Fighting for ‘Truth’ Is Lucrative Business for Small Law Firms

President Donald Trump has turned to a tiny South Florida law firm to take on some of the country’s largest media outlets.

Trump tapped Brito PLLC, a four-lawyer boutique that focuses on franchise law and business disputes, for his July 18 suit against Wall Street Journal over a report on a “bawdy” birthday note the president sent to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. He also used Miami litigator Alejandro Brito’s firm to go after ABC in court last year and to threaten suits against CNN and The New York Times over their reporting on US strikes in Iran.

The president is not the only one going small when it comes to headline-grabbing defamation suits. Boutique litigation shops are steering some of the largest defamation cases against major media organizations and a wide range of other defendants. The litigators say they are best positioned to mitigate political and professional conflict.

“We’re more willing to embrace controversial matters and we’re less conservative in terms of the types of cases we’re willing to take on,” said Daniel Watkins, co-founder boutique Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch. Watkins is also suing the Wall Street Journal for defamation over a different report, on behalf of Mindbloom, an online healthcare company that uses ketamine therapy to treat depression.

The Trump administration ratcheted up the stakes by using defamation suits as a tool for going after perceived enemies. Trump and his allies have also been on the receiving end: The president was hit with an $83 million verdict last year in a defamation case by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago, while Fox News agreed to pay nearly $788 million a year earlier to settle a voting machine company’s suit over bogus claims that it rigged the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden.

Clare Locke, a firm based in Alexandria, Va, that has fewer than 20 lawyers, has been at the center of several headline-grabbing defamation suits. French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, hired the firm to pursue defamation claims against right-wing podcaster Candace Owens. Clare Locke worked on behalf of United Healthcare to push back against social media posts criticizing the insurer’s practices in the wake of the shooting death of an executive.

‘Speech Has Exploded’

It’s not clear how Brito, previously known for his work in franchise law, was connected to Trump. Brito did not respond to request for comment on his work for Trump.

“My name was passed along to President Trump and his legal team, and I was vetted along with some other lawyers that the President wanted to consider utilizing for purposes of handling this litigation,” he told Law.com in April 2023. “I went through a process of some meetings, and ultimately was selected to serve as counsel, and I’m happy to do so.”

Trump hired Brito in 2023 for a contract suit against ex-consigliere Michael Cohen, which the president dropped six months later. Brito is also representing celebrity doctor Carlon Colker and advised South Florida real estate businessman Grant Cardone in defamation cases.

Trump also continues to use larger firms, turning to Sullivan & Cromwell’s Robert Giuffra to defend various litigation.

Smaller firms often are an attractive choice for plaintiffs in bring defamation suits because the lawyers generally are willing to work on contingency, meaning they only get paid if they win.

“It’s high risk, high reward,” said Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor.

Susman Godfrey, the Houston-founded firm whose lawyers led Dominion Voting Systems Inc.'s blockbuster suit against Fox News, saw its revenue and profits soar on the heels of that and other high-stakes litigation.

“Boutiques, especially boutiques that take defamation cases on a contingency—they are incentivized to be completely honest,” said Stephen Shackelford, a Susman partner who represented Dominion. “If it’s a dog of a case, they’re not going to take it.”

Social media is helping drive the growth in the defamation business, said Tampa attorney Shane Vogt, who represented pro wrestler Hulk Hogan in a suit against Gawker and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin against The New York Times. He left litigation boutique Turkel Cuva Barrios last month to start his own shop.

“Speech has really exploded through social media,” Vogt said. “You’re getting more opportunities for cases to be filed because so many more people are speaking in huge public forums than you ever had in the past.”

More Competition

Roberta Kaplan who won the E. Jean Carroll suit against Trump, recently opened an 18-lawyer shop after leaving her previous boutique.

“It’s kind of a free for all,” she said of the field. “The more people see a realistic benefit to be obtained from bringing defamation cases, I would assume you’re going to see bigger law firms get involved as well.”

That includes Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, an 80-year-old Manhattan firm that was among the country’s five largest by revenue last year. Skadden lawyers are representing Deel, Inc., a $12 billion Silicon Valley startup, in a court fight with rival Rippling that includes defamation claims.

Rapper Drake early in the year hired Big Law’s Willkie Farr & Gallagher for a suit against record label Universal Music Group NV. Lawyer Camille Vasquez jumped to a large firm, Sheppard Mullin, after gaining the spotlight for representing actor Johnny Depp in his defamation case against Amber Heard.

Rupert Murdoch, who owns The Wall Street Journal, hired a team of prominent First Amendment lawyers from Davis Wright Tremaine. The law firm is among the 100 largest in the US.

“Defamation law is going to be really important as one of the few tools we might have remaining to try to keep the truth out there,” Shackleford said.

It’s also lucrative for lawyers picking up the cases.

Brito secured a $16 million settlement from ABC that includes $1 million in legal fees. Lawyers from a pair of small firms helped land a similar settlement from Paramount Global.