Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, the Los Angeles-based law firm with a focus on insurance work, has recently dismissed two of its senior officers. Brian Gedeon, serving as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer, and Barbara Cheen, the Chief Client Relations Officer, were let go as part of a broader shakeup in the firm’s back-office operations.
This move comes as part of a series of changes Lewis Brisbois has been initiating since the departure of nearly 140 lawyers last year. The internal memo from Lewis Brisbois, verified by Bloomberg Law, reveals a larger ongoing process to “streamline and elevate back-office operations.”
These measures, according to the firm, aim to ensure exceptional quality of service for its clientele, which includes major companies like Chubb Ltd., Home Depot Inc., and Ford Motor Co. The restructuring has also seen previous leaders of the firm, including co-founder Bob Smith and long-time chair Bob Lewis, stepping down, with Gregory Katz taking over as the new managing partner.
In the meantime, Jay McAveeney and Tim Armstrong have assumed the role of Interim Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer, respectively, as a part of the back-office reshuffling.
The exodus and the subsequent changes are no small events for the law firm that employs over 1,500 lawyers in the US. Recent months have seen several high-profile exits. For instance, Julie Maurer, leading the transportation and cargo and logistics groups, joined Husch Blackwell in January. In a similar move, Danny Worker, the head of the Chicago office, and eight other lawyers departed on February 1st to join Clyde & Co.
However, the firm also made some noted additions to its team, such as the appointment of Daron Watts, an ex-partner at Sidley Austin, as the head of its government affairs practice.