Former Dentons CEO Mike McNamara to Head Up Legal Advisory Firm

Mike McNamara, former US chief executive officer of Dentons, is joining legal consultancy Baretz+Brunelle as its first-ever CEO.

McNamara spent a decade in executive leadership at Dentons, the massive law firm where he was a partner for more than 20 years. He was one of the senior architects of Dentons’ transformation from a Midwest law firm to a global, multibillion-dollar entity.

McNamara became CEO of Dentons in 2017 after six years as managing partner. He was ousted from the role in 2021, but stayed on as a partner in the firm’s Washington office.

McNamara’s departure comes amid a changing of the guard at Dentons. Elliott Portnoy, the firm’s global CEO, will step down after his current term expires in November 2024. Joe Andrew left his post as global chairman in March.

Mike McNamara

Photo: Courtesy of Baretz+Brunelle

McNamara said he had been thinking about what to do next when he connected with Baretz+Brunelle co-founder Spencer Baretz.

“We were thinking and speaking about this transformation in the industry in exactly the same way,” McNamara said. “It gave me a real moment of excitement to think about the next phase of an adventure in law ahead.”

McNamara will work alongside Baretz, who leads B+B’s corporate development activities, and co-founder Cari Brunelle, who oversees its executive communications and leadership programs.

“It’s a real transformational time for the market and it’s a transformational time for B+B,” Brunelle said. McNamara’s addition “opens up doors for us that we just honestly wouldn’t be able to open without him and he will be a real accelerant for our growth,” she said.

McNamara also will remain on as a senior advisor to Dentons, although not as a partner at the firm.

He declined to comment if he was assisting the firm in its search for its new leadership.

“Mike’s over 20 years as our partner and his experience leading Dentons US for a decade will undoubtedly benefit Baretz+Brunelle as they advise businesses operating in the changing legal marketplace,” said Sonia Martin, Dentons US CEO, in a statement.

B+B Growth

McNamara “has incredible leadership experience, growing Dentons to the world’s largest law firm,” Baretz said. “We are a slightly smaller enterprise now, but we have some really grand aspirations for growth ourselves,” he said.

Baretz+Brunelle works with large law firms, boutiques, and alternative legal services providers, as well as private equity firms, litigation funders, and other related businesses. It launched a talent intelligence and acquisitions practice in 2022 led by former Baker McKenzie COO Howard Rosenberg.

“Everyone in this business, irrespective of whether you’re a law firm leader, whether you’re an investor, whether you’re an in-house advisor from a legal department, whether you’re a litigation funder, everyone in the business of law wants growth,” McNamara said.

He will focus on six key areas of growth—reputation, revenue, talent, leadership, capital, and innovation—McNamara said.

Baretz said McNamara will be spending time reformulating how B+B is going to run its business, helping it bring in the right partners in these six growth areas so that it will add to its services.

“What you’re seeing is the maturity of the business across the board,” Baretz said.

The legal industry is moving from a guild mentality into a much more sophisticated operational set, which means that leadership needs more counseling than ever in the running of the business, he said.

“It’s a really exciting time for B+B to be able to help lead the market and thinking about this change,” McNamara said.