The Washington Monument The Washington Monument. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Washington Wrap is a weekly look at industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send news tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].

The arrival of July heat in Washington, D.C., coincided with new leadership at some of the capital's leading firms. New management took the reins at several firms, including a political law powerhouse, a firm with one of the top-grossing federal lobbying practices and other notable outfits. Here's a rundown:

Perkins Coie

William Malley, formerly D.C. managing partner at Perkins Coie, became the firmwide managing partner on July 1.  Bruce Spiva, a partner in D.C., replaced Malley at the helm of the D.C. office in May.

Perkins Coie is based in Seattle, but the firm has said its D.C. office is the firm's second-largest and fastest-growing in terms of head count. According to Perkins Coie, the D.C. office boasts 140 lawyers spread across its corporate, litigation, intellectual property, environmental and political law practices. The firm has also pointed to its increasing diversity in its growth, describing 56 percent of the lawyers in its D.C. office as “women, lawyers of color or LGBTQ+.”

One big reason to think Perkins Coie isn't slowing down any time soon comes from its success all but cornering the market on work for Democratic candidates and the party infrastructure. The firm has raked in millions of dollars from the Democratic National Committee and party organs for candidates in Congress, and Perkins Coie is a go-to firm for Democratic candidates running for president and the Senate alike this election season.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Rich Benenson, a Brownstein partner who divides his time between D.C. and Denver, took over the firm on July 1. Brownstein turned 50 in 2018, and Benenson has been with the firm for 17 of those years.

Brownstein's power base is in the Mountain West, most of its lawyers are in Denver, and its second and third largest offices are in Las Vegas and San Clemente, California, according to ALM data. But the firm's federal lobbying practice revenue leapt past Squire Patton Boggs in 2015 and closed 2018 neck-and-neck with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, highlighting its importance to the firm and to the D.C. lobbying scene alike.

Benenson has said the firm is in “growth mode” in Washington, pointing to telecom as an area to expect future expansion.

Barnes & Thornburg

Roscoe Howard Jr., former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, became managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg's D.C. office on July 1. Howard is the first African American office managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg, an Am Law 100 firm based in Indianapolis.

The firm's two largest offices, Indianapolis and Chicago, dwarf the head count of its other outposts, according to ALM data. The 30-lawyer office in D.C. is closer in size to its hubs in Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; and South Bend, Indiana.

Howard has described the firm as “client-centric,” and said any growth at the firm in D.C. will be dictated by client needs, not the other way around.

Miller & Chevalier

Kathryn Cameron Atkinson took the reins of Miller & Chevalier on July 1.

The Washington-based 87-lawyer firm has established a reputation for strength in bread-and-butter practices for many D.C. firms: government-facing litigation, regulation, and enforcement matters.

Atkinson told The American Lawyer earlier this week that the firm would maintain its direction under her watch.

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Anand Sharma became managing partner of D.C.-based Finnegan, a leading IP firm with 10 offices, on July 1. Finnegan has described Sharma as its first managing partner of color.

Finnegan's footprint in D.C. includes 180 total lawyers, more than any of its other offices domestically or internationally, according to ALM data.

Law Firm Moves, News & Notes

DLA Piper said this week that it has added Tony Samp, a longtime staffer for Democrats in Congress, most recently to Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico.

Samp is a policy adviser in the firm's government affairs practice and is not a lawyer.

Covington & Burling said it added Jeremy Newell as a partner in its financial services group in Washington.

Newell was previously executive vice president, general counsel, and chief operating office at the Bank Policy Institute.

Cooley said this week it recruited Cullen Drescher Speckhart as a partner in the firm's business restructuring and reorganization practice.

She previously co-chaired the restructuring & bankruptcy litigation group at Wolcott Rivers Gates, where she was also managing partner of the firm's Richmond, Virginia, office.

Deborah M. Shelton joined Arent Fox in D.C. as partner from McCarter & English.

Arent Fox said Shelton will bolster its food, drug, medical device & cosmetic practice and her practice is fixated on helping clients navigate regulations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Wilkinson Barker Knauer said this week that it was adding Nicholas Alexander as a partner.

Alexander was most recently at CenturyLink and previously spent nearly a decade with the Federal Communications Commission and was an associate at Akin Gump from 2001 to 2005.

Shearman & Sterling poached Adam Scwartz from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Schwartz, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia, is joining Shearman & Sterling's litigation practice.

King & Spalding said this week that Stephen Vaughn was returning to the firm as a partner in Washington.

He was previously general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in President Trump's administration.