Mayer Brown loses top US finance lawyer to Dewey

A top lawyer in Mayer Brown 's global finance practice is leaving the firm to join Dewey  & LeBoeuf.

Marshall Stoddard, who served as co-chair of Mayer Brown's global finance practice and was the relationship partner to Bank of America, will become the US head of bank and institutional finance at Dewey, resident in the New York and Los Angeles offices. Stoddard, who is leaving Mayer Brown following a high-profile management shakeup, says he was attracted by Dewey's more stable leadership team.

"When I made this decision it was during the time Mayer Brown was transitioning its le adership structure and leadership team," he told The American Lawyer. "They've been on the ground only a short time, so I really can't evaluate how successful it will be. I think it's going to work better for them. But Dewey's leadership team is established and has a long history of successful performance, so the result is certainly more predictable."

The departure follows a period of change at Stollard's former firm. Mayer Brown in April approved a new 12-member partnership board and six-member management committee after James Holzhauer announced he would step down as chairman. Herbert Krueger replaced him last month. Meanwhile, Mayer Brown vice chairman Paul Maher, who was not elected to the new management committees, left in June to start up a London operation for Greenberg Traurig.

Stoddard represents banks and financial institutions in leveraged finance deals. He says his practice has been particularly busy thanks to the downturn, as companies seek loans in the tight credit environment. He represented JPMorgan Chase in May in extending $650m (£406m) in asset-based credit facilities to Jones Apparel Group. He also represented Wells Fargo Foothill, part of Wells Fargo & Company, in closing a $305m (£190m) line of credit in April to Kia Motors America.

All said, Stoddard figures he was responsible for more than $10m £6.25m) in business at Mayer Brown last year. He was personally responsible for generating $6m (£3.75m) in business, and under him, the Bank of America relationship grew by $5m (£3.125m) last year.

Stoddard joined Mayer Brown in Los Angeles in 2001, bringing a team of seven lawyers with him from Kelley Drye & Warren, where he chaired its financial institutions practice and was a member of its executive committee. In 2007, Stoddard relocated to Mayer Brown's New York office.

Stoddard says he was not influenced by the other Mayer Brown partner departures. More than 100 partners have left the firm in the last two years, though 45 left because of a de-equitisation in March 2007.

That said, however, he was looking for a more stable leadership platform. He found that at Dewey and in firm chairman Steven Davis.

"Dewey & LeBouef is ahead of the pack when it comes to its leadership, and I've always been a believer that successful businesses are successful for a reason, and it's primarily its leadership," he said. "Naturally you need talent and other elements to be successful, but leadership is the key."

The American Lawyer is Legal Week’s US sister title.