In the 100 years since attorneys William Sutherland and Elbert Tuttle opened their tax-focused law firm in Atlanta, it has survived the Great Depression, World War II, the 2008 financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Now known as Eversheds Sutherland, the firm is a global powerhouse with new challenges ahead.
Mark Wasserman, the longtime managing partner of the firm’s United States division, says its ability to adapt to change is at the root of its success – something being celebrated year-round for the firm’s 100th anniversary.
“We’ve had a good ability to be flexible, to change the way we practice,” Wasserman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think it’s been our culture of focus on clients, focus on our own people, but also being willing to evolve and change with the changing times.”
When the firm’s lawyers joined the military to fight in World War II, its offices temporarily closed, Wasserman said. The attorneys went back to work as soon as the war was over.
Now the firm is having to adapt to the post-pandemic world of hybrid work and the rise of artificial intelligence. Wasserman, in his 20th year as managing partner, is determined to maintain the firm’s flexibility as it tackles those latest challenges.
“I don’t think we’re ever going back to five days a week in offices in the same way that we once did. And so that means we need to change the way we train, the way we mentor people, the way we establish client relationships,” he said.
The firm began in Atlanta as Sutherland & Tuttle in 1924 and soon opened a second office in Washington, D.C. When Tuttle became a federal appellate judge in the 1950s, the firm’s name changed to Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. The name stuck for more than half a century, as the firm’s practice areas expanded.
Client needs drove the firm’s growth, Wasserman said. In addition to its early tax and litigation practices, the firm became known as a leader in financial services, insurance, energy, real estate and intellectual property as clients sought help in those areas.
“It sounds somewhat of a cliché, but I think we’ve thrived because that’s been our number-one focus at all times — both the well-being of and the needs of clients,” Wasserman said.
In 2017, Sutherland combined with global firm Eversheds, becoming one of the 50 largest law practices in the world with more than 3,000 lawyers. It was one of the biggest mergers in the legal industry, Wasserman said.
By that time, Sutherland had international offices in London and Geneva. Since the merger, the firm has opened offices in Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco as well as several overseas.
The firm’s Atlanta office is still the largest of its nine locations in the United States, and one of the largest of its 74 offices globally. There are almost 300 staff in the Atlanta office, including about 160 lawyers. Internationally, the firm has about 5,000 employees.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“It’s all about people,” Wasserman said. “That’s all we have, our people, both lawyers and all of our business professionals throughout the firm. And it’s their skills and relationships with clients that is all that we have to depend upon.”
The firm advises Coca-Cola in a range of areas and represents Home Depot in state income and sales tax matters throughout the country. It has long represented Georgia-based Oglethorpe Power, which supplies energy to dozens of electrical membership cooperatives or EMCs. Oglethorpe is also a key partner with Georgia Power in Plant Vogtle, the huge nuclear power station near Augusta.
Rheem Manufacturing uses the firm to secure and enforce patent and trademark rights, among other things. And Delta Air Lines sought the firm’s help when it pledged to invest up to $200 million in a partnership with Joby Aviation to provide sustainable home-to-airport transportation services.
Wasserman said the firm has worked for a number of banks and financial institutions over the years, including Synovus and Truist, and has helped real estate giant Portman Holdings, founded by the late architect developer John C. Portman Jr., in its various Atlanta developments. He said pro bono work has always been a key tenet of the firm.
Its volunteer efforts in Atlanta include a longtime relationship with Atlanta Legal Aid Society, nonprofit assistance through Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, participation in Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation programs, and the cofounding of Georgia Appleseed to help underrepresented and at-risk children.
Eversheds Sutherland attorneys have also helped the Georgia Innocence Project free innocent men from prison and worked to overturn death penalties in other criminal cases.
Wasserman, who has been with the firm for 37 years, said its focus on quality work will steer it through the next century. He said the firm’s clients trust in its broad view of the industries in which it excels.
“They know that we’re looking out into the future for them in their industry,” he said. “That’s been one thing that I think has led to our longevity and success.”
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