Jenner & Block Announces New Co-Managing Partner

Ishan Bhabha to succeed Katya Jestin as co-managing partner effective January 1, 2025, and serve alongside Randy Mehrberg

CHICAGO, Sept. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenner & Block is pleased to announce that Washington, DC, partner Ishan Bhabha has been selected to serve as the firm's next co-managing partner, effective January 1, 2025. Ishan will succeed Katya Jestin, who has held the role since January 2020 alongside Chicago partner Randy Mehrberg.

Katya, based in New York, will remain a senior member of firm leadership as she shifts her focus to leading and growing the firm's Investigations, Compliance, and Defense Practice. Randy will remain as co-managing partner, while continuing to co-chair Jenner's widely recognized Energy practice. This transition follows a strategic succession planning process designed to continue the firm's historic success and ensure leadership continuity.

"It has been an incredible privilege to serve in this leadership role for the last five years and I am thrilled that Ishan has agreed to be our next co-managing partner," Katya said. "Ishan is an extraordinary practitioner and leader and will further the firm's continued, record-breaking success and unique culture. I'm not going anywhere and I look forward to supporting him in his new role."

Ishan is a first-chair litigator with extensive experience in both trial and appellate courts. He joined the firm as an associate in 2012 and became a partner in 2017. He has been a dedicated leader within the firm for many years. In addition to co-chairing the firm's Education and Technology practices, as well as its DEI Protection Task Force, he serves on Jenner & Block's Management Committee.

Regarded as one of the nation's preeminent lawyers for institutions of higher education, as well as for large corporations facing complex legal, ethical, and reputational issues, Ishan has argued cases in numerous state and federal courts, and has also appeared before the US Supreme Court. Ishan is known as a trusted advisor who is able to anticipate major economic, political, and technological trends and prepare clients for the legal and regulatory risks that may ensue.

Before joining Jenner & Block, he served as an appellate lawyer at the US Department of Justice. He also clerked for then-Judge Merrick Garland on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and Justice Anthony Kennedy on the US Supreme Court. Prior to attending law school, Ishan worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Ishan graduated, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

"Jenner & Block is my professional home. I am honored to have earned my colleagues' trust to serve in this leadership role and take very seriously the responsibility that comes with it," Ishan said. "This is an exciting time for our firm. The legal industry is rapidly evolving, and we are shaping our future by leveraging our collective strengths to benefit our clients."

"Ishan has a proven track record of driving innovation and growth, and his leadership will ensure that we continue to evolve and thrive in this ever-changing and competitive market," said Randy. "Ishan represents the exciting future of Jenner & Block and I'm excited to serve alongside him."

The leadership transition follows a period of transformational growth at Jenner & Block. Katya and Randy assumed their co-managing partner roles as the legal industry faced unprecedented challenges—from navigating the pandemic, to shifting market dynamics and client demands, to a growing need for accountability on social issues. Despite these challenges, during Katya and Randy's joint tenure, the firm has significantly grown its revenue—projected to be up over 2020 by more than 48 percent by the end of the year—while also significantly expanding its values-driven initiatives.

For example, in 2021 the firm launched a five-year $250 million pro bono service commitment. Since then, it has averaged more than 75,000 pro bono hours each year, surpassing its commitment 18 months early and earning recent recognitions as the leading pro bono law firm in the United States and internationally. The firm is also recognized as a destination firm for mentorship and diversity. This well-rounded approach to growth recently earned the firm a spot on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List, which recognizes high performance across a combination of factors including revenue, pro bono, associate satisfaction, and diversity.

"As Ishan steps into his new role, Jenner & Block is well-positioned to continue our legacy of growth, innovation, and values-driven leadership, building on the successes Katya and Randy have guided over the past five years," said firm chair Tom Perrelli. "The firm is firing on all cylinders today, and this transition positions us for continued success tomorrow."

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK
Founded in 1914, Jenner & Block is now an internationally recognized powerhouse with more than 500 lawyers in offices in Chicago, Century City, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC. We shape what's next through experience, vision, and judgment. In the most sensitive and consequential matters our clients face, we are known for finding a clear path forward. We are the litigators behind some of the most significant victories from the trial level to the US Supreme Court; the dealmakers behind landmark corporate transactions transforming industries and markets; the investigators and compliance monitors restoring public confidence following high-profile legal, economic, and reputational threats; and the advocates advancing clients' interests and shaping policy. We stand out through bold action, intent, and impact.

ABOUT ISHAN BHABHA

Ishan Bhabha is a partner in Jenner & Block's Washington, DC, office, where he serves as a co-chair of the firm's Education and Technology practices, as well as its DEI Protection Task Force, and as a member of its Management Committee. He specializes in commercial, constitutional, and regulatory law, and frequently represents clients in arbitrations, before administrative agencies, and in government investigations. Ishan also advises public company boards on critical issues of ethical and regulatory risk. He is a member of the Legal Advisory Council for the McArthur Justice Initiative and the Legal Council for the President's Alliance for Immigration and Education. Before joining Jenner & Block, Ishan served as a law clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy on the US Supreme Court and then-Judge Merrick Garland on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and as an appellate lawyer at the US Department of Justice. Prior to law school, he worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Ishan received his law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard College.

ABOUT RANDY MEHRBERG

Randy Mehrberg serves as Jenner & Block's co-managing partner and co-chair of the firm's Energy Practice. He is based in the firm's Chicago office. Randy helps clients navigate the full range of challenges and pressures his clients face. He has more than 40 years of experience in private practice and as a chief legal officer and strategic business leader for multibillion-dollar public companies. His broad experience includes high-stakes litigation, mergers and acquisitions, financings, securities, corporate governance, compliance, regulatory affairs, risk management, government relations, restructuring, real estate, tax, environmental, and labor and employment matters. Because he has walked miles in their shoes, clients look to Randy for business-oriented solutions on a wide range of important issues. As a senior advisor to the Mayor of Chicago and the general counsel of a large city agency, Randy understands how government works and excels at achieving positive outcomes. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, he received his law degree from the University of Michigan.

ABOUT KATYA JESTIN

Based in Jenner & Block's New York office, Katya Jestin serves Jenner & Block's outgoing co-managing partner and as co-chair of the firm's Investigations, Compliance and Defense Practice. She counsels clients in high-stakes criminal, regulatory, and congressional investigations, including representing clients before the US Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York State Attorney General's Office, and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. She also helps companies, executives, and boards conduct sensitive internal investigations on matters ranging from global compliance to culture risk. Katya currently serves as the DOJ-appointed monitor of Glencore Ltd. Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Katya was an Assistant United States Attorney and a supervisor in the Criminal Division of the Eastern District of New York.  While a federal prosecutor, she tried multiple high-profile cases involving fraud, money laundering and other violations, and she convicted the leadership of three La Cosa Nostra organized crime families. A graduate of the University of Texas, she received her law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center.

SOURCE Jenner & Block