Kevin M. Hogan Named Phillips Lytle Managing Partner

Kevin Hogan named managing partner at Phillips Lytle

Kevin M. Hogan will step into the role of managing partner of the Phillips Lytle law firm at the start of 2017, succeeding David J. McNamara.

McNamara announced in June that he would leave that role at year’s end and return to focusing on business litigation and project development. That gave the Buffalo-based firm’s governing committee ample time to choose a successor and to allow that person to prepare for the transition, Hogan said.

“As challenging as it is, it’s also an honor,” Hogan said Monday. “I was happy to say yes.”

Phillips Lytle is one of the region’s largest law firms, and operates a total of eight offices in New York State, Washington, D.C., and Canada. It has a roster of clients based both locally and out of town, and the managing partner essentially serves as CEO of the firm.

Hogan, an Albany native, joined Phillips Lytle in 1992, and became a partner in 2000. His practice focuses on environmental law, intellectual property and litigation, and he said he will continue to be the point person at the firm for his clients.

Hogan, 54, said he has already worked with a range of attorneys at the firm through his work in environmental law, which has helped him build relationships across Phillips Lytle.

Hogan said he wants to spend time meeting with other partners and attorneys at the firm, and to continue the firm’s emphasis on identifying future partners, as older partners gradually retire.

While he has had a long career in law, Hogan also has a background in manufacturing management. He double-majored in mechanical and metallurgical engineering at the University of Connecticut, and worked at GE for five and a half years. He later went back to school, graduating from Vermont Law School, which specializes in environmental law. He had a clerkship at the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City before coming to Phillips Lytle.