McGuireWoods Taps Another Litigator to Replace Longtime Leader

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Jonathan Harmon and J. Tracy Walker IV.[/caption] McGuireWoods’ board of partners are poised to elect litigation partner Jonathan Harmon as the first chair of the firm, a role in which he will succeed longtime leader Richard Cullen. Harmon, who will become the first minority to lead McGuireWoods, will work alongside J. Tracy Walker IV, a fellow litigator tapped by the board of partners to succeed Thomas Cabaniss as managing partner of the Richmond, Virginia-based Am Law 100 firm. Both Harmon and Walker will assume their respective positions following the vote, while Cullen and Cabaniss will return to their respective practices. While the official election takes place on Dec. 4, plans for the transition began back in May after Cullen, who took the helm of the firm in 2006, indicated that he would be stepping down as chair and recommended Harmon as his successor to the board. “In our tradition at McGuireWoods, the chairman is a practicing attorney with a reputation for excellence and [Harmon] is a real-life, honest-to-goodness trial lawyer,” Cullen said. “But probably more important were his leadership qualities.” Harmon joined McGuireWoods directly out of law school in 1995. Prior to entering law school, he served in Operation Desert Storm as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division. At the firm, Harmon has represented Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation across the country and counts as his clients some of the largest U.S. financial institutions, telecommunications, automotive and food and product manufacturers. Harmon made partner at McGuireWoods in 2001. In 2015, he assumed leadership of the firm’s business and securities litigation department. “I [was] candidly very humbled,” Harmon recalled of the recommendation he received from Cullen. “We have a lot of great people who I think could’ve easily been in the position as well.” Though excited to become the firm’s first minority chair, Harmon said it was still a bit troubling to him to see that there are still very few leaders of color in top leadership positions at large law firms. Harmon is slated to be the only African-American leader of an Am Law 100 firm once current Husch Blackwell chair Maurice Watson steps aside in April 2018. “I’m excited about [about becoming chair],” Harmon said. “But, at the same time, I kind of feel like all of us, including McGuireWoods, we can and will do better because there should be more.” And as McGuireWoods’ new leader, Harmon said he will continue to build on the strong foundation that Cullen’s tenure leaves behind, one that includes an increased focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as innovation and meeting the firm’s strategic business goals. “We have become just this wonderful national firm,” Harmon said. “I believe we’re poised to become a national powerhouse. That’s where I’d like us to go.” Another integral part of the leadership puzzle at McGuireWoods is Walker, who arrived at the firm in 1998 from Virginia’s Christian & Barton and became its deputy managing partner in 2015. Walker, who also serves as head of McGuireWoods’ litigation practice, said he was a bit startled when he first learned he had been recommended to take over as managing partner. But given the upward momentum of the firm and its increased profitability and geographic scope, Walker said he was excited and motivated to keep building on its strong foundation. “It’s exciting to be part of an organization that has so much enthusiasm,” Walker said. “We just want to keep that momentum rolling in that same direction.” During Cullen’s 11-year tenure, McGuireWoods grew from 750 lawyers in 15 offices to about 1,100 lawyers in 23 offices in the United States and in London. The firm’s gross revenue grew from $387.5 million in 2007, to $682 million in 2016, climbing from 67thto 51st during that time period. For his part, Cullen said that he will be around to help with the transition, but will be stepping back from a leadership role to focus on his white-collar criminal defense practice. Cullen is currently representing several clients in high-profile investigations, including Vice President Mike Pence in connection to special counsel Robert Mueller III’s ongoing Russia investigation and Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA, the global governing body for world soccer. Cullen has been with McGuireWoods since 1977. Despite detours for public service positions that included posts as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and attorney general for Virginia, Cullen said he holds the firm as one of the most important institutions in his life and foresees it succeeding under the watch of its new leadership team. “[The firm] is in my blood, if not my genes, and so I care deeply that we continue to be considered a great firm and try to improve,” Cullen said. “I’m very confident that the new leadership has the ability to make us even better.”