Jenner’s Next Co-Managing Partner Sees ‘Massive Opportunity’ (1)

Jenner & Block has named Ishan Bhabha as co-managing partner starting next year, the firm said Thursday.

Bhabha succeeds Katya Jestin, who will remain at the firm. He will share managing partner duties with Randy Mehrberg, who along with Jestin has been co-managing partner since 2020.

Bhabha is a Washington, D.C.-based partner who often represents higher education clients and leads the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion protection task force. The Harvard Law graduate has been a Jenner lawyer since 2007, following clerkships at the US Supreme Court and an appeals court. He’s been a partner since 2017. Bhabha, 42, will be one of the younger firmwide leaders in Big Law.

The legal industry is at an “inflection point,” he said in an interview, driven by increasingly complex client problems, a war among law firms for top talent, and technological changes like generative artificial intelligence.

“All of those things are points of risk for any law firm, but they are also massive points of opportunity,” Bhabha said. “In all three of those areas we are really well-positioned to thrive.”

Ishan Bhabha

Photo: Jenner & Block

Jestin, based in New York, will continue to co-lead the firm’s investigations, compliance, and defense practice. Mehrberg is a Chicago-based partner who launched the firm’s energy industry practice when arriving in 2016.

Jenner abruptly named a new chair, Washington-based Thomas Perrelli, shortly after Jestin and Mehrberg were tapped for their roles in 2019. Perrelli replaced Craig Martin, who departed in 2020 after a year as chair to launch a Chicago office for Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

Perrelli chairs the firm’s policy committee. Jenner’s managing partners serve at that committee’s discretion to run day-to-day management and strategy, Mehrberg said, adding they also consult with Perrelli and the policy committee.

The 500-lawyer firm has seen a turnaround in finances under Jestin, Mehrberg, and Perrelli. Jenner has seen a steady rise in the top line since 2020 after previous revenue declines.

Jenner expects its revenue to climb from last year by roughly 13% to around $660 million for the full year. That would mean a 48% revenue jump since 2020, which the firm described in its release. The firm reported $2.3 million in profits per equity partner last year, up by nearly a third since 2020.

“The firm is on an incredibly positive trajectory, and there’s more to come,” Jestin said in an interview.

Jenner is well-known for its litigation department and has a long track record of working on major investigations. Its lawyers represented the producers of the film “Rust” to investigate a deadly shooting on set in New Mexico, and prepared a public report into allegations of sexual misconduct by a former coach of the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks.

Jestin is the Justice Department-appointed independent monitor for Glencore, a position she landed last year as part of the commodities trading company’s guilty plea for sprawling corporate misconduct. Perrelli, who was the Justice Department’s No. 3 official during the Obama administration, has a track record of independent monitor appointments.

The firm has also been a longstanding leader in its pro bono work. Jenner launched a $250 million pro bono commitment in 2021, which the firm says it already achieved. Jestin told Bloomberg Law in 2021 that the firm was winning work for clients who “share our values.”

Mehrberg said he was excited to work with Bhabha in the new role, noting he’s already joined daily calls with Jestin. The firm is beginning to craft a new strategic plan that centers around client needs, Mehrberg said.

“It’s not saying we need 1,000 lawyers or we need to have 20 offices,” he said. “It’s about serving the client, attracting the best talent we possibly can, and continuing to contribute to our communities.”