Ruth’s Chris Steak House Owner Recruits Lynch From Big Law

Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc., owner of the Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain and other casual dining brands, has brought on Marcy Norwood Lynch as general counsel and corporate secretary.

Karen Dyer, a top trial lawyer at Boies Schiller Flexner, who is poised to join Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, confirmed to Bloomberg Law that Lynch made the move in-house. Dyer and Lynch were longtime colleagues at Boies Schiller.

“Marcy has officially made her move to become general counsel and senior vice president of Ruth’s and we are extremely proud of her,” Dyer wrote in an email.

Dyer added that Boies Schiller has advised Ruth’s on a few matters but didn’t believe any of those engagements are still active.

Lynch was named in a November securities filing as interim general counsel for Ruth’s, which in a separate Dec. 8 disclosure noted she had power of attorney for Susan Mirdamadi, its chief administrative officer, and Kristy Chipman, the newly-hired chief financial officer.

Ruth’s didn’t respond to a request for comment about Lynch joining the company, which also owns the Mitchell’s Fish Market seafood restaurant chain.

Lynch, who this month changed her LinkedIn profile and registration with the Florida Bar to note her employment at Winter Park, Fla.-based Ruth’s, also didn’t respond to a request for comment about her new in-house role.

She spent the past 23 years at Boies Schiller handling antitrust, class action, and contract disputes for the litigation-focused law firm. Lynch had been based out of Boies Schiller’s office in Orlando until the firm shuttered that outpost a year ago this month and relocated its lawyers to Miami.

Boies Schiller, which has revamped its operations within the past year, didn’t respond to a request for comment about Lynch’s departure.

At the firm, Lynch worked closely with Dyer, the ex-wife of Orlando’s current mayor John “Buddy” Dyer. Dyer’s biography page on Boies Schiller’s website states she handled franchisor and franchisee litigation for Ruth’s.

Boies Schiller, a firm co-founded more than two decades ago by high-profile litigator David Boies, made headlines earlier this year for receiving between $5 million and $10 million from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. Boies Schiller was one of several law firms to avail themselves of PPP financing, a federal government mechanism designed to lessen the pandemic’s financial fallout.

Ruth’s received at least $20 million in PPP loans, which also were given to other restaurant chains that were hit hard financially by Covid-19.

Lynch was recruited by Ruth’s to replace former legal chief Alice Givens, who left the company Sept. 18, according to a securities filing.

Givens’ exit came after Ruth’s reported a $17.6 million second quarter loss due to the coronavirus pandemic’s adverse effect on its operations. Ruth’s disclosed Oct. 30 a third quarter loss of $5.3 million, benefiting from the reopening of 94% of its company-owned and managed restaurants.

Givens resurfaced Sept. 21 as chief legal officer for hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc., which parted ways earlier this year with its former legal chief M. Lee Reeves. Givens still owns more than $761,000 in Ruth’s stock, according to Bloomberg data.

Ruth’s paid roughly $823,230—including $361,400 in cash—to Givens in 2019, according to a proxy statement filed by the company. Givens joined Ruth’s in early 2016, having previously worked in-house at J. Crew Group Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc.