Biglaw Firm That Just Lost Over A Dozen Partners Loses Even More

Wow, more partners are leaving the firm.

Fresh off the news that 13 partners had left the Boston office of the Biglaw firm LeClairRyan, comes word that the firm has lost even more attorneys. This time the defectors a group of corporate and real estate attorney from the Richmond office. Partners Katja Hill and John Selbach, senior counsel Grant Grayson, and associates Jonathan Jones and Nicole Scott have left for Whiteford Taylor Preston.

Hill has served in positions of leadership during her time at LeClairRyan, including as the Office Leader of the Richmond office, on the Board of Directors and as the Chair of the LeClairRyan Foundation Board of Trustees. Her practice focuses on the acquisition, sale, leasing and financing of commercial real estate properties. Selbach’s client base includes clients in the manufacturing, distribution, retail, waste services, government contracting, IT, financial services, medical services and real estate sectors. The full group of attorneys will join the Corporate and Securities section at Whiteford Taylor.

According to data collected by ALM, over the last few years LeClairRyan has seen a 13 percent drop in revenue, from $163 million in 2016 to $142 million in 2018. In 2018 42 partners — nearly 20 percent of the the entire equity partnership — left the firm, and from the looks of it that trend is continuing into 2019. As Law.com reported on the previous spate of departures, LeClairRyan CEO C. Erik Gustafson is choosing to focus on the overall strategic vision of the firm:

“The movements over the past year are reflective of our efforts to shift our focus to one that includes a greater proportion of corporate, business litigation, employment, financial services, regulatory, and intellectual property engagements as evidenced by the addition of more than 20 lateral partners in those practices in 10 of our offices in the past year,” Gustafson said in a statement. “From a business perspective we recognize the importance of continuing to improve our financial performance, increasing our profits per partner and revenue per lawyer. This necessarily involves heartfelt changes.”

We’ll certainly be following all the firm’s personnel changes closely, whether they’re heartfelt or not.


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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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