After nearly seven years as managing director at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco, Stuart Lipton has told partners he’ll be stepping down.

“The way firms work today, you need to spend a few less billable and a few more management hours,” said Lipton on Tuesday. “And I had been doing a lot of both. After seven years, there are fresher minds, better-rested folk to do it.”