavar.  Our model continues to disrupt and attract, and our record growth speaks for itself.  Yavar came to us because no other firm understands what it is to practice law at the highest levels in the digital age."

Bathaee is also one of the first scholars in the nascent field of Artificial Intelligence Law, with articles appearing in academic journals published by Harvard University and U.C. Berkeley.

The addition of Bathaee comes amidst several other high-profile hires within the last month, including Chief Financial Officer Kevin Cash who joined the firm from Orrick and counsel Julie Capehart from Sullivan & Worcester.

Bathaee was placed by Lee Presser of RPN Executive Search.

SOURCE Pierce Bainbridge