Roscoe C. Howard Jr. Roscoe C. Howard Jr., managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg in Washington, D.C.

Barnes & Thornburg has named Roscoe Howard Jr., a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a member of the firm's white-collar and investigations group, to serve as managing partner of its Washington office.

Howard, who will take up the post July 1, praised his predecessor in the role, Karen McGee, and said not to expect dramatic changes to the 30-lawyer office under his leadership—though growing the office is always on the table.

“This is a very client-centric firm,” Howard said. “I'd like to see clients get busier in Washington. … If they get busier, presumably that means we'll need more attorneys to service them.”

Barnes & Thornburg ranked 84th in the 2019 NLJ 500 survey of the nation's largest firms by head count, with 557 lawyers, and ranked 93rd on the Am Law 100 with revenue of $406.2 million. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the firm has 14 offices around the country.

Howard joined Barnes & Thornburg in 2015 from then-Andrews Kurth—before its merger with Hunton & Williams—and brought two of counsel attorneys and a litigation assistant with him. Prior to Andrews Kurth, he was a partner at Troutman Sanders for more than four years and was a partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton from 2004 to 2005.

Before entering Big Law, he was U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia from 2001 to 2004, where he said he oversaw more than 300 prosecutors. He was previously an assistant U.S. attorney in D.C., and in the Eastern District of Virginia. He also taught law at the University of Kansas School of Law for close to seven years.

Howard will be Barnes & Thornburg's first African American office managing partner, according to the firm, in a move that Howard cited as a sign of the firm's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

As he prepares to start his new role Monday, Howard said he doesn't expect to lessen his caseload or involvement in the the firm's white-collar and investigations work. In 2018, the U.S. Commerce Department tapped Howard to be special compliance coordinator for oversight of ZTE Corp., the Chinese telecom company. Previous clients have included Scott Bloch, former head of the Justice Department's Office of Special Counsel under President George W. Bush, and former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

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