Angela StylesPhoto: Joe Shymanski

In an abrupt departure, Angela Styles, the outgoing chair of storied Washington, D.C., based Crowell & Moring, told colleagues Thursday morning that she will leave the firm after this week, according to a memo obtained by ALM.

Crowell confirmed last week that it had voted out Styles after just one term, with Philip Inglima, a partner in the firm's white-collar and regulatory enforcement group, named chair-elect. But Styles' sudden internal announcement this week is unusual. The firm said last week that the new chair's term begins in March.

Styles' short time in leadership highlights the uneven feelings partners had toward her tenure, as well as the structural difficulties at the firm for her successor going forward.

In her email to the firm on Thursday, with the subject “Farewell,” Styles said, “Several opportunities have arisen, and I will let you know about them shortly.”

“I am proud to have served as chair of Crowell & Moring and all that we have accomplished in recent years,” her email added. “It has been an honor to serve on the leadership team and advance the firm's efforts to provide premier client service and positively impact our communities. It has been a pleasure working with you, and I wish you much continued success.”

Crowell & Moring later acknowledged Styles' departure in a statement. “We are grateful to Angela for her years of service in leadership at the firm, including as chair of the firm since February 2015, and we wish her the very best in her next endeavors,” the firm said.

A firm spokesperson declined to comment on the timing of Styles' departure and said Inglima and Styles were not available for an interview. A statement from Inglima said Crowell is “coming off our strongest year ever and [we] expect to finish 2017 with great success.”

“We have a strong partnership that is fully engaged in charting the future of our firm and are fortunate to have many wonderful clients that continue to turn to us to help navigate their most challenging issues. I'm looking forward to building on our unique culture of collaboration and inclusiveness that makes Crowell & Moring a great place to work and wholly focused on serving our clients and communities,” Inglima's statement said.

In a statement from Styles provided by the firm, she said she resigned “in order to pursue several opportunities,” but she did not elaborate. A firm spokesman declined to discuss the nature of those opportunities.

Sudden Exit

Crowell's partnership has been described as deliberate and consensus-driven, with multiple committees typically working to decide the firm's direction. Styles' sudden exit from both the leadership and the partnership appeared to conflict with that picture, though some sources said they were not surprised by the move.

ALM spoke with several attorney sources close to the firm, including multiple sources who said some partners appreciated Styles' leadership and saw her as an inspiring leader with a sense of humor. Sources said Styles was not getting the firm support she needed to be successful as chair, possibly contributing to a loss of confidence within the partnership, but that she was a very successful revenue-generating attorney at the time she was named chair.

But other sources said some partners complained that Styles, who joined the firm in 2007 after leaving Miller & Chevalier, wasn't as approachable as her predecessor, Kent Gardiner. Instead, she was described as a “nose to the grindstone” partner who clashed with some administrators and other partners.

Some partners also disagreed with the direction the firm was taking under her leadership. A faction of the firm thought it was a mistake to invest time, money and effort into growing other practices outside government contracts into self-sustaining groups, and a mistake to invest in merger talks that ultimately failed. The firm abandoned merger talks with Satterlee Stephens and Herrick Feinstein in the last few years. One source said the firm had also engaged in talks with a Houston boutique, but decided against that potential acquisition.

Structural Questions

Styles' successor, Inglima, is popular within the partnership, sources said, and has advocated for refocusing on core practices, including government contracts and areas that naturally revolve around government contractors, such as white-collar defense.

But nearly all sources pointed to structural challenges at Crowell & Moring that pose a problem to any firm leader. Several said the firm is searching for its identity, whether it's a national or international firm, and whether it should stick to its brand of government contracts and related practices.

Several attorneys described a difficult mission facing Crowell, where they said a group of “ad hoc” practices without a coherent theme have developed around the firm's core government contract client work. Practice areas such as intellectual property and advertising have had difficulties marketing their services, one source said.

In addition, the firm has had a glut of unused real estate in Washington and New York, which poses an economic drain.

Still, the 440-lawyer firm carries zero debt and enjoyed a successful financial year in 2016, as gross revenue soared 20 percent, to $434.5 million, while profits per equity partner jumped 40 percent, to $1.45 million.

Styles and sources have attributed the sizable gains, in part, to an increase in contingency work last year.

Crowell has continued a strong drive in lateral hiring in 2017, with 17 lateral partners joining the firm, including, recently, white-collar partner Rebecca Ricigliano in New York and corporate partner Amy Comer in London and New York.

Meanwhile, the firm remains one of the most pre-eminent firms representing government contractors, boasting that it has represented two-thirds of the companies in the Fortune 500 listing for the aerospace industry. Its clients have included Alcoa Corp., BAE Systems, United Technologies Corp. and Academi, formerly known as Blackwater.

Women Leaders

The loss of Styles further narrows the small pool of female leaders of Am Law 200 firms.

Crowell was one of the first major D.C.-based law firms to elect a female chair in 1995. And just last year, Crowell was in the spotlight for having several female leaders, including Styles and partners Janet Levine and Kathleen Taylor Sooy on its executive committee.

Now the firm's executive committee includes just two people: Inglima and corporate partner James Stuart III. Ellen Dwyer, a longtime managing partner, is now the firm's general counsel, while Crowell's 11-person management board includes just one woman: Cheryl Falvey.

According to a firm spokesman, Levine, Sooy, and Dwyer were ineligible to be re-elected to the management board because of a combination of term limit, age restriction, and sit-out provisions in the partnership agreement. Dwyer, for example, had to sit off the board for one year, like other management board members periodically must do under firm rules. She will be eligible to return to the board in February, the spokesman noted.

In a statement provided by the firm, Inglima said Crowell & Moring had a strong and well-documented commitment to diversity, citing its appointment of its first female chair more than 20 years ago. He also noted that Working Mother magazine recognized Crowell as “one of the best law firms for women” for six consecutive years, including last year.

In 2016 there were multiple women on the firm's executive committee. After Styles' departure, there are none.

Angela StylesPhoto: Joe Shymanski

In an abrupt departure, Angela Styles, the outgoing chair of storied Washington, D.C., based Crowell & Moring, told colleagues Thursday morning that she will leave the firm after this week, according to a memo obtained by ALM.

Crowell confirmed last week that it had voted out Styles after just one term, with Philip Inglima, a partner in the firm's white-collar and regulatory enforcement group, named chair-elect. But Styles' sudden internal announcement this week is unusual. The firm said last week that the new chair's term begins in March.

Styles' short time in leadership highlights the uneven feelings partners had toward her tenure, as well as the structural difficulties at the firm for her successor going forward.

In her email to the firm on Thursday, with the subject “Farewell,” Styles said, “Several opportunities have arisen, and I will let you know about them shortly.”

“I am proud to have served as chair of Crowell & Moring and all that we have accomplished in recent years,” her email added. “It has been an honor to serve on the leadership team and advance the firm's efforts to provide premier client service and positively impact our communities. It has been a pleasure working with you, and I wish you much continued success.”

Crowell & Moring later acknowledged Styles' departure in a statement. “We are grateful to Angela for her years of service in leadership at the firm, including as chair of the firm since February 2015, and we wish her the very best in her next endeavors,” the firm said.

A firm spokesperson declined to comment on the timing of Styles' departure and said Inglima and Styles were not available for an interview. A statement from Inglima said Crowell is “coming off our strongest year ever and [we] expect to finish 2017 with great success.”

“We have a strong partnership that is fully engaged in charting the future of our firm and are fortunate to have many wonderful clients that continue to turn to us to help navigate their most challenging issues. I'm looking forward to building on our unique culture of collaboration and inclusiveness that makes Crowell & Moring a great place to work and wholly focused on serving our clients and communities,” Inglima's statement said.

In a statement from Styles provided by the firm, she said she resigned “in order to pursue several opportunities,” but she did not elaborate. A firm spokesman declined to discuss the nature of those opportunities.

Sudden Exit

Crowell's partnership has been described as deliberate and consensus-driven, with multiple committees typically working to decide the firm's direction. Styles' sudden exit from both the leadership and the partnership appeared to conflict with that picture, though some sources said they were not surprised by the move.

ALM spoke with several attorney sources close to the firm, including multiple sources who said some partners appreciated Styles' leadership and saw her as an inspiring leader with a sense of humor. Sources said Styles was not getting the firm support she needed to be successful as chair, possibly contributing to a loss of confidence within the partnership, but that she was a very successful revenue-generating attorney at the time she was named chair.

But other sources said some partners complained that Styles, who joined the firm in 2007 after leaving Miller & Chevalier, wasn't as approachable as her predecessor, Kent Gardiner. Instead, she was described as a “nose to the grindstone” partner who clashed with some administrators and other partners.

Some partners also disagreed with the direction the firm was taking under her leadership. A faction of the firm thought it was a mistake to invest time, money and effort into growing other practices outside government contracts into self-sustaining groups, and a mistake to invest in merger talks that ultimately failed. The firm abandoned merger talks with Satterlee Stephens and Herrick Feinstein in the last few years. One source said the firm had also engaged in talks with a Houston boutique, but decided against that potential acquisition.

Structural Questions

Styles' successor, Inglima, is popular within the partnership, sources said, and has advocated for refocusing on core practices, including government contracts and areas that naturally revolve around government contractors, such as white-collar defense.

But nearly all sources pointed to structural challenges at Crowell & Moring that pose a problem to any firm leader. Several said the firm is searching for its identity, whether it's a national or international firm, and whether it should stick to its brand of government contracts and related practices.

Several attorneys described a difficult mission facing Crowell, where they said a group of “ad hoc” practices without a coherent theme have developed around the firm's core government contract client work. Practice areas such as intellectual property and advertising have had difficulties marketing their services, one source said.

In addition, the firm has had a glut of unused real estate in Washington and New York, which poses an economic drain.

Still, the 440-lawyer firm carries zero debt and enjoyed a successful financial year in 2016, as gross revenue soared 20 percent, to $434.5 million, while profits per equity partner jumped 40 percent, to $1.45 million.

Styles and sources have attributed the sizable gains, in part, to an increase in contingency work last year.

Crowell has continued a strong drive in lateral hiring in 2017, with 17 lateral partners joining the firm, including, recently, white-collar partner Rebecca Ricigliano in New York and corporate partner Amy Comer in London and New York.

Meanwhile, the firm remains one of the most pre-eminent firms representing government contractors, boasting that it has represented two-thirds of the companies in the Fortune 500 listing for the aerospace industry. Its clients have included Alcoa Corp., BAE Systems, United Technologies Corp. and Academi, formerly known as Blackwater.

Women Leaders

The loss of Styles further narrows the small pool of female leaders of Am Law 200 firms.

Crowell was one of the first major D.C.-based law firms to elect a female chair in 1995. And just last year, Crowell was in the spotlight for having several female leaders, including Styles and partners Janet Levine and Kathleen Taylor Sooy on its executive committee.

Now the firm's executive committee includes just two people: Inglima and corporate partner James Stuart III. Ellen Dwyer, a longtime managing partner, is now the firm's general counsel, while Crowell's 11-person management board includes just one woman: Cheryl Falvey.

According to a firm spokesman, Levine, Sooy, and Dwyer were ineligible to be re-elected to the management board because of a combination of term limit, age restriction, and sit-out provisions in the partnership agreement. Dwyer, for example, had to sit off the board for one year, like other management board members periodically must do under firm rules. She will be eligible to return to the board in February, the spokesman noted.

In a statement provided by the firm, Inglima said Crowell & Moring had a strong and well-documented commitment to diversity, citing its appointment of its first female chair more than 20 years ago. He also noted that Working Mother magazine recognized Crowell as “one of the best law firms for women” for six consecutive years, including last year.

In 2016 there were multiple women on the firm's executive committee. After Styles' departure, there are none.