Ex-Goodwin Partners Launch Plaintiff-Focused Appeals Boutique

A pair of Goodwin partners in Boston are launching an appellate litigation boutique.

David Zimmer and Edwina Clarke have joined Eric Citron to found the new firm, Zimmer Citron & Clarke, they said Tuesday. The firm will focus on plaintiff-side appeals in complex multi-district litigation and class actions, ranging from antitrust to civil rights and immigration. It will also have a presence in Washington, DC.

“Our goal is to serve as a strategic partner for plaintiff-side trial firms as they navigate complicated legal issues in trial courts and courts of appeals,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer and Clarke focused largely on appeals in nearly two decades combined at Goodwin. Zimmer has argued multiple cases before the US Supreme Court, including a 2021 asylum dispute. Clarke has represented Teva Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and Quicken Loans, among other clients, according to court dockets.

Citron is a DC-based litigator who spent nearly 10-years at Goldstein & Russell. The firm’s founder Tom Goldstein is facing federal federal tax evasion charges involving tens of millions of dollars in poker debt that allegedly ensnared the firm, its clients, and unidentified litigation financiers. Citron moved to an of counsel role at Gupta Wessler in 2023, and became managing director for Maryland litigation funder TRGP Investment Partners the same year.

Citron will retain his role at TRGP. He declined to comment on the Goldstein situation and whether TRGP funded his former firm.

 The boutique plans to leverage Citron’s litigation finance background to consult funds and land outside backing for some cases. “There are more and more people who need advice on how these cases will shake out,” Citron said.

Goodwin’s massive size and roster of clients often posed conflicts issues with funds, Clarke said. The boutique model gives it flexibility, which the firm’s founders plan to use to to offer alternative billing arrangements like contingency and flat fees.

They’ve hired already one associate from Munger Tolles. The founding partners also have their eyes out on potential strategic hires of government lawyers who are looking for new, private-sector roles, Clarke said.