Management changes at law firm Drinker Biddle

Drinker Biddle & Reath L.L.P. said Monday that CEO and chairman Alfred W. Putnam Jr. will be succeeded by Andrew C. Kassner, effective Feb. 1.

Kassner, who has been serving as executive partner at the firm and who has been deeply involved in its management for years, is one of Drinker's top bankruptcy and restructuring partners.

"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."

Putnam took over as chairman and CEO in 2005, when Kassner assumed the role of executive partner. Since then the firm has grown from 360 lawyers based primarily, in the mid-Atlantic region, to a national firm with 11 offices and 630 lawyers. Both Kassner and Putnam were term-limited under the firm's partnership agreement, and thus could no longer continue in their current roles.

In addition to elevating Kassner, the firm also announced a new executive team to oversee core practice areas. Mary Devlin Capizzi will oversee the regulatory services practice group; Robert C. Juelke will have responsibility for transactional practice teams; and Michael W. McTigue Jr. will oversee litigation services, among other responsibilities.

Putnam, a University of Pennsylvania law school graduate, has been for years a presence in Philadelphia's legal and political circles. He is known as an accomplished trial lawyer who also specializes in appellate matters. He was a finance chairman for former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican, and also served as general counsel to the election campaign of U.S. Sen. John Heinz, also a Republican. Putnam said he would continue to practice after finishing his term as chairman and CEO.

Kassner joined Drinker in 1986 after practicing for a time in New York. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and received his law degree from New York Law School. Kassner also said he would continue to practice.

Kassner said a focus of the new leadership team would be to continue recruiting seasoned lawyers and, possibly, expand into new markets.

"We do see some strategic opportunities," Kassner said.

Following the financial crisis of 2008, and the sharp drop in demand for legal services, the firm won wide recognition for its program of in-house training for first-year associates. Under the program, instituted by Putnam and Kassner, associates were drilled on the basics of corporate legal practice for months before they were actually assigned to client matters. The program was begun in response to growing resistance from corporate clients to paying high hourly rates for first-year associates with little practical knowledge, effectively underwriting their postgraduate training. The program is still in place.