News
January 5, 2021Barclay Damon Elects Connie Cahill to Lead the Firm
Barclay Damon announces, effective January 1, 2021, Connie Cahill has been elected managing partner of the law firm’s 475-person organization. Barclay Damon is a full-service firm with offices in the Northeastern United States and a particular focus on energy, intellectual property, labor and employment, and health care.
Cahill began a three-year position as deputy managing partner in 2018 to prepare for the transition to managing partner. She is the first woman to lead the organization in its 165-plus-year history.
Cahill joined Hiscock & Barclay—now Barclay Damon—in 2006 as the firm’s Public Finance Practice Area co-chair and became the sole chair in 2018. She is a leading bond lawyer in New York State, having built a high-performing team that represents state authorities, agencies, and other issuers in some of the largest and most complex public-project transactions in the Northeast. Cahill has also held positions as the firm’s Financial Services Practice Group leader and Albany office managing director, helping the office double in size and secure its current ranking as the Capital District’s second-largest law firm office. Since Cahill joined the firm’s Management Committee 12 years ago, she has helped drive significant growth in the representation of women in leadership positions throughout the firm, including on the firm’s two main governing bodies.
“It’s a privilege to lead Barclay Damon, where I’ve enjoyed collaborating with so many talented and hard-working professionals,” Cahill said. “I want to extend my sincere thanks to my colleagues for their support over the years. It’s been an honor working with them to establish a progressive firm that allows talent to have equal access to resources and opportunities to attain their full potential.”
As part of an orchestrated transition plan, John Langan is assuming the role of chair after serving as managing partner for 20 years. During that period, the firm grew from 60 attorneys in three offices to what is now nearly 300 attorneys operating from 12 offices. Most recently, the firm’s expansion involved successfully merging legacy firms Hiscock & Barclay and Damon & Morey and integrating the former firms Gilberti Stinziano Heintz & Smith and Menter, Rudin & Trivelpiece into Barclay Damon. It also involved recently bringing in a 20-attorney group from LeClairRyan to enhance the firm’s Boston and New York City offices and establish a new 12-attorney office in New Haven Connecticut, resulting in a seamless platform of offices in midsize, major-market, and smaller cities across the Northeastern United States and Toronto.
Starting January 1, Langan has moved to the newly created chair position, where he reports to Cahill and focuses on lateral attorney recruiting, growth of the firm’s major-market offices in New York City and Boston, and managing some of the firm’s larger client relationships.
“Over the course of her career in a traditionally male-dominated legal field, Connie has consistently shattered the glass ceiling in developing a leading public finance practice, in building a large and diverse Albany office, and in forming and leading the firm’s successful Women’s Forum, among other projects,” Langan said. “She’s a remarkable attorney and respected leader, and I’ve been honored to work with her over the past decade.”
Cahill has actively worked alongside Sheila Gaddis, Barclay Damon’s diversity partner, supporting the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Cahill also helped found the Next Generation Committee, and she was instrumental in creating the firm’s new Helping Attorneys and Their Children (HATCH) paid-parental-leave policy and innovative policies regarding associates.
Most recently, Cahill led the firm’s work-from-home and return-to-office transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic, including implementing the decision to allow all firm members who can effectively work from home to continue doing so through, at minimum, mid 2021 and creating the firm’s reopening guide and new health and safety procedures and guidelines.
Cahill received her BBA from Siena College, her JD from Albany Law School, and her LLM in tax from New York University School of Law.
Click here for a video message from Cahill.
Barclay Damon attorneys team across offices and practices to provide customized, targeted solutions grounded in industry knowledge and a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses. For more information, visit our award-winning website at barclaydamon.com.
