Francis Milone started his career as an associate at one of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius’ Philadelphia rivals, Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads. But in 1977, Milone faced off Morgan Lewis in an age discrimination case, representing a friend’s father, and won. Soon after, he got a call from Morgan Lewis, offering him a job.
It was a good call by the firm. Milone, now 69, says that he expected to try employment cases for the rest of his career, but when the firm needed a reboot in 1997, Milone, then head of the labor and employment practice, was tapped as managing partner. By then, Milone says, the legal industry had changed drastically and Morgan Lewis had not. While its financial performance remained solid, Morgan Lewis had begun to trail peer firms in profitability. The firm had outdated governance and compensation structures, Milone says, and it was losing attorneys to more “cutting-edge” firms.
