Barbour's New Role as Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's CEO and Chairman of the Board Noted by Various Media

On June 15, 2009, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC proudly announced that John "Jack" Barbour officially took the reins as CEO of the firm and chairman of its Board of Directors. A number of sources reported the news, including the Pittsburgh Business Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Central Penn Business Journal, Philadelphia Business Journal and Philadelphia Inquirer.

The June 18, 2009, edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal, under the paper's "Law & Finance Blog," reported at-length on Barbour's new role. As explained in the article, titled "CEO Barbour will style Buchanan," Barbour takes the place of former CEO, Thomas L. Vankirk who will remain active at the firm as chairman of the board.

The article detailed how Barbour was president and managing partner of Pittsburgh-based Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling when it merged with Buchanan in 2006. He led the integration and cross-selling efforts for the combined firm.

"A real estate lawyer by trade, Barbour represented the Pittsburgh Steelers in the negotiation and documentation of all aspects of the development, leasing, construction and multilayered financing of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh," the article explained.

According to the article, "he said taking over during an economic downturn that has caused a major shakeup in the large law firm world is a good thing."

"When you have a challenging environment, that's a good time to re-examine the way we do business, and that's what a lot of firms are doing right now," Barbour said. "I think the [large firm] model will undergo permanent changes in terms of how we deliver services."

As for his plans for the firm during his term, Barbour said he would like to see the firm "grow its offices between New York and Washington, including its second-largest in Philadelphia, through lateral acquisitions in key practice areas such as litigation, corporate and labor and employment."