Abbe Lowell Wants to Go Where Big Law Can’t at New Trial Firm

Abbe Lowell left his Big Law gig to launch a boutique firm to fill what he says is a pressing need: legal counsel willing to represent clients standing up to the Trump administration in court.

“It was a time for a firm that could be both flexible, nimble, lean when necessary and able to respond to a client’s needs in a much more immediate and much more flexible way already than larger firms can do,” Lowell said in an interview.

His new venture is staffed with ex-Skadden lawyers, including Brenna Frey and Rachel Cohen, who left the Big Law firm over the deal it made with President Donald Trump to resolve probes from a federal agency and curb potential ire from the Trump administration in exchange for at least $100 million free legal services. Counsel David Kolansky and junior associate Isabella Oishi followed Lowell from Winston & Strawn. Chief of Staff Angela Reilly, previously an associate at Edelson, rounds out the team.

The boutique nature of Lowell and Associates gives the firm more freedom to take on cases it chooses and more flexibility with billing rates than Big Law counterparts, according to Lowell, which often do a wide range of legal work for massive rosters of clients.

“This is a litigation-based firm,” Lowell said. “All we have to do is look out for the interests of a client that comes to us to either challenge something or to be the one that is being challenged.”

Lowell & Associates’ function is not “only oppose this administration” Lowell said. The firm will continue Lowell’s longstanding white collar practice. It will also will focus on litigation contesting government overreach. It’s already advising foundations and educational institutions on navigating executive orders. Trump issued orders directing the Justice Department federal agencies to scrutinize diversity efforts at higher education institutions and their accreditation processes.

Lowell declined to discuss his client base, outside of public representations. He is representing whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid in a suit contesting Trump’s stripping of Zaid’s security clearance. Lowell is also defending New York Attorney General Letitia James against a Trump administration investigation.

“Right now, you need people with high risk tolerance to take on representations that really shouldn’t be considered high risk at all,” Cohen said.

Lowell remains on a handful of matters that he worked on at Winston & Strawn. The cases include defending an affordable housing developer accused of public corruption and representing Devin Wenig, the former chief executive officer of eBay, in a civil suit that claims he’s partly to blame for a harassment campaign targeting a pair of bloggers over posts about the company.

His new firm is also working with a pair of advocacy groups and a public employees union on a suit challenging the Trump administration’s moves to “dismantle” AmeriCorps, which administers national service and volunteer programs.

Lowell says he’s been contacted by Big Law and other firms about potential pro bono collaborations.

“There are firms out there with whom we’re talking on a weekly basis,” he said. “We’re collaborating to see what they can do, what they can’t do and whether we’re the right ones to take it up.”

Lowell joined Winston & Strawn in 2018 from Norton Rose Fulbright. He was co-chair of Winston’s white collar and regulatory and investigations practice group and through his career has had many high-profile clients who fall on both sides of the political aisle.

He advised President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in the investigation of alleged Russian collusion during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Lowell was also lead defense lawyer for former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden in a 2024 criminal trial in which Biden was convicted for violating federal gun laws.

“I’ve done this kind of work challenging administration overreach all of my career,” Lowell said. “There’s just more of it to challenge now than in other administrations.”

He wants the firm to become a litigation staple in Washington, but Lowell does not have any specific growth targets in mind. He’s eager to help his attorneys expand their legal skills.

“This firm is not here for the short run,” Lowell said. “We didn’t get this firm started so that we would just be that which needs for the next two or three years when this administration is in office.”

The firm has received dozens of resumes from attorneys looking to join the firm, according to Lowell. “We are not soliciting additional applications for associate positions,” the firm said in a Thursday LinkedIn post.