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Thomas A. Decker, new CEO of Cozen O'Connor

Putting an end to its restructuring and succession plan, law firm Cozen O'Connor named Thomas A. Decker as its president and chief executive officer, effective August 9. The move to reorganize the firm, which began early this year, saw the formation of a Board of Directors and shifted controlling decision-making power to shareholders, a marked change of its governance structure.

For the firm's first time, the role and responsibility has been vested on someone apart from the firm founders Stephen A. Cozen or Patrick J. O'Connor. A corporate attorney of national acclaim, Decker earlier served Cozen O'Connor for four years as the managing partner before becoming chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The founders of the firm, both Steve Cozen and Patrick O'Connor will be chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, and will remain active in the firm's practice and policymaking.

Established in 1968, Cozen O'Connor's 500 attorneys practicing in 23 global offices serve business, insurance, and private clients in full range of legal matters.

08-06-2007

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Venable's employees unite over a different ball game altogether!

In 2003, when prominent district law firm, Venable moved to the historic downtown Washington, DC, location, it decided to utilize every inch of available space to the best use of its attorneys and staff. While renovating the old Hecht's department store in Penn Quarter, it made not one but two histories. One of the things is that it created Terrell Place which has a special standing in Washington's civic and commercial history, and the other, it created 10,000 square feet of terrace space and a bocce ball court on the rooftop!

That space was earmarked for all socializing events in the firm with the motive to unite people from all over the firm including associates, partners, office staff, et al. The effort was to make the various people develop a harmonious relationship with each other on the pretext of playing a friendly game invented thousands of years ago. The rules of this game are simple. Whoever tosses or rolls softball-size balls (called bocces) closest to a smaller ball (called a pallino) notches a point. And till date many a point had been notched when the simple ball game entered its fourth year, this year. This year the firm's annual tournament has a bracket that whittles 32 two-person teams down to the championship round Thursday.

The other motive is to employ its bocce court as a major recruiting weapon. The firm's website claims that is the "only firm with its own rooftop bocce court" and on the other hand also places its practice stating "priorities still favor client business over the tournament."

Therefore what William D. Coston, partner-in-charge of Venable's Washington, DC office, and a veteran litigator stated four years back, "We think it will be an excellent home and an effective location for us to continue serving both the Washington community as well as our clients nationally [..] where it would be best enjoyed by all of our employees," holds true till date. Venable men may squabble over the bocce scores, but the firm bond between them remains ever strong.

08-03-2007

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Greenberg Traurig raids Fulbright for five Real Estate attorneys

Prominent international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, raided rival firm Fulbright & Jaworski for five real estate attorneys who will help Greenberg launch its real estate practice in the Houston office.

The team will be headed by well-known real estate attorney, Kent Newsome, a veteran of 22 years, who will assume responsibility of Houston's real estate practice as the chairman. Newsome's Houston team will comprise Of Counsel Gerald Lance along with associates Robert Brannon, Adam MacLuckie, and Thomas Rogers. Doug Atnipp, managing shareholder of the Houston office stated that Newsome's vast experience in commercial real estate, real estate development, healthcare acquisitions and development, besides many others will position the firm's name as a force to acknowledge in the particular practice area.

Greenberg Traurig has more than 1,700 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in its offices spread across continents.

08-03-2007

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Sidley Austin fortifies firm strength

International law firm Sidley Austin, LLP, is on a firm strengthening mode. The firm added 36 new names to its impressive list of 659 partners in its worldwide offices.

Of the 36, 11 belong to the firm's Chicago office alone. The new partners in the Chicago office join various practice groups, including financial services/consumer class actions; structured finance and securitization; real estate; bankruptcy/corporate reorganization; investment funds, advisers and derivatives; communications regulatory; insurance/reinsurance disputes; insurance; M&A and private equity; and securities litigation and SEC enforcement. The remaining partners have joined other offices at Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Thomas A. Cole, chair of the firm's executive committee, and Charles W. Douglas, chair of the firm's management committee stated that the new partners not only share Sidley's client service culture, but also are accomplished lawyers in their own spheres.

With more than 1,700 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities, Sidley Austin is one of the world's largest full-service law firms.

08-02-2007

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Johnson & Bell's Waukegan office will merge operations with Chilton Yambert

Chicago-based law firm Johnson & Bell's attorneys in the Waukegan office will join forces with the lawyers in the law firm of Chilton Yambert Porter & Young.

Johnson & Bell has more than 105 attorneys specializing in complex civil disputes. William V. Johnson, Johnson & Bell's president said that the move would give the attorneys in the Waukegan office more space to practice in their forte. The firm's focus has shifted in the recent years to wider litigation practice including commercial, employment, insurance coverage, and toxic tort litigation practices. Owing to this shift in focus, the Waukegan office attorneys' "niche practice no longer fit the firm's business model," and this augured the bifurcation.

08-02-2007

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Boston law firm tries to woo recruits with video

Law firms not only have to fend for themselves while protecting their clients, but also emerge victorious in the job markets, enticing the best of talents available in the market. Though the top-drawer names would like to adopt easy means by letting money do all the talking, other small fries have to use wit to outsmart big fishes in the race and get their share in the talent pool. These baits, in the form of smart ads and intelligent videos, strategically pinpoint advantages of working in a close atmosphere on a personal basis in a small firm versus the disadvantages of getting lost in the crowd of associates in a big law firm. One such innovative video woos jobseekers to Boston-based Choate, Hall & Stewart, LLP, where the career section on its website uses an array of videos, both entertaining and direct. The firm has also put up video interviews of its summer associates. A prominent national law firm, Choate Hall is recognized for its practices in private equity, business and technology, litigation, intellectual property, wealth management, and insurance.

08-01-2007

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McKenna Long fortifies practice areas with nine professionals

In a bid to strengthen its position further as an international player, international law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP, recently added several well-known attorneys to its offices nationwide.

The firm added Mark Geraghty as partner and Penny Cobey as of counsel to its Los Angeles office. Geraghty has joined the litigation practice, while Cobey has joined the real estate and finance practice. Denise Trujillo has joined the Washington, DC, office as a corporate partner in its employee benefits and executive compensation group and Theodore Van Der Meid has joined the same office as of counsel in the political law practice.

Apart from them, the other five include Charles Dorkey III who has joined the New York office as a partner in the litigation department, and William L. Ellis, Jr., who is a senior counsel in the corporate practice group. Mimi Lee joined the San Francisco office as a partner with the litigation practice, while Michel Michaux joined the firm's Brussels office as a senior advisor in the environmental department. Dennis Zakas has joined the firm's Atlanta office as a partner in the corporate practice group.

International law firm McKenna Long has more than 400 lawyers and public policy advisors in its offices spread across the globe. Its attorneys offer clients advice on a diverse range of practice areas, including transactional, litigation, and regulatory matters.

08-01-2007

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