Nixon Peabody Names Zubiago Chief After Decade With Glincher

Stephen D. Zubiago has been elected as Nixon Peabody’s new chief executive officer and managing partner, effective Monday.

Zubiago, 54, replaces Andrew Glincher, who held the job for a decade. Glincher, 62, now becomes the firm’s senior chairman.

Zubiago said his challenge will be to eventually get everyone back to offices while in the meantime ensuring remote work is sustainable as the coronavirus continues. “There is no magic answer,” he said.

Nixon Peabody, ranked by American Lawyer as No. 75 in 2019 with more than $500 million in revenues, has stabilized from the early stages of the pandemic, when it closed offices, cut salaries and laid off some workers. The firm has since restored salary cuts, Glincher said.

“Last April and May, business was uncertain, and to have it pick up so well was a big surprise,” said Glincher, who has been with the firm since 1987. “Lawyers who said they couldn’t work outside of the office or without an assistant next door quickly learned to work remotely.”

Glincher, who began a new three-year term a year ago, said he decided to step aside early so that he could focus on client relationships. He was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer earlier his year and had successful surgery and treatment.

“It’s been a great distraction to deal with the day-to-day at the firm instead of thinking about an illness,” said Glincher, who practices real estate and business law. “Change is good. It challenges you and energizes you.”

In his new role, he said he plans to mentor attorneys and be involved in board and community service and philanthropic efforts.

Zubiago, whose practice centers on health care and insurance law, said he’ll work to ensure the 600-lawyer firm, with a Boston headquarters and 15 other offices, has the right talent in place. He will also oversee the firm’s role in a legal industry initiative to promote diversity.

Nixon Peabody and three other firms are participating in the Diversity Lab’s Move the Needle initiative, an effort among law firms, in-house counsel, and community leaders to diversify the legal profession.

Nixon Peabody aims to have 30% women equity partners, 12% racially and ethnically diverse partners and 6% LGBTQ + partners by 2025.