Hausfeld implements its global leadership succession plan
After chairing Hausfeld for 13 years, Michael Hausfeld hands over global leadership to Anthony Maton, Brian Ratner, and Brent Landau
The firm also appoints Lianne Craig as London Managing Partner and Melinda Coolidge as US Managing Partner. Berlin Partner Dr. Ann-Christin Richter will also join the Global Management Group
Washington, Berlin, London - 1 December 2021. Global disputes-only law firm Hausfeld today announced that Chair Michael Hausfeld, who established the firm in 2008, will take on a new role as Chair Emeritus. He hands over the leadership of the firm to three partners, Anthony Maton, Brian Ratner, and Brent Landau, who have worked closely with Michael and other members of the leadership team since the firm’s founding to grow the firm into one of the most successful claimant litigation law firms in the world.
Michael’s transition to Chair Emeritus will allow him to focus on certain of the firm’s important cases in the antitrust, financial services, environmental, and human rights areas, while advocating for important policy goals and expanding his scholarship and teaching. The firm will continue to benefit from Michael’s decades of experience and reputation as a pioneering legal visionary and one of the world’s most renowned and impactful civil litigators.
While retaining a senior leadership role, Michael passes the joint leadership baton to Global Vice Chairs Anthony Maton and Brian Ratner, who will become Global Co-Chairs, working closely with Brent Landau, who will continue in his current position as Global Managing Partner. All three are founding partners of the firm and recognised widely as leading litigation practitioners.
As Global Co-Chairs, Anthony and Brian will be responsible for the overall strategic direction and vision of the global firm, the firm’s key stakeholder relationships, as well as the overall management of the firm in conjunction with Brent.
As London Managing Partner since inception, Anthony has spearheaded the extensive growth and success of Hausfeld both in London and across Europe. He has been consistently recognised in Chambers, Legal 500, and other leading directories for competition and banking litigation and his innovative and trailblazing work developing the private enforcement regime in Europe. Legal 500 2022 said that “[h]e is the single most influential lawyer in UK and European claimant antitrust litigation” and Who’s Who Legal has described him as “the best in the plaintiffs’ bar in the UK.”
On the opposite side of the Atlantic in Washington, DC, Brian has successfully led Hausfeld’s US and global business development efforts as the firm has expanded its practice areas and client base. He has been consistently recognised by Legal 500, Lawdragon, Who’s Who Legal, and Super Lawyers as a leading global litigator, especially in the antitrust field for businesses of all sizes and across industries. Legal 500 selected him for their Hall of Fame list in 2020 which highlighted “to clients, the law firm partners who are the pinnacle of the profession” and included “individuals who have received constant praise from their clients for continued excellence.”
As Global Managing Partner, Brent has been instrumental in shaping the growth of the firm and overseeing its operations, working with the firm’s global leadership team. Based in Philadelphia, he is an accomplished antitrust and human rights lawyer for plaintiffs in complex cases, having been named a “Titan of Plaintiffs’ Bar” by Law360, a “Distinguished Leader” by the Legal Intelligencer, and an “Antitrust Trailblazer and Pioneer” by the National Law Journal. Brent also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he teaches a course in legal ethics.
The appointments of Brian and Anthony as Global Co-Chairs, along with Brent’s continued leadership as Global Managing Partner, are part of a global growth and leadership transition plan that Hausfeld first announced in September 2019.
As part of Hausfeld’s global leadership transition, London Partner and Head of Commercial Disputes, Lianne Craig, and Washington, DC Partner, Melinda Coolidge, will step into London and US Managing Partner positions, respectively. See UK release and US release respectively. Dr Alex Petrasincu continues in his role as German Managing Partner.
Hausfeld’s expanded Global Executive Committee will now consist of Michael Hausfeld, Brent Landau, Anthony Maton, Brian Ratner, Alex Petrasincu, new London Managing Partner Lianne Craig, and new US Managing Partner Melinda Coolidge.
Also, the firm announced that Berlin Partner Dr Ann-Christin Richter will join the Global Management Group. Ann-Christin advises on all aspects of competition law, including cartel damage actions, and represents clients in antitrust and IP litigation. Legal 500 Germany (2020) acknowledges Ann-Christin’s “outstanding expertise, especially in antitrust damages.”
All the new global leadership appointments will take effect from 1st January 2022.
Commenting on the announcement, Michael Hausfeld, said:
“Since our founding thirteen years ago we have grown into a team of more than 160 lawyers in 12 offices across the US and Europe. Both our global management challenges and opportunities have grown commensurately. Hausfeld’s future, character and vision will be assured under the leadership of Anthony and Brian as Global Co-Chairs, and Brent as Global Managing Partner, along with the talent of our managing partners and global management group, and the dedication and skill of our entire team.”
Anthony Maton, added:
“I am honoured by the confidence that Michael and the firm place in me with this appointment. I am very much looking forward to fully stepping up into a global role and to working with Brian, Brent, and the leadership team across all our offices to continue to cement our position as the market leader in litigating and resolving claimant focused disputes in Europe and the US.”
Brian Ratner, continued:
“I am excited for the challenges and opportunities that come with this new role. Michael has done an unparalleled job building and leading the firm and will continue to make great contributions. Together with Anthony, Brent, our global management team and our terrific group of partners, lawyers and staff, we will build on Hausfeld’s stellar reputation as a global force in claimant-side complex litigation matters in the years ahead.”
Notes to editors
- Hausfeld is a leading disputes-only law firm with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Brussels, Dusseldorf, London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Stockholm and Washington, DC.
- We are a gender diverse firm with 35% female partners, over 40% female lawyers, and an excellent track record of promoting women worldwide. Together, the Global Management Group is 54% women and the vast majority of our senior business professionals are women.
- From 1st January 2022, the firm’s leadership includes the Global Executive Committee (GEC) and a Global Management Group composed of the seven GEC members and other partners from across Hausfeld’s offices: Ann-Christin Richter from Berlin, Nicola Boyle and Scott Campbell from London, Reena Gambhir from Washington, DC, and Megan Jones and Bonny Sweeney from San Francisco.
