Global co-head of information governance, privacy and cybersecurity Ffion Flockhart is leaving the firm for Allen & Overy, Flockhart told the American Lawyer, adding that her departure date has not been confirmed.
Global COO and CFO Robert Otty departed the firm at the end of November, while global CIO Ann-Michele Bowlin is set to leave at the end of the year, Norton Rose confirmed to Law360 in November.
Global head of risk advisory and chief talent officer Jane Caskey departed the firm for Linklaters in November; the same month, EMEA international arbitration lead and India practice head Sherina Petit left for London-based law firm Stewarts.
In addition to Pecht’s exit, global chief strategy alignment, innovation and people officer Wayne Spanner of the Sidney office also left the firm after 21 years in September. The month of May also saw the exits of global head of digital Sean Pratap of Toronto and Australia CMO Lex Melzer.
Norton Rose Fulbright representatives did not respond to American Lawyer requests for comment on the departures. The law firm, a Swiss verein ranked No. 21 in the Global 200, brought in more than $2 billion in revenue last year.
Pecht, of Houston, was appointed to a four-year term as global CEO in 2020, taking the reins from London-based partner Peter Martyr. The firm did not elaborate on the reason for Pecht’s early departure as it named U.S. managing partner Jeff Cody and EMEA head Peter Scott as interim leaders of the global executive committee.
Several of the recent or upcoming departures are U.K.-based, including Caskey, Petit, Otty and Flockhart.
The law firm also rotates through global chairs on an annual basis, having tapped Australia-based global co-head of restructuring Scott Atkins as global chair in January.
Law firms that weren’t accustomed to streaks of departures have had a harder time retaining talent in recent years, said Kent Zimmermann, a strategic advisor to law firms at Zeughauser Group.
“Some of it has to do with money, sometimes it has to do with a perception of platform strength and the opportunity to grow one’s practice,” Zimmermann said. “And when I say a large group of firms are facing headwinds, some of the New York firms, as well as the stronger global firms, are facing greater headwinds than they have in their history in attracting and retaining stars and next-generation stars.”
New leadership teams often mean turnover at the management level, said law firm consultant Lisa Smith of Fairfax Associates. “Often the leadership team is formed by the CEO or the managing partner or the chair, so it’s not unusual to see somebody new coming in and wanting to have their own team,” Smith said. “It may be that the team was fit for the goals of a particular CEO, and a new person may want his or her own team.”
Norton Rose’s verein structure likely didn’t factor into the exits, Zimmermann said. “Verein structures typically have to do with keeping profit pools separate,” he said. “It doesn’t impact governance, management, roles and responsibilities, credit for leadership and so forth—that’s where the rubber meets the road on this topic.”
