Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton has named a new firmwide managing partner, Seattle-based Roger Wylie, who has a long history of leadership at the firm.

Wylie, who began his term on May 1, succeeds Susan Spaeth, the firm's managing partner since 2013. Spaeth has become Kilpatrick's chief legal officer, a new position, and serves on the firm's management committee. Meanwhile, Henry Walker IV will continue to serve as the firm's chair and CEO.

Kilpatrick's longtime general counsel, Susan Cahoon, will continue in that role, but the new CLO position is broader, Walker said, adding that Spaeth wanted to move into that position because she had already been doing a lot of the work of a chief legal officer as managing partner.

As managing partner, Wylie leads Kilpatrick's day-to-day management, while Walker focuses on strategic direction and outward-facing activities, including client development and relationships.

“In addition to being an excellent lawyer, Roger is a talented leader with exceptional people skills,” Walker said.

Wylie, a patent prosecutor, heads Kilpatrick's patent operations committee and has been managing partner of its Seattle office for a decade. Kilpatrick has a nationally known intellectual property department, and Wylie manages the systems, processes and staffing for the firm's patent prosecution team, which he said has about 175 lawyers and related staff. In his new role, he will transition out of those two positions.

“I'm excited about taking on this role and working with Henry,” Wylie said. “We have a long background together.” Wylie added that he's worked closely with Spaeth, an IP litigator, for the last decade and is continuing to work with her on the transition.

Wylie has a long history with both Kilpatrick and legacy firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew, the San Francisco-based firm that merged with Atlanta-based Kilpatrick at the beginning of 2011.

“Since I had a background in both firms, I knew the merger would work out well,” he said.

Wylie, who grew up in Albany, Georgia, spent his first five years in practice at Atlanta intellectual property boutique Jones & Askew right after earning a law degree in 1991 from Vanderbilt University. Jones & Askew combined with Kilpatrick in 2000, after Wylie left the boutique and relocated to Seattle.

Wylie said he moved to Seattle almost 25 years ago because he's an avid backpacker and enjoys the Pacific Northwest wilderness. After working at other law firms in Seattle, he joined Townsend in 2008 and served as that firm's co-managing partner before its merger with Kilpatrick.

Both Wylie and Spaeth will continue to practice law at Kilpatrick, where gross revenue rose to $450.3 million last year.

As CLO, Spaeth will oversee all of Kilpatrick's legal functions and serve as corporate secretary for the executive committee, Walker said.

“This is a $450 million business with close to 1300 employees, so there are a number of legal issues she handles on a regular basis as well as client relationships, conflict issues and any disputes that come up. It's a pretty fulsome job,” he added.