Less than a month after he stepped down as chairman of Jenner & Block, Craig Martin is leaving the law firm with five colleagues to open a Chicago office for New York-based Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Martin, 56, said the move would enhance his ability to serve clients that include the Crowns, among other "wealthy and iconic families I represent." Willkie Farr Chair Thomas Cerabino said Martin and his team will provide a foothold here to build out litigation, investigations and intellectual property practices and, later, add other groups.
Willkie Farr's decision to proceed with a Chicago office at 300 N. LaSalle St. "even at this moment of uncertainty," as Cerabino put it, continues a trend of out-of-town firms hiring big names to open outposts here to gain clients and minister more broadly to ones they have. He said the firm expects to benefit from "unprecedented legal issues arising from the current (COVID-19) crisis."
Still, says legal industry consultant Kent Zimmermann, "It’s not every day that you see the chair of a firm follow this path."
Jenner in early March named Washington, D.C.-based partner Thomas Perrelli to succeed Martin as chairman, its first outside the Chicago office.
Willkie Farr is more profitable than Jenner, ranking 17th in 2018 on the American Lawyer's list, with more than $3 million in profit per equity partner. Jenner was 54th, with $1.4 million. Among Willkie Farr's clients have been Major League Baseball; former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was a partner of the firm.
Martin, a former Crain's 40 under 40, has been a major revenue generator for Jenner, representing Aon, Northern Trust and other corporate heavyweights. He counseled United Airlines' board amid a controversy over the carrier adding a flight for the personal benefit of the company's chairman, leading to the 2015 exit of CEO Jeff Smisek and two other United officials. The airline paid a $2.4 million fine.
Asked about going from the top of a firm with 500-plus lawyers to an office of six, Martin said, "I would say this is a huge opportunity and a step up. I would suspect by the end of the day it would be more than six people."
Legal recruiter Kay Hoppe said, "He's just a very instinctive business counselor and generator."
Other Jenner partners moving to Willkie Farr are Amanda Amert, Matt Basil, Sara Horton, Barbara Grayson and Matthew Thomas.
Kent Zimmermann's occupation has been corrected.
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