Rob Reedy of Porter Hedges. Courtesy photo'Time for New Ideas': Porter Hedges Eyes Succession Plan as MP Starts Final Term
Houston-based Porter Hedges will soon appoint a committee to confer with lawyers across the firm about what the managing partner role should look like, and who might be interested in the job.
January 14, 2020 at 05:40 PM
3 minute read
Rob Reedy, managing partner of Houston's Porter Hedges since mid-2009, just dug into another four-year term, but he expects his run to end in 2024 when a younger successor takes over.
"The plan is to have a new managing partner in four years," the 66-year-old Reedy said, noting that his anticipated 14-year tenure is a long time for one lawyer to lead a firm.
"It's not me being tired. It's time for change. It's time for new ideas," he said.
Over the next four years, Reedy, a corporate transactional lawyer, will focus on growing the 115-lawyer firm's client roster and its lawyers.
"What that means is that we are going to continue to invest in people—both hiring out of law school and laterals—but also in diversity and wellness and leadership training," Reedy said.
The firm, with a solid roster of energy industry clients, is about two-thirds transactional and one-third litigation.
With just two offices in Houston and Oklahoma City, Porter Hedges outpaced the growth rate of many larger Texas-based firms in 2018. Revenue increased by 9.5% to $83.8 million and net income grew by 13.6% that year, even as lawyer head count remained steady. Reedy said the firm is still crunching numbers, but he is "feeling good" about the financial results for 2019.
To kick off the succession planning process, Reedy said, a committee will confer with lawyers across the firm about what the managing partner role should look like, and who might be interested in the job. He said the committee may decide to recommend a job description for the new managing partner vastly different from how he's been doing the job.
"The committee has a broad mandate to look at everything," he said.
While acknowledging that other firms have been tending to appoint younger managing partners, Reedy pointed out that Porter Hedges in 2019 eliminated its mandatory retirement requirement, which had been set at age 70. Reedy said a number of partners are closing in on that age, and have very active practices and no desire to retire.
"That wasn't because of me," Reedy said. "We just wanted to do it."
|Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
From ‘Deep Sadness’ to Little Concern, Gaetz’s Nomination Draws Sharp Reaction From Lawyers
7 minute read
DLA Piper Sued by 2 Houston Companies, Alleging a 'Fake Lawyer' Represented Them in Argentina
3 minute read
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
