McGuireWoods has chosen a new chair to succeed Richard Cullen, who has served in the top job for 11 years.
Jonathan P. Harmon has been elected by the firm’s board of partners, making him the first African-American partner to lead the 183-year-old firm. The board has also appointed J. Tracy Walker IV to succeed managing partner Thomas E. Cabaniss.
“This is the right time for a new generation of leaders,” Cullen said. “Jon and Tracy are popular choices to take over. They are well respected by our partners and clients. I am excited for them and know that the firm is in very capable hands.”
Like Cullen, Harmon is a litigation specialist. He joined the firm in 1995, and has been leading the firm’s business and securities litigation group since 2015. A Desert Storm veteran, he graduated from West Point before earning his JD at the University of Texas School of Law.
Walker has been the head of McGuireWoods’ litigation practice and the firm’s deputy managing partner since 2015. He joined the firm in 1998.
The firm has grown during the tenure of Cullen, who was appointed as chair in 2006, and Cabaniss, who became managing partner in 2007. The duo has boosted the firm’s lawyer headcount from 750 to 1,100, and its offices from 15 to 23. They also forged the firm’s tie-up with FuJae Partners in Shanghai.
Cullen is representing US Vice President Mike Pence in the Russia collusion investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
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