CHANGE AT THE TOP
Stephen Cox is a Harvard man who never lost sight of his upbringing in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, which had fewer than 5,000 residents when he grew up there.
Inspired by a mock trial competition as a sophomore in the local public schools where his parents taught for decades, he became the first person in his town to enroll at Harvard University, eventually earning bachelor’s and law degrees.
“I knew I wanted to come back to the South and work in a larger city,” he says. Atlanta seemed too big, Charleston too small, so he sought interviews with some Charlotte firms. He started at the firm full time in 1997, and last month was elected managing partner. He succeeded Allen Robertson, who had held the post for a decade.
The law firm has nearly 180 lawyers with three N.C. offices and one in Rock Hill, South Carolina. That is more than double its size when Cox joined. It has 96 partners sharing ownership. The law firm has played a central role in North Carolina’s growth as a business hub by representing the Belk and Spangler families, auto magnate Bruton Smith and other major regional companies, families
and entrepreneurs.
Founder Russell Robinson II, among the state’s most influential business lawyers for decades, died on Sept. 4 at age 93. He and Carlton Fleming started the firm in 1960 and were joined a year later by Robert Bradshaw.
Cox had not heard of Robinson Bradshaw before receiving a summer internship while attending Harvard, where he graduated in 1996. His classmates included Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Among those interviewing him at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus was Robertson, who had joined the firm in 1989. The two men are among six or eight Harvard Law graduates at the firm.
As managing partner, Cox says he wants to sustain Robinson Bradshaw’s collegial culture. “A lot of people will say that, but we really work hard at it and try to eliminate any sort of practices that would cause competition between us,” he says. “We’re not a top-down culture, and these are my partners and colleagues, so it’s more about building collaboration and consensus.”
The firm hires people who combine initiative with being “very good at building long-term client relationships,” he says. “We have got to hire people who are nice folks and get along with each other … I don’t think sharp elbows are helpful in the long term.”
Cox’s career focus has been on complex litigation, along with matters related to employment and construction. His biography cites work with colleagues on cases such as convincing a court to decertify a class action case that involved potentially more than $100 million in damages against their client, and defending Wachovia Bank in shareholder lawsuits stemming from its sale to Wells Fargo.
Cox was based in Rock Hill for much of his career, though he’s been at the Charlotte office for the past few years and now lives in the Queen City. “I loved working in Rock Hill because it was like being in a smaller town but having the resources and relationships of the big law firm backing me, which was the best of all worlds.”
During Cox’s career, a dozen-plus law firms based outside of Charlotte have expanded into the city by opening their own offices or merging with local firms. “I don’t think it has threatened or hurt us,” Cox says, acknowledging competition for clients and talent is greater. “It has made the legal environment more sophisticated and challenging, which I think can only help us attract people and elevate the depth and range of services offered in the city.”
Without changing its approach, Robinson Bradshaw has experienced steady, consistent growth, he says. Expansion plans aren’t a major priority, he says.
“We pride ourselves very much on being one firm across all four offices. And the more offices you have, the more it takes to maintain that culture.” ■
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FROM SCOTTS TO TRYON STREET
Cox’s predecessor as managing partner, Allen Robertson, is also a native of a small Carolina town with a Harvard Law School pedigree. He grew up unincorporated Scotts in Iredell County, about five miles west of Statesville, and attended UNC Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar.
His father, Troy Robertson, was a plant manager and a Republican Party activist. He introduced his son to law firm partner Robert Bradshaw, a key figure in boosting statewide GOP candidates.
Robertson believes he was the only registered Republican to serve as a law clerk for Charlotte federal judge James MacMillan, a Democrat who gained national prominence for his rulings on school desegregation cases during his 27-year tenure. It was mostly a self-selecting process, Robertson says, because more conservative students typically wanted to work for MacMillan’s staunchly conservative peer, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Potter.
Robertson joined the law firm in 1989, accepting a $53,000 annual salary when New York firms were offering Harvard graduates $100,000 to work in Manhattan. His first interview was at the firm’s Independence Center office in uptown Charlotte, where the firm operated from 1984 until earlier this year.
In February, Robinson Bradshaw moved into four floors at the Legacy Union complex on land formerly occupied by The Charlotte Observer. As managing partner, Robertson helped lead negotiations that led to the firm becoming a key anchor of the 24-story building developed by Lincoln Harris.
Visitors to the 23rd-floor lobby step off the elevator and immediately see east Charlotte through 14-foot-high windows. The firm has 171 offices, mostly covering about 130 square feet. An investment of more than $20 million led to outdoor terraces, lots of conference rooms, an improved dining area, a private four-story staircase to encourage “bumping into each other,” and natural lighting even for the internal offices.
Robertson started his career as a bankruptcy law specialist, but moved to public finance and healthcare law after the savings and loan crisis of the early 1990s ran its course. The firm now has many healthcare clients, including Atrium Health, Novant Health and Iredell Health.
As managing partner, Robertson led significant growth at the firm, including the opening of a Raleigh office in 2020. In September, he received a distinguished service award from the National Association of Bond Lawyers. ■
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.