2-7-19 Woods Oviatt elects Mitchell Nusbaum as new Managing Partner.
Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP is pleased to announce that Mitchell S. Nusbaum, Esq., has been elected as the firm's Managing Partner and Kelley Ross Brown, Esq. has been added to the firm’s five member Management Committee.
Mr. Nusbaum succeeds James P. McElheny, Esq., who has led the firm for the past 24 years. Mr. McElheny will assist with the leadership transition and continue his litigation practice as a full-time partner.
“I'm honored to succeed Jim in this role,” said Mr. Nusbaum. “Under his leadership, Woods Oviatt has grown from a firm of 40 attorneys and 100 employees in Rochester to a 100-attorney firm with over 300 employees in Rochester, Buffalo and Phoenix.”
“Jim has always understood that the firm's success is directly attributable to the dedicated attorneys, paralegals and staff who make up the Woods Oviatt family. I look forward to furthering the legacy that Jim and his predecessors, including my father Beryl Nusbaum, Jim’s predecessor as Managing Partner, have forged over the firm’s 167-year history.”
“I am very pleased to pass the management torch to Mitch,” said Mr. McElheny, “He embodies Woods Oviatt’s core values and family culture and is committed to continuing the firm’s ongoing support of the Rochester community. He is ideally suited to lead Woods Oviatt through its next phase of growth.”
As Managing Partner, Nusbaum will guide the implementation of the firm's operational and strategic efforts, which include the relocation of the firm’s headquarters to the Legacy Tower in the spring of 2019. In addition, Mr. Nusbaum will continue to represent clients in the areas of commercial real estate, banking, finance and general business law.
Mr. Nusbaum joined Woods Oviatt as an associate in 1995. He was promoted to partner in 1998 and joined the firm's Management Committee in 2010. Mr. Nusbaum received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. He is licensed to practice in the State of New York and District of Columbia. Prior to joining Woods Oviatt, he was with the law firm of Shaw Pittman LLP in Washington, D.C.
Another key appointment in the firm is the addition of Kelley Ross Brown, Esq., member and Administrative Partner of the Real Estate Development and Finance Department, to the firm’s Management Committee. In this role, Mrs. Brown will contribute to the general oversight and management of the firm. As a member of the Real Estate Department, she concentrates her practice in complex real estate and asset-based finance transactions on behalf of lenders; commercial closings on behalf of businesses and private individuals, and sales on behalf of lenders out of REO. Mrs. Brown received her Juris Doctor from Albany Law School of Union University, and her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude from St. Lawrence University.
