Mayer Brown Aims to Enhance Global Presence With New Structure and New China Office

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw is seeking approval from the Chinese government to open a Hong Kong office, and has started recruiting lawyers there.

Leaders of the Chicago-based firm view the new office as one of a series of recent actions designed to strengthen Mayer Brown's position as a global competitor. Earlier this month the firm announced that its present chairman would be succeeded by an executive team consisting of a chairman and two vice chairmen.

Mayer Brown also aims to expand its New York office substantially, said its current chairman, Ty Fahner. “We have too many clients that use us in Chicago and London, but don't use us in New York,” he said.

Fahner will step down in the spring of 2007 because the firm's rules require that partners give up their leadership roles at age 64. He will be succeeded by James D. Holzhauer, 58, the firm's general counsel and a specialist in appellate work, who was a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk and a University of Chicago law professor before joining Mayer Brown.

Joining Holzhauer in the newly created Office of the Chairman will be Kenneth S. Geller, 59, an appellate litigator and head of Mayer Brown's Washington, D.C., office, who is known for his Supreme Court practice, and Paul Maher, 47, who has been the firm's senior partner in London since 2001 and who was named as one of the three most innovative lawyers in the United Kingdom in a recent Financial Times poll.

All three men will have offices in New York, Chicago and London. Holzhauer said he is looking for an apartment in New York, and plans to spend about a third of his time there overseeing the expansion.

Geller will oversee firmwide operational issues, and Maher will focus on global strategy.

Fahner and Holzhauer said the firm's expanding footprint and increasingly complex management issues drove the administrative changes. “We need more people waking up on a daily basis thinking about what they need to do for the firm,” said Holzhauer.

Management Shift Part of a Larger Trend in the Profession

Experts in law practice management said many large firms are realizing that managing thousands of employees across the world requires an administrative structure more familiar to corporate executives than to lawyers.

“A lot of people would say it's not the same profession it used to be,” said Peter Zeughauser of the Zeughauser Group, which consults with law firms on management issues. He noted that while most law practices have traditionally been run by a single managing partner, “there are firms that have become the equivalent of mid-cap companies. It takes more management.”

At a firm like Mayer Brown, with more than 1,400 lawyers in 13 offices in the United States and Europe, a single managing partner could spend all his time traveling to meet with colleagues, leaving little time for strategic planning, said Zeughauser.

Initiatives such as client communication, skill development, opening new offices and ensuring profitability need to be driven from the top of the firm, he said, adding, “Those are four big portfolios, and it's too much for one or two people at a large firm.”

Adding layers of management can result in blurred lines of responsibility and a rebellion by partners who feel left out of management decisions, according to Bob Denney, president of Robert Denney Associates, a consulting company that advises law firms. However, he said, law firms that have divvied up management responsibilities “seem quite satisfied” with the changes so far.

Firm Sets Its Sights on New York and Hong Kong 

Holzhauer's top priorities as chairman will be Mayer Brown's expansion in New York and ensuring that the firm's Hong Kong office opens successfully.

Mayer Brown currently has 210 lawyers in New York. Holzhauer said the firm has not decided yet how many to add to that location. The firm's expansion there would focus on serving clients in the capital markets, he said.

In Hong Kong, the firm will concentrate its recruiting on local lawyers, who will be overseen by a senior Mayer Brown partner. Holzhauer said the firm already has the building space for its Hong Kong office and is working with Chinese officials to obtain regulatory approval for it.

The decision to open in Hong Kong was driven by growth in the Chinese economy, and the hope that helping clients navigate trade regulation issues would boost the firm's overall business.

“If you can solve their trade regulation issues, you've got their deal business, too,” said Fahner.

Zeughauser said the move is a wise one. “China is the most attractive, most underdeveloped market in the world,” he said. “It's a place major firms need to be.”

Many large law firms, incluing Baker McKenzie, Hogan & Hartson, and Sullivan and Cromwell, already have offices in China. But Mayer Brown still stands to do well there if the firm can bridge cultural differences and recruit successfully from the Hong Kong talent pool, Zeughauser said.

“They're certainly not the first ones in,” he said. “But I don't think they've missed the party.”

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw is seeking approval from the Chinese government to open a Hong Kong office, and has started recruiting lawyers there.

Leaders of the Chicago-based firm view the new office as one of a series of recent actions designed to strengthen Mayer Brown's position as a global competitor. Earlier this month the firm announced that its present chairman would be succeeded by an executive team consisting of a chairman and two vice chairmen.

Mayer Brown also aims to expand its New York office substantially, said its current chairman, Ty Fahner. “We have too many clients that use us in Chicago and London, but don't use us in New York,” he said.

Fahner will step down in the spring of 2007 because the firm's rules require that partners give up their leadership roles at age 64. He will be succeeded by James D. Holzhauer, 58, the firm's general counsel and a specialist in appellate work, who was a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk and a University of Chicago law professor before joining Mayer Brown.

Joining Holzhauer in the newly created Office of the Chairman will be Kenneth S. Geller, 59, an appellate litigator and head of Mayer Brown's Washington, D.C., office, who is known for his Supreme Court practice, and Paul Maher, 47, who has been the firm's senior partner in London since 2001 and who was named as one of the three most innovative lawyers in the United Kingdom in a recent Financial Times poll.

All three men will have offices in New York, Chicago and London. Holzhauer said he is looking for an apartment in New York, and plans to spend about a third of his time there overseeing the expansion.

Geller will oversee firmwide operational issues, and Maher will focus on global strategy.

Fahner and Holzhauer said the firm's expanding footprint and increasingly complex management issues drove the administrative changes. “We need more people waking up on a daily basis thinking about what they need to do for the firm,” said Holzhauer.

Management Shift Part of a Larger Trend in the Profession

Experts in law practice management said many large firms are realizing that managing thousands of employees across the world requires an administrative structure more familiar to corporate executives than to lawyers.

“A lot of people would say it's not the same profession it used to be,” said Peter Zeughauser of the Zeughauser Group, which consults with law firms on management issues. He noted that while most law practices have traditionally been run by a single managing partner, “there are firms that have become the equivalent of mid-cap companies. It takes more management.”

At a firm like Mayer Brown, with more than 1,400 lawyers in 13 offices in the United States and Europe, a single managing partner could spend all his time traveling to meet with colleagues, leaving little time for strategic planning, said Zeughauser.

Initiatives such as client communication, skill development, opening new offices and ensuring profitability need to be driven from the top of the firm, he said, adding, “Those are four big portfolios, and it's too much for one or two people at a large firm.”

Adding layers of management can result in blurred lines of responsibility and a rebellion by partners who feel left out of management decisions, according to Bob Denney, president of Robert Denney Associates, a consulting company that advises law firms. However, he said, law firms that have divvied up management responsibilities “seem quite satisfied” with the changes so far.

Firm Sets Its Sights on New York and Hong Kong 

Holzhauer's top priorities as chairman will be Mayer Brown's expansion in New York and ensuring that the firm's Hong Kong office opens successfully.

Mayer Brown currently has 210 lawyers in New York. Holzhauer said the firm has not decided yet how many to add to that location. The firm's expansion there would focus on serving clients in the capital markets, he said.

In Hong Kong, the firm will concentrate its recruiting on local lawyers, who will be overseen by a senior Mayer Brown partner. Holzhauer said the firm already has the building space for its Hong Kong office and is working with Chinese officials to obtain regulatory approval for it.

The decision to open in Hong Kong was driven by growth in the Chinese economy, and the hope that helping clients navigate trade regulation issues would boost the firm's overall business.

“If you can solve their trade regulation issues, you've got their deal business, too,” said Fahner.

Zeughauser said the move is a wise one. “China is the most attractive, most underdeveloped market in the world,” he said. “It's a place major firms need to be.”

Many large law firms, incluing Baker McKenzie, Hogan & Hartson, and Sullivan and Cromwell, already have offices in China. But Mayer Brown still stands to do well there if the firm can bridge cultural differences and recruit successfully from the Hong Kong talent pool, Zeughauser said.

“They're certainly not the first ones in,” he said. “But I don't think they've missed the party.”