Michael Hausfeld has no immediate plans to step down from the leadership of the eponymous plaintiffs' side antitrust boutique he founded nearly 11 years ago.

But the firm announced Monday that it would be elevating London partner Anthony Maton and Washington, D.C., partner Brian Ratner into vice chairman roles with the intention that they will replace Hausfeld, 73, when he does become chairman emeritus—someday.

Hausfeld said the discussions about succession began at the firm nearly five years ago.

"It seemed appropriate, time-wise, to make the announcement that there are people of exceeding caliber to take the firm into the future," he said of Monday's news.

Both Maton and Ratner were founding partners of the firm and serve on Hausfeld's Global Executive Committee along with Hausfeld, global managing partner Brent Landau, and German partner Alex Petrasincu.

Maton, the London managing partner since the inception of the firm, has overseen Hausfeld's growth not just in London but across Europe. In Washington, Ratner heads the firm's international practice and U.S. and global business development efforts.

"They both have been recognized by both peers and our clients as exceptional," Hausfeld said. "They're acknowledged generally within the practice as being at the forefront of both thought leadership and litigation skills."

Maton said in a statement that he was honored by the trust that Hausfeld and the firm placed in him.

"I look forward to working with our leadership team across all our offices to continue our position as the market leader in claimant side antitrust litigation in Europe and the US and grow our outstanding and fast-developing commercial litigation practice," he added. 

Ratner praised Hausfeld's work in building the firm, which has launched offices in 11 cities in the U.S. and Europe since it was spun off from Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in 2008.

"Together with our global management team and contributions of our terrific group of partners, lawyers and staff, we will build on Hausfeld's strong reputation as a leading global force in claimant-side complex litigation matters in the years ahead," he said. 

The firm has taken other steps toward outlining its future in recent years, including naming Landau global managing partner and hiring Catherine Gill as global chief operating officer in 2018.

When Hausfeld eventually steps down from leadership, he intends to shift his focus toward case work, building firm business, policy advocacy and scholarship and teaching. He is currently a visiting professor of global antitrust law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.

But he would not give any date, or even a vague range, of when that change might come. 

"I've got a lot of work that I want to still address and remain involved in," Hausfeld said.

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