Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that Washington, D.C.-based Corporate partner Lucantonio (Luca) Salvi has been elected by the partnership as the firm’s new Chair, effective October 2021. Salvi will succeed Guy Halgren who has been Chair since 2001. As Chair-Elect, Salvi will work alongside Halgren until October 12, 2021, when he will officially assume the role. Salvi will be the firm’s fifth full-time Chair and the first Chair located outside of California.
“Luca will be an exceptional leader for our firm,” said Sheppard Mullin Chair Guy Halgren. “He is tremendously well-respected, not only as a lawyer but also as a human being. He has served in numerous leadership positions so he is experienced and well-known around the firm and understands who we are. Among Luca’s greatest strengths are his authenticity and ability to connect. He knows how to build consensus, lead, and succeed.”
Salvi is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and a partner in the Corporate practice group. He joined Sheppard Mullin as a partner in 2006, served as the Co-Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office from 2012-2017, and was previously the Leader of the firm's Aerospace and Defense and Private Equity Teams. Salvi has been instrumental in building the firm’s East Coast M&A and private equity practice which focuses on leveraged buyouts. He has lived and worked in the U.S., Belgium, the United Kingdom, Poland and Italy. Salvi received his B.A., cum laude, from Georgetown University; his MALD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Commenting on the election and his new role, Salvi said, “It’s humbling and a privilege for me to assume the role of Chair. Guy has been an extraordinary and caring leader over the last two decades. I look forward to continuing the firm’s trajectory of collegiality, entrepreneurialism, growth and preeminence as a destination firm with international reach for our global clients.”
During Halgren’s tenure as Chair, Sheppard Mullin achieved many milestones, some of which include:
- Grew from 292 attorneys in 2001 to 984 attorneys today.
- Opened 11 offices around the globe: Century City (2001), Del Mar (2001), Washington, D.C. (2003), New York (2004), Shanghai (2007), Silicon Valley (2008), Brussels (2009), London (2011), Chicago (2012), Seoul (2012), and Dallas (2018).
- Experienced 20 consecutive years of revenue growth, increasing firm revenue from $149 million in 2001 to $867 million in 2020.
- Moved up the AmLaw 200 ranks from 116 in 2001 to 54 in 2020.
- Recognized nationally for diversity and inclusion and pro bono by Minority Corporate Counsel Association (Thomas L. Sager Award); Public Counsel; the American Civil Liberties Union; and Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“It has been a tremendous honor to serve my firm for the last 20 years,” said Halgren. “When I was elected in 2001, I thought it would be a three-year stint. Now here I am 20 years later and turning 65. It has been a remarkable and rewarding journey through our nation’s and our profession’s economic and social challenges, bookended by 9/11 and the pandemic. Fortunately, I had an outstanding management team and a supportive, unselfish array of attorneys and staff around me. I cannot fully express how proud I am of Sheppard Mullin and all we have accomplished together. And not just with our growth and financial success but in making Sheppard Mullin a terrific place to work, embracing and celebrating diversity and inclusion, and giving back to our communities.”