LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Thurston R. Moore, managing partner of Hunton & Williams LLP since 1991, has been elected Chairman of the law firm’s Executive Committee. Moore, 59, is a partner in the firm’s business practice group.
He succeeds Gordon F. Rainey Jr., who becomes Chairman-Emeritus. Rainey, 65, is also a partner in the business practice group and had served as Chairman since 1994.
“Gordon Rainey has helped Hunton & Williams extend its reach, both nationally and internationally,” said Moore, “while maintaining its high standards for integrity and service. Although he is stepping down from the chairmanship of the Executive Committee, he remains a partner in the firm and will continue helping to coach and develop some of the firm’s younger lawyers.”
Moore also announced that Walfrido “Wally” Martinez is rejoining Hunton & Williams to become the law firm’s managing partner, effective March 1, and that John D. O’Neill Jr. has been named managing partner of the Richmond office.
Martinez, 39, was a Hunton & Williams partner in the Miami office until joining Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, in late 2004, where he is senior vice president and general counsel for Diageo North America Inc. At Hunton & Williams, he will maintain offices in Richmond, New York and Miami. Martinez is a graduate of Seton Hall University and holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
O’Neill, 50, is a partner with the firm’s public finance practice group. O’Neill is a graduate of the University of Richmond and the Pepperdine University School of Law. He served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge D. Dortch Warriner.
Over the past 15 years, Hunton & Williams has more than doubled in size through acquisitions and internal growth.
Moore said a key strategy for future growth involves broadening and deepening client relationships, understanding what he calls “client DNA,” or an intensive focus on innovation and client service. “We are committed not only to solving client issues,” Moore said, “but to helping clients see challenges and opportunities over the horizon before they become problems.”
“Our goal is for Hunton & Williams to assume a strategic leadership role in several key industries, such as energy, financial services, and life sciences, in growth areas, such as intellectual property, REITs, asset securitization, outsourcing, competition and privacy, and in each locality we serve – not only at the bar, but as citizen-lawyers and leaders,” Moore said.
Moore holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia where he was an Echols Scholar. He is immediate past chair of The Nature Conservancy of Virginia and is a vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
