Our History
Sullwold & Hughes was founded in December 1995 by Jim Hughes and Bob Sullwold, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979 and worked together at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe for 16 years, the last 10 years as litigation partners. Jim and Bob started Sullwold & Hughes because they had become convinced that, despite the many virtues of mega-firm practice, they would have more fun practicing law on their own. As a small firm, they would be able to focus on developing relationships with clients rather than on maximizing the profitability of each engagement. They also would have a greater opportunity to litigate, rather than simply manage, cases. Their business plan was to keep, and attract, clients by offering the same quality of representation those clients expected from a large firm at a significantly lower cost. During its 12-year history, the firm has broadened its core practice beyond investment litigation to encompass a variety of other commercial cases, particularly on behalf of enterprise software and online companies. As they hoped, the partners have been able to get to know clients and to argue and try cases before courts and arbitrators. The firm's ultimate goal remains to have clients regard Sullwold & Hughes as "their lawyer." We welcome the opportunity and the challenge of earning that title.