Morgan Lewis has named employment head David McManus as its next chair, marking the first leadership change for the Philadelphia-based firm since 2014.
McManus will begin his five-year term at the helm on 1 October 2026, succeeding longtime leader Jami McKeon. Morgan Lewis said he had been unanimously elected by its partnership.
McManus is a veteran of the firm of more than 30 years and has served on its compensation committee and advisory board, among other leadership roles.
Based in New York and Boston, he will be charged with maintaining the momentum achieved under McKeon’s 12 years of leadership, which began with the firm absorbing the bulk of struggling Boston firm Bingham McCutchen’s partnership in late 2014, in a move that turned it into a 2,000-lawyer outfit with revenue in the region of $2bn. Bingham ceased operations the following year.
Since then Morgan Lewis has grown into a $3bn firm with 2,200 lawyers and 33 offices around the world, including the Riyadh location it opened late last year. The firm also opened an office in Munich in 2023 and Seattle the year before after absorbing a local litigation boutique, having merged with 80-lawyer Singapore firm Stamford Law Corporation back in 2015.
McManus said he would work closely with McKeon in the coming months “to ensure a seamless transition and build on the foundation she set forth – reinforcing what makes us distinctive while developing in ways that position our firm for the future”.
McKeon told Bloomberg Law she plans to leave Morgan Lewis by the end of this year and retire.
“It has been a true privilege to serve as chair of Morgan Lewis and to work alongside such talented and dedicated colleagues,” McKeon said in a statement.
“I look forward to working closely with David over the next six months and I share the confidence of our partners that he is the right person to lead Morgan Lewis into the future,” she added.
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