By Julie Triedman, from The Am Law Daily

A half-dozen Am Law 100 firms—Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; DLA Piper; Haynes and Boone; Latham & Watkins; Perkins Coie and Squire Patton Boggs—have new leaders in place with the start of 2015. As they begin their first full week of work in their official roles, the new chairs and managing partners are sketching out strategies for their first 100 days and trying to fill the shoes of former leaders.

Their predecessors, however, have a whole different set of challenges: getting out of the way of new management and filling up suddenly open calendars. Two have left already left their firms.

W. Christopher White, chairman emeritus at Cadwalader, moved into a new full-time job even before his term officially ended on Jan. 1. Since mid-November, White has been acting co-CEO of Phoenix House, the nation’s largest nonprofit addiction rehabilitation center.

The story of how White got there began in 2012, when he started thinking about succession and his own next chapter. Before he became a full-time firm manager in 2008, White had previously had a very successful practice; he founded and built Cadwalader’s commercial securitization practice, propelling it to among the top practices nationally in the late 1990s to mid-2000s.

When the financial crisis hit, White’s priority morphed into putting the firm on more solid financial footing. By 2012, with the firm now on a more steady path, he says, he turned his attention to succession. In early 2013, he lured over James Woolery, an M&A veteran from Cravath, Swaine & Moore who had most recently headed the Americas M&A division at JPMorgan Chase, to groom him for the top leadership position; the partnership named him to chair-elect last January, as we reported at the time.

White simultaneously began thinking about what his next step personally. Though he is a fit and active 63—White still races in triathlons—”it seemed a little presumptuous to go back to practice,” he says, noting that it would take years to ramp his business back up. He also felt that he could no longer add value to the firm’s existing practice in the commercial securitization area. He’d had some good fortune with his real estate investments, and if he wished, he could afford to stop practicing. “I could have practiced for another five or so years,” White says, “but I wanted something I could do for another 10 or 15 years.”

That’s where passion came in to play. White says that several members of his extended Irish Catholic family have battled addiction. In recent years, he’s stepped up his professional involvement with a variety of leading nonprofits, including nine years on the board of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and a few years on the boards of Phoenix House and the Legal Action Center, a public interest law firm focused on fighting discrimination against people with addiction issues. Then, in November, Phoenix House suddenly lost its CEO, and White and a fellow board member were asked to step in as acting heads. (Federal tax records show that Phoenix House’s outgoing CEO Howard Meitiner took home $666,929 in 2013.)

“I loved managing the firm. I learned a lot. I could go make more money,” White says. “But none of that got me as excited as doing this. I get up every morning excited and energized by what I’m doing. I’m working 20 hour days. And I love it.”

Since he left Cadwalader, where profits per partner were $2.6 million in 2013, White’s leadership duties have now been split between Woolery, who has officially assumed the title of firm chairman, and corporate partner Patrick Quinn, who is handling the more day-to-day managing partner role. Neither responded to an emailed inquiry about their plans for 2015.

At the five other Am Law 200 firms seeing turnover in the top ranks, a few chair emeriti are staying on with a reduced workload, while the plans of two others remain unclear.

—Perkins Coie’s managing partner emeritus Robert Giles, 65, plans to remain at the firm as a partner with senior status, one that he says allows elder partners to bill about a quarter less than usual. Giles has told his successor that he can assist with a few limited tasks, such as assisting in lateral recruitment and orientation and possibly some business development.

But after 29 years at the helm, Giles says he’s ready to pull back on work and plans to take advantage of the firm’s sabbatical program to take trips with his four sons and their families over the next two years. At the firm’s annual holiday “roast” put on by new associates, he was asked to play a cameo role—as Elsa in the Walt Disney film “Frozen” for the song “Let it Go.”

Meanwhile, after a 14-office “listening tour” to hear from lawyers and staff over the past few months, the firm’s new chair, John Devaney, 57, intends to spend his first 100 days with clients, getting to know them and their needs. Devaney, who was elected last July, also plans to make it a priority to take a long look at the firm’s growth strategy. “We’ve hit about 1,000 lawyers, and six or so years ago we were about 600,” he says. “It’s important to reevaluate that strategy periodically.”

—Latham’s outgoing chairman of 20 years, Robert Dell, who recently spoke with The Am Law Daily about lessons learned during his 20-year run as leader of the legal giant, said in a voicemail message that he’s “simply going to spend a few months decompressing” and then “think about the next chapter” after his recent retirement. But Dell’s strategies will continue to be a guiding principle at the firm, says Dell’s successor William Voge, elected last July in a lengthy electoral process recounted in the September issue of The American Lawyer.

That vision has helped Latham post revenue and profit growth for four consecutive years since profits tumbled in 2009; and Latham has held fast to its position in the top four firms nationally by revenue in the Am Law 100 list for at least the past 12 years.

There will be some new developments, however, In his first 100 days, Voge says he will enhance the firm’s focus on increasing diversity. “I think we’ve done a lot but it’s an area where we, like other firms, could do better,” he says. “I plan to execute on this as a top priority, and the partners can hold me accountable.”

—Roger Meltzer and Nigel Knowles took over a newly split global chair position at DLA Piper as of Jan. 1. Under the new split leadership, Meltzer is focusing more on the institution of the firm itself; he hopes to improve DLA Piper’s internal protocols, including cost management, client conflicts and intake systems, as well as continuing to make leadership changes at the level below the top tier. Knowles is focusing more on client relationships and business development.

The DLA Piper duo have been busy ramping up under outgoing chair Tony Angel for the past year, “so now it’s just trying to move the ball forward since we both have the official title,” Meltzer says. Changes will be evolutionary. “You’re talking about a $2.5 billion-dollar plus enterprise,” adds Meltzer, who joined DLA Piper in 2007.

The legal giant’s new leadership will continue to focus on global growth. DLA Piper will be looking to build in South America, possibly in Colombia and Mexico, as well as expand the firm’s existing offices in Brazil and Venezuela. Meltzer says the Canadian legal market, where DLA Piper saw a deal fall through last year, is also “high on our list.”

Angel, meanwhile, writes in an email that he will remain senior partner of the international division at DLA Piper until the end of April. He did not indicate what his plans are after that.

—At Haynes and Boone, Timothy Powers, elected managing partner last May, became only the firm’s fourth leader. He officially succeeded Terry Conner Jan. 1. Powers, 59, who joined the Am Law 200 firm 32 years ago when it had just 35 lawyers in one Dallas office, has watched Haynes and Boone grow to 550 lawyers in 12 offices across the country. Powers says his firm’s long-term plan includes doubling down in Texas and in the oil and gas sector, despite of the plunge in the petroleum markets worldwide, but also continuing to grow substantially on both the East and West coasts.

Powers acknowledges that Haynes and Boone is “absolutely in the tough middle” in terms of size, but hopes to expand to around 875 lawyers within the next six years through bulk lateral hires. A merger of equals isn’t out of the question, adds Powers, a finance partner who previously held numerous management roles, including department chair, practice management chair, marketing partner and lateral hiring partner. He also served as a member of Haynes and Boone’s compensation and appointments committees.

—Squire Patton Boggs new chair Mark Ruehlmann says he’s spending much of his first few months continuing to travel to the newly-formed firm’s many global offices, learning about its individual practices. He’s also preparing for Squire Patton Boggs’ first global partners’ retreat in March in Miami. He sees his role as helping the firm “exploit opportunities to serve clients and realize its full potential” as well as to improve internal communication as the firm grows.

Meanwhile, chair emeritus James Maiwurm, 66, who oversaw the firm’s recent merger with Patton Boggs, will continue to practice as a senior counsel. He says he’ll continue to do some client work, particularly advice on corporate governance, while he looks for interesting pro bono opportunities; he may also choose to sit on a few corporate boards, though he plans to be very selective about which. “Let me put it this way—I think it will be at a little slower pace,” Maiwurm says. “It’s going to be a collage of things.”

Lastly, Cadwalader’s White, whose post-leadership plans are most evolved, has a few words of wisdom for other managing partners and chairs approaching the end of their tenure. “Take a couple of years to plan, because when you step out, you’re not going to be on top anymore,” he says. “You’re going to be struggling to find your legs. Having a passion helps you get through the missteps.”

Illustration by Shaw Nielson

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