Charlotte’s Robinson Bradshaw law firm named Stephen Cox as its managing partner, succeeding Allen Robertson, who had held the post for a decade.
The law firm has 175 lawyers and 105 other staffers with three N.C. offices and one in Rock Hill, South Carolina. That is more than double its size when Cox joined in 1997. Formed in 1960 by Russell Robinson II and Carlton Fleming, the law firm has played a central role in North Carolina’s growth as a business hub by representing many major regional companies, families and entrepreneurs. (Robinson died last week at age of 93.)
Cox grew up in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, which is about 30 miles west of Charleston. His parents were public school teachers, and he believes he is the first person from his town to attend Harvard University. (The town had about 5,000 when he was growing up there; it has since more than doubled.) He’d never heard of Robinson Bradshaw before receiving a summer internship while attending Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1996. His classmates included Supreme Court justice Kentanji Brown Jackson.
Among those interviewing him at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus was Robertson, who continues with the firm as a public finance lawyer. 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. He has appeared before the U.S. Count of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
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.
While a dozen-plus law firms from other cities have expanded in Charlotte over the years, Robinson Bradshaw has experienced steady, consistent growth, he says. Expansion plans depend on particular client needs.
“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.”
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.