James Roome, a London-based managing partner, global financial restructuring cochair and executive board member at Bingham McCutchen, could lead an overseas exodus of international partners from the firm should it push forward with merger talks with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
Roome’s potential departure from Bingham would be a huge blow to the 800-lawyer firm, which recently revamped its leadership structure and compensation system after a tough year financially in 2013. Four former Bingham partners told The Am Law Daily on the condition of anonymity that Roome—a key ally of Bingham chairman Jay Zimmerman, who on June 1 stepped aside from day-to-day management of the firm in favor of managing partner Steven Browne—was in talks to leave the firm, with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld among those vying for his services.
