Leander Dolphin Takes the Helm at Shipman & Goodwin – Three Partners Join Management Committee

Shipman & Goodwin LLP, one of Connecticut’s oldest and largest law firms with 146 attorneys, is proud to announce that partner Leander Dolphin will serve as the firm’s Managing Partner, effective January 1, 2022. Dolphin and Kent Nevins, who will continue to serve as the Chair of the firm’s Management Committee, will form the firm’s Leadership Team. The Management Committee has added three partners, Stephen Gellman, Eric Goldstein and Marie Pollio who are joining returning members Andrew Davis and Karen Staib.  

“I am honored to serve as Managing Partner. I look forward to working with Kent and the Management Committee to build upon 2021, which was one of our strongest years despite the pandemic,” said Dolphin. “After 15 years at Shipman, I know that our partners, attorneys and staff are unrivaled when it comes to dedication to our work and Shipman’s clients.”

“There is no one better prepared than Leander to help lead Shipman into our next 100 years,” said Nevins. “Leander is an accomplished leader and skilled communicator who has earned the respect of the firm and its clients. She understands the importance of pivoting a law practice to meet the business needs of our clients as well as the cultural needs of our attorneys and staff. Shipman is the future of law, a place where skilled professionals listen to clients, build successful careers, and live a full life.”

Dolphin is uniquely prepared to meet the challenges law firms continue to face because of COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic, as a partner with Shipman’s School Law Practice Group, the largest in Connecticut, Dolphin guided educational institutions and private employers dealing with issues from vaccination mandates to workplace health and safety standards, while balancing the often-competing interests of clients’ stakeholders.

Dolphin started with Shipman in 2004. She served for three years on the management committee before she was named as Co-Managing Partner in 2021. In November 2021, she was elected to the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) board of directors. Dolphin is the former vice president of human resources and general counsel for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. Dolphin graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with high honors and received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law in 2004.

Shipman partners Davis and Staib are returning to the Management Committee for another term. Together, Dolphin, Nevins, Davis and Staib will provide leadership continuity. The addition of Gellman, Goldstein and Pollio will bring new ideas and dynamic energy to the firm’s leadership.

Gellman is Chair of the Trusts and Estates Practice Group, with more than 30 years of experience counseling clients in estate planning, estate settlement and trust administration. Pollio provides strategic, practical advice to national banks and other financial institutions in connection with complex financial and capital markets transactions and default and workout situations. Goldstein is Co-Chair of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group and its Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group, where he represents creditors in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings throughout the United States, serving as lead national or regional bankruptcy counsel for a variety of businesses. 

The new Management Committee will take office on January 1, 2022.