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Senior Leadership Chronology
1901 – circa 1920
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George Case managed the Firm with assistance from DuPratt White.
circa 1920 – June 1935
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The Firm was managed by a committee consisting initially of George Case and Leonard Smith, assisted by A.B. Bailey, then the Firm’s cashier and bookkeeper, with Tracy Vought and Monty Hatch subsequently added as members. This committee was known unofficially as the management committee.
June 1935 – March 1963
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In June 1935, the Firm adopted a management structure with an executive committee initially composed of Joe Bennett, Hatch, Irving Olds, Walter Orr and Vought.

Olds was elected by the members of the committee as the first chair and served in that capacity until he left the Firm in 1940 to join U.S. Steel.

Bennett succeeded Olds as chair and served until his death in 1954.

Olds succeeded Bennett, having returned to the Firm from U.S. Steel, and served until his death in March 1963.

Beginning in the early 1940s, the Firm adopted the practice of having a rotating member on the executive committee, serving a three-month term.

Between 1935 and 1963, in addition to Bennett, Hatch, Olds, Orr and Vought, the following partners served at one or more times as either permanent or rotating members of the committee: Charlie Fay, Jack Gifford, Colonel Hartfield, Glover Johnson, Henry Mannix, Russell Morrill, Chauncey Newlin, Leonard Smith, Lowell Wadmond and Jesse Waid. The managing partner was an ex-officio member of the executive committee, and during this period this position was held by Adrian Foley, Paul Pennoyer and Maurice McLoughlin. The Firm’s records of this period are not exhaustive, and it is possible that other partners served as members of the executive committee during this time.
March 1963 – April 1969
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In March 1963, the month Olds died, the Firm amended its partnership agreement to establish formally a “Senior Group” composed of the five partners who had been partners the longest. The Senior Group was given the power to determine partner percentages and salaries (this power having first been granted to senior partners by a January 1, 1960 amendment), and in April 1963, that power was expanded to include new partner decisions. In 1968, the number of partners in the Senior Group was increased from five to seven.

The members of the initial Senior Group were Mannix, Johnson, Newlin, Pennoyer and Wadmond. Gifford, Orison Marden and Joe Willard served as members at some time during this period.

The Firm also had an executive committee during this period. At one or more times, Claude Hamilton, Tom Kiernan, Marden, McLoughlin, Vernon Munroe, Charlie Sellers, Willard and Bill Williams served on the committee.

The Firm’s records of this period are not exhaustive, and it is possible that other partners served as members of the Senior Group or the executive committee during this time.
April 1969 – December 1978
In April 1969, the Firm reorganized its management structure by discontinuing the Senior Group and the executive committee and establishing a management committee with broad authority to manage the Firm. The Firm selected an initial management committee in mid-April, then amended its partnership agreement, effective January 1, 1970, to formalize the new structure. The amended agreement provided for a management committee composed of nine members: three members from the corporate and banking department (C), two from litigation (L), one each from estates (E) and tax (T), and two “at large” (AL). Members were given three-year staggered terms, with an annual election for the successors of the three partners whose three-year terms were expiring. To select the departmental members, each partner nominated three partners from his or her department. The management committee then selected the committee members from among those with the most nominations. The selection process for the “at large” members was similar, with all partners nominating three partners. The chair of the committee was elected by its members. The management committee was empowered to determine partner percentages and salaries and to make new partner decisions. The members of the initial management committee were: Johnson (AL), Wadmond (L) and Williams (C), with terms expiring at the end of 1970; Hal Fales (L), Sims Farr (E) and Mort Moskin (C), with terms expiring at the end of 1971; and Dick Appert (T), Marden (AL) and Munroe (C), with terms expiring in 1972. Johnson was the first chair of the committee. Marden succeeded Johnson in 1971 and served as chair until his death in 1975. Munroe served as interim chair until Fales became chair in 1976, serving through 1979. Three new members were added each year to succeed the members whose three-year terms were expiring.
1971
Roger Blough (AL), David Hartfield (L) and Bill Knox
1972
Fales (L), Jack McNally (C) and Web Sandford (E)
1973
Appert (T), Marden (AL) and Munroe (C)
1974
Blough (AL), Jack Johnston (L) and Moskin (C) (Munroe succeeded Blough as (AL) at the beginning of 1975, and Joe Hinsey succeeded Munroe as (C) at that time)
1975
Malcolm Edgerton (E), Don Flinn (L) and McNally (C)
1976
Fales (AL), Hinsey (C) and Steve Piga (T)
1977
Tom Burke (AL), Johnston (L) and Moskin (C)
1978
Edgerton (E), Flinn (L) and Ed Schmults (C)
January 1979 – March 2000
In October 1978, the Firm adopted a new management structure, effective January 1, 1979. Under the new structure, the Firm was managed by a four-partner management committee, including the Chair of the Firm as the chair of the committee. The Chair was to be selected by the committee in 1979 and elected by the Firm’s equity partners thereafter. Elections were held annually until 1990. Beginning with that year, elections were held biennially and the two-year terms of those elected were changed to commence on April 1 instead of January 1. Voting in elections was done by secret ballot. All equity partners were listed on the first ballot, and each equity partner voted for four partners and indicated which of the four was that partner’s choice for Chair. Only the Chair could be elected on the first ballot. The number of equity partners on subsequent ballots was reduced by a process designed to result in only a few ballots being required to complete the election. The number of votes received by any partner on any ballot was never revealed. Under this structure, the management committee had broad powers to manage the Firm. The management committees under this structure were:
1979
Fales (Chair), Willis McDonald, Moskin and Schmults
1980
Hurlock (Chair), Hamilton, McDonald and Moskin
1981
Hurlock (Chair), Hamilton, McNally and Moskin
1982
Hurlock (Chair), Hamilton, Ed Kelly and McNally, with David Sachs elected to succeed Kelly in April of that year
1983
Hurlock (Chair), Paul Bschorr, Gene Goodwillie and Sachs
1984
Hurlock (Chair), John Barnum, Bschorr and Goodwillie
1985
Hurlock (Chair), Barnum, Goodwillie and McNally
1986
Hurlock (Chair), Barnum, Goodwillie and McNally
1987
Hurlock (Chair), Barnum, Goodwillie and McNally
1988
Hurlock (Chair), Barnum, Goodwillie and McNally
1989
Hurlock (Chair), Barnum, Goodwillie and McNally
1990
Hurlock (Chair), Bschorr, Goodwillie and Duane Wall
1992
Hurlock (Chair), Bschorr, John Riggs and Wall
1994
Hurlock (Chair), Sean Geary, Riggs and Wall
1996
Hurlock (Chair), Rick Holwell, Wall and Bill Wynne
1998
Hurlock (Chair), George Crozer, Goodwillie and Wall
April 2000 – September 2007
In 1999, the Firm adopted a new management structure that became effective April 1, 2000. Under the new structure, the Firm was managed by a managing partner and a management board of which the managing partner was not a member. The management board elected the chair of the board. The managing partner had broad power to manage the Firm subject to the requirement that the management board approve certain decisions, including partner compensation and new partners. The members of the management board were elected through a process similar to the one used under the prior management structure. The management board then nominated a partner to be managing partner, who was elected by a direct yes/no vote by the Firm’s equity partners. Wall was elected managing partner under this structure for terms commencing in April 2000 and April 2004. The members of the management board during Wall’s first term were Eric Berg, Crozer, Peter Finlay, Tim Goodell, Goodwillie (chair of the committee), Holwell, Wynne and Claes Zettermarck, with Eberhard Meincke added in August 2000 under the terms of the merger agreement between White & Case and Feddersen Laule. The members of the management board during Wall’s second term were Kevin Barnard, Berg, Goodell, Meincke, Gilles Peigney, Philip Stopford, Hugh Verrier and Wynne (chair of the committee).
October 2007 – Present
In 2007, the Firm amended its partnership agreement, effective May 16, to adopt a new management structure. Under the new structure, the Chair of the Firm is elected by direct vote of the equity partners. Ballots include only the names of equity partners nominated by themselves or other equity partners. After the Chair is elected, eight partners are elected by direct vote of the equity partners to serve on a partnership committee, with the Chair as chair of the committee. Ballots include only the names of partners nominated by themselves or other equity partners. In all ballots after the first ballot for Chair and the partnership committee, the number of partners included on each ballot is reduced to result in only a few ballots being required to complete the election. After the Chair and the partnership committee have been elected, the Chair appoints three other equity partners to constitute a four-member executive committee of which the Chair of the Firm is chair. The Chair and executive committee have broad power to manage the Firm subject to the approval by a compensation committee and a new partners committee of partner compensation and new partner recommendations made by the executive committee. The members of each of the two committees are the four members of the executive committee and four of the members of the partnership committee, with the Chair of the Firm having a casting vote as chair of each committee. The Chair and the members of the executive committee and the partnership committee have four-year terms. The term of the first team elected under the new structure commenced on October 1, 2007, with subsequent terms beginning on September 1. Hugh Verrier was elected Chair of the Firm under this structure for terms commencing on October 1, 2007, September 1, 2011 and September 1, 2015. The other members of the partnership committee during his first term were Ian Forrester, Neal Grenley, Petri Haussila, Jim Hayden, David Koschik, Carolyn Lamm, Norbert Majerholc and Jan Matejcek. In addition to Verrier, the members of the executive committee were Asli Basgoz, Dimitrios Drivas (succeeded by Oliver Brettle in 2009) and Tony Kahn.

In addition to Verrier, members of the partnership committee for Verrier’s second term were Don Baker, Oliver Brahmst, Grenley, Hayden, Kahn, Matejcek, Chris Utting and Jason Yardley. The other three members of the executive committee were Brettle, Koschik and Jacqui MacLennan. The other members of the partnership committee for Verrier’s third and current term are Jochen Artzinger-Bolten, Hayden, David Hille, Someera Khokhar, Francois Leloup, MacLennan, Heather McDevitt and Yardley. The other three members of the executive committee are Baker, Brettle and Koschik.