Squire Sanders Elects New Leadership

James J. Maiwurm Becomes Firm Chairman as R. Thomas Stanton Completes 20-Year Tenure

2 November 2009


For the first time in 20 years, the partners of global law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. have elected a new leader. James J. Maiwurm, the firm’s Global Managing Partner, has succeeded R. Thomas Stanton as Chair of the firm’s Management Committee. Stanton was elected Vice Chair in July 1989 and Chair the following year, and has served continuously in that role since July 1990. Stanton was ineligible for re-election under the firm’s partnership agreement.

“Tom Stanton is the one who first saw what Squire Sanders could be and would need to be for the firm to grow and prosper in the 21st century and meet the expanding worldwide needs of many of our clients,” said Maiwurm. “His vision and his hard work over the past two decades have shaped our firm into the global leader it is today.”

Stanton said his successor brings exceptional qualifications and an unusually broad perspective to his new role: “In addition to his decades of legal experience, Jim’s business experience gives him a deep and direct understanding of client needs. He knows firsthand how lawyers help clients achieve their goals.”

Maiwurm started his legal career in 1974 with Squire Sanders and took a leave of absence from the firm to serve as Chair and CEO of a publicly held international engineering firm.

He established Squire Sanders’ Northern Virginia office in 2001 and was tapped by Stanton to serve as the firm’s Global Managing Partner in 2003. Since then, Maiwurm has worked side by side with Stanton to steer the operations and continued strategic growth of the firm.

Under Stanton’s leadership, Squire Sanders grew from eight offices in 1989 to 32 offices in key cities throughout the world. The firm was one of the pioneers among Western law firms entering the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe after the Iron Curtain fell. Burgeoning activity there was supported by Squire Sanders’ operations in Brussels, the United States and later Western Europe, particularly London. As the practice in Europe grew, the firm also set its sights on Asia, a region on which world markets and many firm clients were focused. After establishing beachheads in Taipei and Hong Kong, the firm combined practices with the California, Tokyo and Beijing offices of Graham & James LLP in 2000. Following the firm’s combination with Steel Hector & Davis LLP in 2005, which added offices in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach, and again led by current and growing client needs, Squire Sanders has been expanding its operations in Latin America, developing the broadest reach of any US law firm in that region.

Beyond the firm’s global growth, Stanton also championed Squire Sanders’ “one-firm” operating model and fostered a culture that values collaboration and constantly seeks ways to better serve clients. He actively supported the firm’s enduring commitment to diversity, which dates back decades and recently earned the firm recognition as one of only 305 US-based organizations to receive a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. His drive to organize around client interests in order to maximize value to firm clients led to the creation of client service teams and industry groups with the intent of fully understanding client issues and opportunities and anticipating legal, regulatory and market dynamics of significance to firm clients. Stanton also had the vision to understand the importance of technology to enhance efficiency, maintain consistently high quality worldwide and support integration across the firm.

“I have been with the firm for more than 30 years, and I’ve seen it evolve and grow, especially in the last two decades,” said Frederick R. Nance, who is Co-Chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee and serves on the seven-member Management Committee. “What is truly remarkable is that, through it all, Squire Sanders has remained a single, cohesive firm – with 850 lawyers worldwide operating as a team. Credit goes to Tom Stanton for shaping the firm in that direction and reinforcing among all of our partners that a single-firm philosophy is the best possible approach to effectively meet the needs of our clients.”

Given the longstanding close working relationship between Stanton and Maiwurm on Squire Sanders’ firmwide strategic planning and other key areas of management, the firm expects the leadership transition will be seamless. Like other major law firms and like businesses throughout the world, Squire Sanders is moving to meet the challenges created by the current business climate by employing new processes, tools and creative approaches to make the most of the firm’s strengths and the value its lawyers bring to their clients. With Maiwurm as Chair, the firm will remain committed to its “one-firm” operating model and its global legal services platform. At the same time, Squire Sanders will continue to deepen its ability to serve and support all of the communities and regions in which it operates. Future growth and development will be undertaken whenever and wherever growth will further support clients’ business needs.

“We believe the significant changes around the world in the global economy and in the legal profession present a great opportunity for the firm to make new use of its enduring operating principles: understanding the clients’ perspective, adding value, and meeting client goals,” Maiwurm said.