Partners at White & Case have elected a successor for outgoing managing partner Duane Wall, it was announced today (6 August).
Hugh Verrier, currently executive partner of the US law firm’s Moscow office, will take over from Wall when his term comes to an end on 31 March, 2008.
Verrier, a project finance lawyer and a current member of the firm’s eight-member management board, will relocate to New York before being confirmed in the post, which carries a four-year term. In a renaming of the top management role, Verrier will become chair of the firm.
His appointment was confirmed over the weekend through a vote of the partnership. Around 10 partners are understood to have been nominated initially.
The appointment comes after White & Case partners earlier this year approved a raft of changes to the firm’s management structure, which will come into effect when Verrier takes the helm.
He will chose three partners – all of whom will be expected to devote a substantial portion of their time to management rather than fee earning – to join him on a new executive committee.
In addition, partners will elect an eight-member partnership committee, half of whom will be responsible for overseeing remuneration with the other four responsible for appointing new partners.
The new structure replaces the eight-person management committee of which Verrier is currently a member. All of the members of the committee are full-time fee earners.
Wall said: “The challenges facing our firm today are different from those we faced when I became head of the firm in 2000. By enlarging our management team and with Hugh Verrier as chair… I am confident White & Case will have the hands-on leadership necessary to… continue to provide the very best of our resources and capabilities to our clients.”
Wall, who has been a lawyer with White & Case for more than 30 years, was elected for a four-year term as managing partner in 2000 and re-elected for a second term in 2004.
More news, deals and comment on White & Case