Biglaw, Deaths

The Tragic Death Of A Biglaw Firm's Young Managing Partner

Today is a very sad day for two Biglaw firms.

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Carl M. Buchholz

Carl M. Buchholz

Today is a very sad day for two Biglaw firms. Carl Buchholz, the managing partner of DLA Piper’s Philadelphia office and former managing partner and CEO of Blank Rome, has died. He was only 51 years old. According to those close to him, Buchholz had been battling an illness for a very long time.

Buchholz, a 1992 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, clerked for Judge Anita Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for one year’s time before joining Blank Rome. Buchholz remained with the firm for nearly a decade before temporarily leaving private practice to serve as special assistant to the president and executive secretary at the White House Office of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. He returned to Blank Rome in 2003, where he was elevated to executive partner before becoming the firm’s managing partner and CEO three years later, in 2006.

Buchholz unexpectedly stepped down from his managing partner role at Blank Rome in March 2011, after having recently being re-elected to serve another three-year term in that role. One year later, he joined DLA Piper, where he worked for only two years before he was named as the managing partner of the firm’s Philadelphia office.

Buchholz’s practice focused on commercial litigation, but thanks to his political ties, he amassed a great amount of work in lobbying and government affairs matters. Buchholz was active in Republican politics, and worked as co-chair of Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett’s transition team, as well as Pennsylvania general counsel for the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign.

James Brogan, a partner in DLA Piper’s Philadelphia office, shared these words with the Legal Intelligencer in the wake of Buccholz’s passing:

He had been ill for some time. It’s a great loss. He was active as managing partner of the Philly office until he left us. Since joining us just a few years ago, he led our efforts in Philly and throughout the firm and community. We admired Carl not just as a lawyer, but as a leader, a person, a husband, a father and a friend. He had an incredibly wide range as a lawyer. From the very beginning of his career he excelled in the courtroom, the boardroom and the Oval Office.

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In a separate interview, Brogan shared the following with the Philadelphia Business Journal: “A lot of people will pretend to listen. But he always listened carefully. Then he would plan. Then he would act. And he always followed through on what he said he would do. Even over the course of the last year, he was unflagging in his team play and you could always depend on his word.”

Buchholz is survived by his wife and two children. We at Above the Law would like to extend our condolences to Carl Buchholz’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Carl M. Buchholz, Head of DLA Piper in Phila., Dies at 51 [Legal Intelligencer]
Carl Buchholz, law firm leader and former White House official, dies at 51 [Philadelphia Business Journal]

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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