Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC Announces Leadership Transition
Firm Embarks on 10-Month CEO Transition

PITTSBURGH – July 17, 2015 – Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC announced that Shareholder Joseph A. Dougherty has been selected as the firm’s CEO-Elect, effective immediately. The announcement was made by current CEO, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board, John "Jack" A. Barbour, who will continue to serve in his current position through May 2016.

Dougherty, who currently serves as the managing shareholder of the firm’s Philadelphia office, was nominated as CEO-Elect by a nominating committee of the firm and was unanimously elected by the firm’s voting shareholders.

"Joe is a fantastic choice to lead our firm," said Barbour. "He is absolutely the right fit for our firm and our clients. His legal and business acumen, combined with his forward-thinking strategic style, will serve us well. And anyone who has met him knows his relationship skills are second to none."

Dougherty will work alongside Barbour for the next 10 months to ensure a comprehensive, well-coordinated exchange of strategic, operational and leadership knowledge. Dougherty’s three-year term as CEO, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board will officially begin in June 2016. While Dougherty practices primarily out of the firm’s Philadelphia office, the firm’s headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh.

"I am excited to have been selected to follow in Jack’s footsteps," Dougherty said. "I am also honored that the firm has placed its trust in me to continue the excellent leadership that we have enjoyed. I will work hard to ensure that we, as a firm, continue to grow and succeed. I look forward to working with Jack to absorb all I can over the transition period. Jack’s model-leadership approach is one that I have always admired and hope to replicate."

In June 2016, Barbour will transition to the position of Executive Chairman. In this role, his primary focus will be to maintain key client relationships and to provide strategic business and legal counsel to those institutional clients. Drawing on his past involvement in government affairs and the political process, Barbour will also assist key clients in navigating public policy, regulatory and legislative challenges. He plans to actively continue his leadership responsibilities in community and civic organizations in Pittsburgh and throughout Pennsylvania.

Under Barbour’s leadership, Buchanan has strategically grown into a national firm that is now ranked among the top 100 law firms by the National Law Journal in terms of number of attorneys. In 2014, the firm completed a merger with Florida-based Fowler White Boggs, a move that was the nation’s third largest law firm merger that year.

For more than 35 years, Barbour has served as outside counsel to such high-profile clients as the Pittsburgh Steelers, leading the team’s ownership restructuring, as well as legal aspects of the creation of Heinz Field. Barbour also serves as counsel to the Rooney family and has served as a trusted advisor to a diverse group of civic, charitable and political notables, including serving as chairman to a successful gubernatorial campaign. He is chairman of the board of the United Way of Allegheny County and a board member of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, as well as countless others.

As the managing shareholder of the firm's Philadelphia office, the firm’s second largest office by headcount, Dougherty has demonstrated his considerable leadership talent during his tenure. In that role, he has been responsible for leading client relations, managing workflow, driving mentoring and professional development and coordinating cross-disciplinary collaboration with attorneys across the firm. In addition, Joe recently served as chair of the firm’s Advisory Committee, which is responsible for promotions and shareholder and counsel compensation. He has been with the firm since 2005.

With more than 25 years of experience litigating commercial and employment-related matters, Dougherty also chairs the firm's Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant Practice Group. His legal practice has focused on post-employment-related disputes, including the enforcement and defense of employment agreements, restrictive covenants and trade secrets and the protection of competitively sensitive business information.

About the Firm

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC (www.bipc.com) brings true partnership to our clients. We understand the service and partnership attributes our clients most value and have formalized a model for consistently achieving them. The firm has more than 530 attorneys and government relations professionals practicing throughout the United States, with offices in 19 cities in California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C.