Just in time for its 30th anniversary, downtown law firm Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP made its first-ever leadership change.
Founding partners Steven Manning and Dennis Kass essentially swapped roles in March, with Kass taking on the managing partner role and Manning rotating into assistant managing partner. The pair co-founded the full-service firm in 1994 with 14 other attorneys and have since grown it to 150 with seven locations.
“None of this was accidental,” Kass said. “At the time, we thought about why we were not happy where we were at and what we’d do differently. It was important for us to have the family feel in the firm and give all of our attorneys the assets they needed.”
Kass and Manning had worked together at the former Morris, Polich & Purdy (which in 2017 merged with Clark Hill PLC) before setting out on their own. A “dynamic duo,” Manning led as managing partner since the firm’s inception, while Kass was assistant managing partner.
Manning hailed his co-founder as “incredibly bright and wholly committed” to shepherding the firm forward.
“I am very proud of what our firm has accomplished. Together, we’ve realized the vision of a wonderful group of people working together, supporting each other, doing great things in the law for our clients, and having a good time doing it,” Manning added in a statement. “Now it’s time for the firm to benefit from new leadership, fresh ideas, and renewed energy.”
Kass said that since the firm’s formation it has placed high value on diversity – not just in the background of its attorneys, but also in the practice groups it offers.
“We acknowledged that the best decisions are made by people from every walk of life,” he said. “We have 39 practice areas that make us pretty recession-proof. And then we have a lot of clients within each practice area. That diversity gives us financial strength and stability.”
A litigator at heart, Kass said moving into the top job means he’s handling business matters and decisions. While he will involve other partners and group leaders in the decision-making process, he acknowledged “the buck stops with me now.”
Since the change, Kass has hired the firm’s first chief operating officer and has been taking a look at “the boring stuff” behind the scenes to scout for any improvement to operational infrastructure. With four locations in California, as well as offices in Dallas, New York and Phoenix, Kass added there aren’t any immediate growth opportunities right now. But, he said, client demand has usually driven growth and would dictate any additional expansions.
And he and Manning have some ideas for who will take the keys when they’re both ready to retire.
“We don’t plan to be a one-generation firm,” Kass said. “We are very big in succession planning and who’s going to be the next generation and take it to new heights. It’s like with parents wanting their kids to be better than them.”
