Jay Zimmerman has led the firm since 1994, guiding Bingham through a period of transformative growth that has placed it in the top echelon of the legal industry. In building Bingham’s global platform, Jay has adapted many traditional corporate value-creation and M&A strategies to law-firm management, combining risk management“...Zimmerman was also opportunistic in scouting out merger possibilities. ‘Virtually every [combination] we’ve done has been, to some extent, against cycle,’ Zimmerman explained. And he was particularly attuned to minimizing the downside of potential deals. ‘I’ve consistently emphasized that we must analyze the downside and ask, ‘If we get this wrong, can we withstand the scenario?’ he remarked.” — “Combinatorial Mathematics,” Harvard Law case study with strategic and financial discipline“We have understood exactly why we wanted to merge with another firm well in advance — what they offered us and our clients, and the advantages we could bring to them. And we have always done the math. You can’t manage a law firm solely by the numbers, but if you don’t have a handle on the numbers, you can’t manage it at all.” — Jay S. Zimmerman with a decisive approach to emerging opportunities. Harvard Law School examines Jay’s strategy and Bingham’s success in a recently published case study analyzing the firm’s steady growth and strategic accomplishments.

Under Jay’s leadership, Bingham has not only become an industry leader with 14 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia, but has also been ranked on FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies“We know that the more diverse we are, the more successful we will be. Not only in terms of a best-places-to-work environment, but also in servicing our clients by having deeper and more varied perspectives, life experiences and voices working for them.” — Jay S. Zimmerman, BBA Week to Work For” list every year since 2005. Equally important, the firm has created and sustained a distinctive set of core values“As a firm we share a passion for our work, respect for one another and a commitment to our firm, our clients, our profession and our community. And we believe deeply in the power of diversity —of educational and economic background, diversity of economics, diversity of religion, diversity of ideas, as well as, ethnic diversity, gender diversity. All of those things are important.” — Jay S. Zimmerman during this period of intense growth.

Jay joined legacy firm Bingham Dana & Gould in 1982, headed its London office for seven years and was elected managing partner in 1994. Recognizing that the needs of clients and the dynamics of the legal marketplace were changing, in 1997 he initiated a strategy to expand beyond the firm’s regional base and achieve a higher level of practice diversification“We’re a well-diversified global law firm with approximately 1,000 lawyers handling complex litigation, finance and corporate matters...and we are continually assessing what makes sense for our clients in today’s dynamic business and legal environments.” — Jay S. Zimmerman, BBA Week. Execution of this strategy has resulted in a series of transactions that have transformed Bingham from a Boston-based regional firm to approximately 1,000 lawyers worldwide. Each combination added specific, well-defined capabilities, strengthened the firm financially, and laid the groundwork for further expansion. During Jay’s tenure, Bingham has also been a leader in embracing the concept of multidisciplinary practices“Integration is a major component in ensuring that our growth strategy succeeds, and we’ve been able to do that by building upon a solid foundation and getting better each year.” — Jay S. Zimmerman, BBA Week and has established a highly successful subsidiary business“Clients can no longer separate legal issues, governmental issues, business issues, political issues. There’s a substantial overlap, which is why we created a consulting service that complements our legal strengths. It’s one aspect of what we call global intelligence.” — Jay S. Zimmerman known as Bingham Consulting LLC, which addresses critical business, political and policy problems for global clients.