New CEO Will Take Over at Greenberg Traurig in 2010
Richard Rosenbaum, the president of Greenberg Traurig, will take over as chief executive in January 2010, replacing Cesar Alvarez.
Alvarez will become the firm’s executive chairman and will focus on growth and strategic challenges, according to the Am Law Daily. Alvarez has been CEO since 1997, presiding over a more than fourfold increase in the firm’s ranks. He headed the firm when it hired lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who later pleaded guilty in a corruption probe; the firm contends it was an Abramoff victim, the Miami Herald reports.
The “change marks the end of a period of astronomical growth for the 1800-lawyer firm and perhaps a shift in power from Miami to New York,” the Am Law Daily says.
Rosenbaum works in the firm’s New York office but has overseen about half of the firm’s offices in the United States, as well as offices in Europe and Asia, according to the Miami Herald. Legal recruiter Joe Ankus told the newspaper he doesn’t think the Rosenbaum pick indicates the firm will focus on New York.
“If anything, it underscores Greenberg Traurig’s commitment to being a national player,” Ankus said.
