William Dougherty '86 Named Executive Committee Chairman of Simpson Thacher

From the Simpson Thacher website:

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP announced today that William R. Dougherty has been elected Chairman of the Firm’s Executive Committee, its governing body, effective immediately. He succeeds Philip T. (Pete) Ruegger, who has served as the Chairman since 2004. Mr. Ruegger will remain a member of the Executive Committee until his retirement later this year.
“Having worked closely with Bill for many years, I am confident that he is an ideal choice to lead our Firm. His unparalleled commitment to client service, collegiality and excellence in all that we do will be an asset to Simpson Thacher and our clients for many years to come,” said Mr. Ruegger. “It has been an honor to serve our Firm as Executive Committee Chairman for nine years and I am very happy to pass the role on to my highly respected colleague.”

Mr. Dougherty, 51, has held several key leadership positions at the Firm since being elected to partner in 1995. He was first elected to the Executive Committee in 2008 and served as a Co-Administrative Partner from 2009 to 2012, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Firm. Mr. Dougherty was also a member of the New Partners Committee from 2003 to 2008, later serving as the Committee Chair. Mr. Dougherty is a member of the Firm’s Corporate Department, where his active practice focuses on merger and acquisition and corporate finance transactions. Mr. Dougherty joined the Firm in 1986 in New York and was subsequently based in both the Tokyo office (1990-1991) and the London office (1996-2002), giving him first-hand experience in the Firm’s international offices.
“I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Pete during his tenure and it is truly an honor to succeed him as Executive Committee Chairman,” said Mr. Dougherty. “During his time as Chairman, Pete strategically built out our global footprint in key markets in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States and helped us expand our client base and practice in ways that solidified our standing as one of the world’s leading law firms. I hope to continue to build upon the Firm’s traditional strengths, while also leveraging our worldwide platform and market-leading practice areas to best serve our clients’ most important needs, wherever they might be.”
Mr. Dougherty graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1986 and received his A.B., magna cum laude, in 1983 from Georgetown University.