O’Melveny Worldwide

Bradley J. Butwin has served as Chair of O’Melveny & Myers LLP for more than 14 years, making him the firm’s longest-serving chair since the founding O’Melveny family. His election to a fourth term extended his tenure until 2029. Under Brad’s leadership, O’Melveny has for 14 consecutive years ranked in the top tier of The American Lawyer’s “A-List,” which recognizes the nation’s most “well-rounded” firms based on revenue per lawyer, pro bono, diversity, and associate satisfaction. O’Melveny has also been a perennial honoree in The American Lawyer’s “Litigation Department of the Year” awards and the #1 ranked firm in AmLaw’s Midlevel Associates Survey for three years in a row. And in Vault’s Law Firm Rankings, the firm has been ranked in the top three in the “Best Law Firm to Work For” category for 11 consecutive years, including ranking #1 for two years in a row and four times over the past six years—a feat no other firm has achieved. In recognition of the firm’s innovative Living Well initiative and commitment to mental wellness throughout the legal industry, O’Melveny received One Mind at Work’s Salus Award for Workplace Mental Health.

Brad has presided over a transformative chapter for O’Melveny, steering the firm through a period of strategic growth that spans the opening of the firm’s top-ranked Seoul office during his first term to, more recently, the launch of three new Texas offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. He has also guided O’Melveny to a decade of revenue growth, with the firm reaching nearly US$1.2 billion in revenue in 2025.

Brad maintains a widely acclaimed practice. Chambers USA has ranked him among the nation’s top securities litigators and one of the leading commercial litigators in New York, calling him a “standout lawyer” with a “brilliant mind” who “is always reachable and responsive, [and] always wants to help.”

Beyond his firmwide and legal industry leadership, Brad devotes himself to numerous philanthropic and civic causes. He has received many honors for embodying the highest standards of the legal profession by demonstrating his strong devotion to community service, dedication to justice, and commitment to advancing inclusion, including: the American Jewish Committee’s Judge Learned Hand Award; the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Judge Simon H. Rifkind Award; the New York Law Journal’s Distinguished Leader Award; the Anti-Defamation League’s Human Relations Award; and the NYC Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for his role in freeing a wrongly convicted man from death row.

Brad serves on several boards of directors, including of Only Make Believe, a non-profit that creates and performs interactive theater for children in hospitals and care facilities.

A long-time supporter of his alma maters, Fordham University School of Law and the University of Wisconsin, Brad serves on the External Advisory Board of the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business and, at Fordham, is a member of both the Dean’s Planning Council and the Advisory Board of the Feerick Center for Social Justice, which recently recognized him with its Spirit of Service Award. The Fordham Law Alumni Association has also awarded Brad its highest honor—the Medal of Achievement.

Before entering private practice, Brad served as a law clerk for US District Judge David N. Edelstein (S.D.N.Y.).

He and his wife, Randi, have four children, three of whom played Division I soccer at the collegiate level and are now practicing lawyers; their youngest is studying to be a teacher.

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • New York

Court Admissions

  • US District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
  • US Court of Appeals, Second and Eleventh Circuits

Education

  • Fordham University, J.D., 1985: Commentary Editor, Fordham Law Review
  • University of Wisconsin, B.B.A., Risk & Insurance, 1982

Honors & Awards

  • 2026 Judge Simon H. Rifkind Award, JTS
  • Recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation in New York, NY (2013-2026)
  • 2023 Distinguished Leader Award, New York Law Journal
  • Top NY Securities and Commercial Litigators, Chambers USA
  • 2021 Judge Learned Hand Award, American Jewish Committee
  • Human Relations Award, Anti-Defamation League, New York Lawyers Division
  • Thurgood Marshall Award, New York City Bar Association
  • Medal of Achievement, Fordham Law Alumni Association
  • 2022 Spirit of Service Award, Feerick Center for Social Justice at Fordham Law School
  • Leonard F. Manning Achievement Award, Fordham Law Review Alumni Association
  • National Practice Area Star, Practice Area Star, Litigation Star, and Local Litigation Star in Antitrust, General Commercial, and Securities, Benchmark Litigation (2019-2026)
  • Securities Litigation - Recommended Lawyer, Legal 500
  • “500 Leading Litigators in America,” Lawdragon
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Albertson Soccer Club
  • Temple Judea of Manhasset, Honoree for Dedicated Service to the Temple and Community

Professional Activities

Board Member

  • Board of Directors, Only Make Believe
  • Board of Directors, Supreme Court Historical Society
  • Board of Advisors, American Society of Legal Writers
  • Board of Advisors, Feerick Center for Social Justice at Fordham Law School

Chair

  • Fordham Law School, Financial Aid Campaign
  • Lawyers Alliance of New York, 2021-22 Law Firm Appeal

Member

  • Fordham Law School, Dean’s Planning Council
  • University of Wisconsin’s School of Business, External Advisory Board

Clerkships

  • US District Judge David N. Edelstein (S.D.N.Y.)