Fried Frank Elects Funds Leader Kenneth Rosh As New Chair

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson is getting a new leader after nearly a decade.

Kenneth Rosh will become the firm’s new chair, succeeding David Greenwald who has led the New York-founded firm since 2014, the firm announced on Wednesday. Rosh will officially take over the new role on March 1, 2024.

News of Greenwald’s retirement and possible replacement were first reported earlier this week by The American Lawyer.

Rosh will be joined by other new leadership as a part of the transition.

Kenneth Rosh.

Photo courtesy of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson

In a first for the firm, it will establish a client-focused leadership team where each member of firm leadership will combine management duties while remaining fully immersed in their active practices.

Starting on March 1, Steven Epstein, co-head of Fried Frank’s M&A practice, will become the firm’s managing partner while Scott Luftglass, co-head of the securities and shareholder litigation practice, will step into the role of vice chair.

As chair, Rosh will oversee all firm matters and will shape the firm’s strategic direction and continued growth. Epstein will lead strategic initiatives, as well as firmwide client development and lateral hiring while Luftglass will focus on the day-to-day running of the firm.

“I have known Ken for 35 years. He and the leadership team are perfectly poised to take Fried Frank into the future,” Greenwald said in an email to Bloomberg Law.

“The firm is in great hands,” Greenwald said.

New Leadership

Rosh is the head of Fried Frank’s private equity funds group and member of its governance committee. He will remain head of the practice he helped found as he steps into the role of chair.

Rosh first joined Fried Frank in 1988 and over the years some of his key clients have included Apollo, Bain Capital, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, KKR, Morgan Stanley, Sixth Street and Tapestry. In February, he led the Fried Frank team that advised Goldman Sachs on its debut equity growth fund — West Street Global Growth Partners — which closed with $5.2 billion in commitments, one of the largest first-time growth equity fundraisers in history.

“I’m truly honored to take on the role as chair of Fried Frank,” Rosh said in an email to Bloomberg Law.

“We thank David for creating a rock-solid foundation and for paving the way as we embrace a new era for Fried Frank. The leadership team and I will steer the firm forward while remaining strongly committed to our clients,” he said.

Greenwald ushered in years of steady growth and record profitability at the firm. During his tenure, gross revenue grew from $460 million in 2014 to more than $958 million in 2022, according to figures reported by The American Lawyer. Headcount jumped from 414 lawyers to roughly 669 during that same time.

Greenwald began his career at Fried Frank working with private equity clients and others on mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions. In 1994, he joined Goldman Sachs’ legal department, eventually becoming its international general counsel and deputy general counsel. He rejoined Fried Frank in 2013 and a year later was elected as its chair.

Upon his retirement on Feb. 29, 2024, Greenwald plans to focus on his responsibilities as co-chair of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University, as well as his roles on the boards of Lincoln Center Theater, the Legal Aid Society and Lenox Hill Neighborhood House.

“I am incredibly proud of all we have achieved over the last decade,” Greenwald said. “The firm is much stronger and better positioned among the elite law firms,” he added.

Greenwald is just the latest longtime Big Law leader to hand the reins over to a new generation of leadership.

Cooley announced last month that Rachel Proffitt, head of Cooley’s San Francisco corporate practice, would become its first-ever female CEO, replacing Joe Conroy who has led the firm since 2008. Winston & Strawn appointed Steve D’Amaro, co-chair of its litigation department, as its new chair, succeeding Tom Fitzgerald who has led the firm for more than 17 years.

White & Case elected Heather McDevitt as its new leader and first female chair earlier this year, replacing Hugh Verrier who has led the firm since 2007.