Holland & Hart Elects M&A Partner as Incoming Chair
Chris Balch is tasked with implementing the Denver-based firm's new strategic plan.
October 28, 2019 at 05:13 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Chris Balch, who started his career at Holland & Hart as a summer clerk in 1997, has been elected chair of the Am Law 200 firm as of Jan. 1, 2020, and in that role will implement a new strategic plan.
Balch said the plan is "heavily rooted" in investing in technology and process efficiencies, as well as implementing innovative service models, such as employing nonlawyers to provide service to clients. One example is using patent agents for intellectual property work, he said.
Balch said the plan, which will be rolled out incrementally, positions the 455-lawyer, Denver-based firm for the future.
"We actually spent the last 10 months taking a deep dive into our firm and its business model and decided at this point we are at a very exciting time," he said. "We are in great regional markets with a strong brand and a good reputation."
Balch, who has served on the firm's executive committee since January, said he ran unopposed for the chair position. The mergers and acquisitions and finance lawyer was elected to a four-year term and succeeds Liz Sharrer, a real estate partner in Denver who has been chair for the last six years.
The firm recently changed the term length for executive committee members, including the chair, from three to four years.
Holland & Hart has 15 offices in Colorado, Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.
Balch said the regional network strategy the firm put into place more than 30 years ago remains effective today to accomplish the firm's goals. But, he said, the firm will be opportunistic, "whether that's bolting on another firm or another practice group."
Holland & Hart, which touts its energy and natural resources, IP and technology practices, is not targeting any particular new markets, but it continues to look at Texas.
"It is attractive in many ways, specifically with respect to the energy and natural resources industries and the clients we serve," Balch said, acknowledging that the Texas market is very competitive.
In 2018, Holland & Hart posted declines in revenue, profits and head count as it lost 16 partners. But in an interview earlier this year, Sharrer said the firm viewed 2018 as a good year, in part because revenue per lawyer increased and the firm's patent, energy and M&A practices were very busy.
In an interview Monday, Sharrer said an earlier phase of the strategic planning started in the spring of 2018, and the firm has, in fact, evaluated many aspects of its operations over the last few years. She said one change during her tenure relates to the life cycle of lawyers throughout their time at the firm, creating great places at the firm for lawyers who are still building a book of business as well as for partners nearing retirement.
Except for two years as an assistant general counsel at a software company, Balch has practiced at Holland & Hart his entire career. He previously served on the management committee from 2009 to 2011.
Sharrer said she is excited about Balch moving into the chair role because of his strong business sense, a commitment to client service and a deep appreciation for the firm's culture and history.
It's a generational shift in firm leadership, she said.
"I'm a Baby Boomer. He's a Gen X, I think," Sharrer said. "You have to find the right person. Chris is wise beyond his years, because he's worked in leadership roles for so long."
Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllAs Global Law Firm Mergers Keep Coming, Will There Ever Be a New Swiss Verein?
SoundCloud GC Takes Legal Reins of Condé Nast at Tumultuous Time
Trending Stories
- 1Antitrust Class Actions Against CVS, Other Pharmacy Benefit Managers Are Piling Up
- 2Judge Grinds NY's Cannabis Licensing Regime to a Halt Again
- 3On the Move and After Hours: Barclay Damon; VLJ; Barnes & Thornburg
- 4Justices Will Hear First Amendment Challenge to Denial of Tax Exemption for Catholic Charities
- 5Ex-US Sen. Robert Menendez Loses Bid for Retrial
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250