Pillsbury chair announces he's stepping down at the end of next year

By Deirdre Newman

Daily Journal Staff Writer

The four-term chairman of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP will step down at the
end of his newly-elected term in December 2016, the firm announced Wednesday, following
a tenure of ups and downs.

James M. Rishwain Jr., who has served in the position since 2006, was the leader or
co-leader of Pillsbury's global real estate practice for more than 10 years, and has
spent nearly three decades at the firm. His exit as chair comes on the heels of opposing
forces confronting the firm: On one hand, 2014 was its most profitable year ever,
according to firm leaders, and it has hired 20 partners since the beginning of this
year throughout its U.S. offices. On the other hand, the firm's recent history has
been marked by a mass exodus of corporate lawyers to Winston & Strawn LLP, one of
the biggest exits so far this year, and two failed merger discussions with Orrick,
Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP and Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

Pillsbury partner and board member Allison M. Leopold Tilley focused on the former, saying this is the perfect time for the firm to be thinking
about the future.

"I sit in hundreds of client board meetings and succession planning is one of the
most important topics you deal with," Tilley said. "If you have an organization that's
thriving, then you conscientiously make a plan for the future."

A spokesman for Pillsbury said Rishwain was not available for comment on Wednesday.
Legal recruiter Larry Watanabe praised what the chairman has done for the firm since
the start of his tenure.

"When he took the helm, the firm was getting poached by a lot of firms, and they lost
a lot of laterals," Watanabe said. "He was able to solidify the firm and its operations.
And, he did aggressively move them forward, notably in Texas, where they have a strong
energy practice."

Just last year, Rishwain oversaw office openings in Austin, Texas to serve clients
in Texas and throughout the Gulf Coast, and Beijing, the firm's second office in China
after Shanghai. Pillsbury is best known for its focus in energy, intellectual property,
finance and technology. In an interview with the Daily Journal last year, Rishwain
also lauded the firm's real estate and construction capabilities.

In spite of the recent departures - three laterals jumped from Pillsbury to join Winston
& Strawn on the East Coast in the last two months - the firm in the past few years
has bolstered its other offices including those in Northern California and Los Angeles.

But there were some notable setbacks under Rishwain's leadership as well, including
a proposed merger with Orrick - a combination that would have created a 1,600-attorney
firm - that fell through at the end of 2013 due to conflicts of interest between the
two firms. Pillsbury also entertained a possible marriage with Houston's Fulbright
in 2012, which did not come to fruition.

Pillsbury declined to comment about the specifics of its process to elect a new chair
and any potential successors, but Watanabe expressed concern that the next chair might
not reside in California, where the firm has six offices.

"Pillsbury has always had the majority of its U.S. presence in California," he said.
"The firm very well could, for example and purposes of evidencing a global entity,
purposely select a new firm chair in Texas or New York."

Legal recruiter Sandy Lechtick said it's common at firms like Pillsbury for the chair
to reign for about a decade, citing Morrison & Foerster LLP, O'Melveny & Myers LLP,
and Latham & Watkins LLP as examples.

"Also, the managing partner responsibilities are increasingly challenging," Lechtick
said. "It's not a reflection on terrible leadership - it just kind of goes with the
territory. And, I think it's time for someone with a different perspective to position
the firm for the next several years."

href="mailto:deirdrenewman@dailyjournal.com">deirdrenewman@dailyjournal.com

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