Sensible Olswang opts for chalk and more chalk

Ah, the old law firm management dilemma: should firms go for a rainmaker or a technocrat?

Many firms go for one of each. Take Linklaters, which opted for a big name in David Cheyne as senior partner but a relatively unknown manager in Simon Davies as managing partner. SJ Berwin and Simmons & Simmons have adopted similar strategies of late.

But this is no longer the case at Olswang, which has today (18 April) named its new management team to prepare for the imminent departure of chief executive Jonathan Goldstein.

Litigation chief and head of international David Stewart is the new addition, taking the role of managing partner, while chief operating officer Kevin Munslow has become chief executive and Mark Devereux continues as senior partner.

Stewart has been in management since he was appointed as the firm’s head of international strategy in late 2004. He is well regarded internally and was instrumental in sealing the firm’s alliance with Miami giant Greenberg Traurig in 2005.

Nevertheless, some had expected media head David Zeffman to get the nod. The highly-respected but individualistic Zeffman would have been more in keeping with Goldstein’s style and looked a likely combination to complement the back-room skills of Munslow and Devereux.

Goldstein had established himself as a deal-doer before becoming a manager and had been a contact partner to one of the firm’s biggest clients, Minerva. This was one of the things that helped him build his personal profile into something that ultimately epitomised Olswang’s culture: dynamic, confident and a bit loud.

Of course, Olswang now argues that Goldstein’s profile obscured the fact that Munslow and Devereux were key figures in the firm’s growth through the tech boom and subsequent repositioning as a corporate, media and property outfit.

There is some truth to this. It is easy to forget that Devereux has been managing the firm since its foundation in 1981 and that Munslow has handled much of its operational management since 1998.

But the problem for Olswang is that – perhaps rather aptly for a mee-jah outfit – the firm is heavily reliant on image and the loss of its biggest name will have an impact. Olswang will have its work cut out to show it has not lost the brash charisma and dash of style that was responsible for its success in the first place.

paul.hodkinson@legalweek.com