Independently-owned Los Angeles firm RBZ LLP has named three partners to share the firm’s managing partner position.
Thomas J. Schulte has held the job for the past nine years and will wrap up his term this July, before returning to work fulltime with a client roster of nonprofits and midsized businesses.
“The completion of my role as managing partner provided an opportunity for us to step back and examine what was needed to continue to serve our clients and move the firm forward,” said Schulte, in a statement.
The position has been divided into a trio of distinct responsibility areas, each which will be headed up by a single partner. In addition to continuing to handle their current client bases, each partner will begin the transition into their new role now.
David Roberts, who has spent 10 years with RBZ and serves as head of the firm’s Law Firm Services practice, will assume many of the responsibilities traditionally associated with the managing partner’s role. Roberts will act as the lead executive of the firm in activities such as representing RBZ in the business and civic community, meeting with recruits and serving as firm spokesperson.
Harvey Bookstein, who founded the firm in 1975 with Ted Roth and David Zaslow, will serve as what the firm is calling a visionary partner. With three decades of public accounting experience and real estate expertise, he has been instrumental in driving the firm’s growth to more than 100 employees. In the new role, Bookstein will identify and tap opportunities such as practice acquisition, new niche practice areas and additional office locations.
Mark Baumohl, who serves as co-partner-in-charge of the RBZ Family Wealth Services practice group, will head up perhaps the most time-consuming aspect of the managing partner’s role, acting as the firm’s administrative partner. He will be responsible for growing firm infrastructure and ensuring that it supports RBZ’s ability to provide client service.
