LeClairRyan Creates New Leadership Role as Declines Continue
Litigation department leader Elizabeth Acee will assume the newly created role of president, in a move that the firm said stemmed from its alliance with alternative legal services provider UnitedLex.
February 04, 2019 at 04:01 PM
3 minute read
Photo: Rick Kopstein/ALM
LeClairRyan announced Monday that Elizabeth Acee, head of the firm's national litigation department, has been named president of the firm.
In the newly created role, New Haven, Connecticut-based Acee will share senior executive duties with LeClairRyan's chief executive officer, C. Erik Gustafson, who has led the firm since 2016.
Elizabeth Acee/courtesy photoThe changes come at a time of continuing lateral departures at LeClairRyan, and amid sustained revenue decreases at the firm in recent years. The firm's gross revenue fell from $163 million in 2015 to $142 million in 2017, according to Am Law 200 figures, with declines continuing into 2018.
Last year the firm shrank by 42 partners, nearly 20 percent of its equity partnership, according to data compiled by ALM Intelligence. Since the beginning of the year, LeClairRyan has already lost 20 partners, including an 18-lawyer group in Boston, which included 13 partners, to Atlanta-based Freeman Mathis & Gary, and a four-attorney team, including two partners, from the firm's Richmond, Virginia, office to Whiteford Taylor & Preston.
Neither Acee nor a firm representative was immediately available to address the leadership changes on Monday. In a statement, Gustafson said, “Lizz has been an essential partner and leader in helping address the changes being driven by shifts in the legal marketplace, particularly as we move toward a next-generation law firm model.”
“Our Board of Members shared in my enthusiasm in elevating her to the president role. This signals not only the firm's commitment to that vision, but also confidence in her ability to lead us forward,” the statement continued.
The creation of the new role within the firm is related to LeClairRyan's alliance with Overland Park, Kansas-based alternative legal services provider UnitedLex Corp.
In June, LeClairRyan partnered with UnitedLex to launch ULX Partners LLC, a platform that outsources nonlegal operations for law firms for a minority equity stake in the venture. Since then, more than 300 LeClairRyan employees joined the new venture.
In an interview with The American Lawyer following the departure of a five-lawyer group from the firm's Rochester office to Pepper Hamilton, Acee said that LeClairRyan remained very committed to changing the firm's business model.
“We think we're building law firm 2.0 and we'll be stronger,” Acee said, referring to the joint venture with UnitedLex.
Acee joined LeClairRyan in 2009 alongside a group of lawyers from now-defunct New Haven, Connecticut-based Tyler Cooper & Alcorn. In 2016, she became head of LeClairRyan's litigation department.
Taking over from Acee in that role is Thomas Regan, who previously served as products liability and transportation practice team leader. Regan joined the firm in 2008 from Day Pitney.
READ MORE:
As 5-Lawyer IP Group Bolts for Pepper Hamilton, Shrinking LeClairRyan Plans 'Law Firm 2.0'
LeClairRyan Loses 18 Lawyers as Freeman Mathis Moves Into Boston
UnitedLex and LeClairRyan Announce Innovative New Law Venture
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Paul Hastings, Recruiting From Davis Polk, Adds Capital Markets Attorney
3 minute read
Kirkland Is Entering a New Market. Will Its Rates Get a Warm Welcome?
5 minute read
Goodwin Procter Relocates to Renewable-Powered Office in San Francisco’s Financial District
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
