Mayer Brown’s Van Gorp Gets New Term With ‘Revenue Engine’ Focus

Mayer Brown re-elected chair Jon Van Gorp to a three-year term as the firm shakes up its operation in Asia and builds on its strongest practice areas.

Van Gorp, a finance and capital markets lawyer, has headed the nearly 1,900-lawyer firm since June 2021. Mayer Brown under his watch opened an office in 2022 in Salt Lake City, an emerging tech hub, and expanded in Singapore through a joint law venture with a local firm.

“It’s exciting to continue that process I started three years ago,” Van Gorp, 54, said in an interview. The firm is in the “middle of a strategic plan” that places an emphasis on building around practices that “tend to be bigger revenue engines for us,” including insurance, capital markets and international arbitration.

The Tuesday announcement on Van Gorp’s reelection comes a month after Mayer Brown said it planned to separate from its partnership in Hong Kong. Van Gorp declined to comment on the move, citing a regulatory approval process it is going through in Hong Kong. However, the firm said in a press release that it plans to “continue its presence” in the region.

Jon Van Gorp

Photo: Mayer Brown

Mayer Brown, which has a large operation throughout Asia, currently has 160 lawyers in Hong Kong, according to its website.

The firm’s major clients include JP Morgan Chase Co. and Citibank. It is also representing TikTok in its fight for survival in the US. Mayer Brown finished 2023 with revenue topping $1.9 billion and profits per equity partner of $2.4 million, each marking slight year-over-year increases, according to data from The American Lawyer.

Van Gorp noted Mayer Brown is not immune to the broader market conditions pushing some firms to widen the spread between the highest and lowest-paid partners.

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are among elite firms that have adjusted compensation systems in response to increased competition for top lawyers. The spread between Simpson Thacher’s highest and lowest paid partners is now 9-to-1, with top partners expected to make more than $20 million.

Mayer Brown, too, is “focused on stretching our equity partner compensation,” Van Gorp said. “We’re taking a really close look at our equity tier and managing that pretty carefully given the competitive pressures.”