Summary: The law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath has announced that the Managing Partners have elected Andrew C. Kassner as the firm’s new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has announced that Andrew C. Kassner has been elected as the next Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the firm, according to a press release.
Kassner will take over the position beginning on February 1, 2015. He has been serving as the Executive Partner of the firm and will replace Alfred W. Putnam, Jr. Putnam has been the Chairman and CEO of the firm since 2005.
“Andy was the natural choice,” said Putnam. “He has been our Executive Partner, with extensive management responsibilities, for almost a decade and our partners see him as an effective leader with the experience and expertise to guide the firm going forward.”
Kassner has been with the law firm for 28 years and focuses his practice on restructuring. He has been in charge of the corporate restructuring practice group at the firm for 20 years.
“Over the past ten years, the firm has implemented strategic initiatives that continued our tradition of maintaining national litigation and business practices across a number of industries and disciplines,” Kassner said. “We will continue to recruit top talent in our existing markets – and perhaps enter others – in order to serve our clients, while at the same time retaining the core values that define us as a firm.”
Three new Executive Partners have been appointed by the firm’s Managing Partners. These Executive Partners will work with Kassner as part of the senior leadership team. The three partners are Mary Devlin Capizzi, Robert C. Juelke and Michael W. McTigue, Jr.
“Mary, Bob, and Mike are leading lawyers in their fields, and have been involved in the firm leadership for a long time. The Managing Partners asked each of them to assume additional identified day-to -day firm management responsibilities so as to allow Andy to concentrate on firm strategy and growth,” Putnam said.
Kassner came to the firm back in 1986. Kassner holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree from New York Law School.