Whatever their titles—CEO, chair, executive partner, managing partner, managing shareholder, senior partner—the new leaders of The Am Law 200 have signed up for a bigger job than what their predecessors assumed. We looked at the two dozen most recent successions in The Am Law 100 to get a better sense of who these new leaders are.The latest group is long on age and experience. Many are markedly older than their predecessors were when they took over. Where 11 outgoing leaders took on the top job in their 30s and 40s—among them, Latham & Watkins’ Robert Dell, Orrickm Herrington & Sutcliffe’s Ralph Baxter and Perkins Coie’s Robert Giles—just four incoming executives are that young. The previous generation could shape their firms for decades; their successors will have less time to make their mark.
The incoming class of firm leaders continues to be overwhelmingly male. Three of the most recent firm executives or managing partner-elects on our list are female, while three departing leaders are also female.
