Downey Brand, unlike many law firms, is no stranger to a leadership transition. The 96-year-old Sacramento firm estimates that it has had some 15 managing partners, though its litigation leader Janlynn ‘Jan’ Robinson Fleener will be its first female managing partner.
Fleener, who was elected by a vote of the partners and began her term on Jan. 1, has spent nearly the entirety of her 29 years as a lawyer at Downey Brand. She is the chair of Downey Brand’s largest practice, the litigation department, and has defended global companies and California financial institutions in lawsuits in state, federal and appellate courts.
