Washington (January 6, 2025) — Nichols Liu LLP has hired as the leader of its strategic and government affairs practice a former WilmerHale counsel who told Law360 Pulse in an interview Monday he had long admired Nichols Liu’s model since it first launched eight years ago.
Philip E. Beshara joined Nichols Liu as a partner, continuing his practice assisting government contractors, helping clients shape congressional reforms and appropriations.
With Nichols Liu, Beshara will continue working with bid protest matters, federal and state agency relations, government investigations and internal investigations, according to his firm profile. He was a WilmerHale counsel for over six and a half years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His move to the firm is in part about getting flexibility for his practice, he said. But he added that he long admired the firm’s focused growth, picking top attorneys from elite law firms to build its platform — one of the many reasons he wanted to bring his practice to the team, he said.
“I talk to clients all the time who really are hungry and are eager to have representation that has more flexibility — more now than ever — and I think when you have a shop like Nichols Liu, where you have these very sophisticated, elite lawyers who don’t have the structural impediments that many of our colleagues in BigLaw do, clients love that,” Beshara said. “And I think the firm’s model that Robert has really emphasized — smart growth tailored to the actual anticipated needs of clients— is exactly what companies are looking for in a law firm today, particularly in Washington.”
Robert Nichols, managing partner of Nichols Liu, told Law360 Pulse that hiring attorneys with Beshara’s experience was part of the firm’s goal to help clients capitalize on a second Donald Trump administration.
“There are going to be winners and losers from Trump 2.0, and we think we’re going to help the winners become the winners,” Nichols said. “Phil as a Washington adviser is going to be very instrumental to companies who want to make sure they end up on the right side of this.”
Andy Liu, name partner with Nichols Liu, said in a statement that the firm was happy “Phil has chosen Nichols Liu to continue his exciting practice.”
“We have worked hard to build a platform capable of attracting top talent through our transparent compensation system and diverse and positive work environment,” Liu said.
Beshara said his timing to take on his new role as leader of Nichols Liu’s strategic and government affairs practice was serendipitous, given the change in administration and the increase of government contracts-related matters that have come front and center for clients. That was particularly true of tech and defense industry clients, who are looking to leverage autonomous systems and other emerging tech, he said.
Beshara will additionally help clients who are litigating matters following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, a decades-old precedent instructing judges on when to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of law in rulemaking.
In addition to expected changes as a result of that ruling, Beshara said government contracts work could pick up in response to the new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, the advisory group headed by billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Beshara is the editor of a new periodical focused on DOGE launched by Pub K, a media company focused on government contracts and other legal news, the firm said.
“I think there’s a lot of uncertainty on what this right now highly anticipated panel recommendations from DOGE is going to look like, but there’s a clear Hill component, there’s caucuses, there’s going to be committees, and I think it’s going to be a really interesting time,” Beshara said.
Nichols said adding people with Beshara’s mindset is part of the firm’s targeted growth to expand its head count to twice its current size from its current 15 lawyers.
“I would argue that statistically we’re probably among the most selective firms you’re going to find, but not because we’re focused on what schools you went to,” Nichols said.
He added: “I’m thrilled that Phil saw something in us that fits him so well and fits the moment.”
A Georgetown University Law Center graduate, Beshara started his legal career in 2014 with Dickstein Shapiro, and he stayed after the firm’s 2016 combination with Blank Rome LLP, according to his LinkedIn profile. Beshara joined WilmerHale in 2018, according to LinkedIn.
In addition to Beshara’s legal experience, he spent time as an intern for former Sen. George V.
Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, according to his LinkedIn profile. Beshara additionally spent a little over two years as an aide before his law career, as an adviser and legal fellow in the U.S. House according to LinkedIn.
–Additional reporting by Natalie Rodriguez, Juan-Carlos Rodriguez and Madeline Lyskawa. Editing by Robert Rudinger.
