Am Law 100 Firm’s Founder Retires Early, Leaving Biglaw Behind – Above the Law

Last
May,
Lewis
Brisbois
—
a
firm
that
brought
in
$720,000,000
gross
revenue
in
2023,
putting
it
at
No.
71
in
the
Am
Law
100
—
suffered
a
one-two
punch
of
losses.
First,
the
firm
suffered
a
defection
en
masse,
when

more
than
100
attorneys
left
to
join
a
(now
defunct)
boutique
firm.
Shortly
thereafter,
Robert
“Bob”
Lewis,
the
firm’s
founder
and
then
chair,
decided
to

step
down.
At
the
time,
Lewis
was
one
of
the
longest-serving
chairs
of
any
Am
Law
100
firm.

In
the
wake
of
stepping
down
from
his
leadership
role,
Lewis
announced
that
he’d
retire
from
the
firm
on
December
31,
2024.
Now,
just
three
months
before
the
end
of
the
year,
it
seems
that
things
have
taken
a
turn
—
as
we
mentioned
in

Morning
Docket,
Lewis
Brisbois
now
has
“considerably
less
‘Lewis,’”
as
Lewis,
and
several
of
his
family
members,
are
no
longer
with
the
firm.

Bloomberg
Law
has
additional
details:

Lewis
…
moved
up
his
scheduled
retirement
to
Oct.
1
from
Dec.
31
so
he
“can
spend
more
time
with
his
family
this
holiday
season,”
the
firm’s
management
committee
said
in
an
Oct.
2
email
viewed
by
Bloomberg
Law.

Bob
Lewis’
son,
Tommy
Lewis,
who
was
the
firm’s
chief
technology
officer
for
more
than
a
decade,
is
also
leaving
Lewis
Brisbois,
according
to
an
Oct.
3
email
from
the
firm’s
management
committee
viewed
by
Bloomberg
Law.
Tommy
Lewis
left
the
firm
Oct.
4,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
the
matter.

Bob
Lewis’
grandson,
Ryan
Lewis,
the
IT
administrator
in
the
firm’s
Costa
Mesa,
California
office,
left
the
same
day
as
Tommy
Lewis,
according
to
two
people
familiar
with
the
matter.

Three
generations
of
Lewis
have
officially
left
the
firm
that
will
continue
to
operate
with
its
founder’s
name.
Best
of
luck
to
the
Lewis
family.

Lewis
Brisbois
Founder
Bob
Lewis,
Two
Family
Members
Leave
Firm
[Bloomberg
Law]

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
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