Seward & Kissel LLP announced today that Nora Shearer, the former chief marketing officer at Shearman & Sterling, has become Seward & Kissel’s chief marketing and business development officer, effective immediately. The addition of Shearer, who also previously led the U.S. marketing and business development function at the Am Law 50 firm Norton Rose Fulbright, is the latest in a series of moves by Seward & Kissel to surround its world-class legal talent with a commensurate executive leadership team.

“Nora has a proven ability to connect premier law firms with their most important audiences,” said Jim Cofer, managing partner of Seward & Kissel. “Her presence reflects our historic firm’s continued evolution and determination to support our attorneys.”

In addition to her previous positions at the global law firms Shearman & Sterling and Norton Rose, Shearer served as CMBDO at Chadbourne & Parke, which combined with Norton Rose in 2017. Shearer led the successful integration of the two firms’ marketing and business development teams after the merger. Most recently, she served as the chief business development and marketing officer at Nardello & Co., the global investigations and business intelligence firm.

Shearer’s arrival builds on recent enhancements Seward & Kissel has made to its leadership structure, including the addition of partner Patricia Poglinco to the firm’s management committee. Most notably, in 2022, the firm brought on Andrew Notaro. Notaro previously served at other elite firms, including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, before joining as Seward & Kissel’s first chief operating officer.

“Seward & Kissel is consciously building a team of business leaders to drive operational excellence, while allowing our attorneys to focus on exercising their legal talents,” said Notaro, who partners with the firm’s management committee in setting and executing its business strategy. “As a forward thinker who understands the modern market for legal services as well as anyone, Nora will be a vital member of that team.”

Seward & Kissel’s initiative has helped it attract significant lateral talent in recent years. Since 2022, the firm has added Kristen Curatolo, the co-head of the firm’s Private Clients/Trusts and Estates Group, from Kirkland & Ellis; Jaimie Nawaday, the current co-head of its Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Group, from Kelley Drye & Warren; Michael Watling, co-head of the Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Group, and Russell Johnston, co-head of the Litigation & Investigations Group, from King & Spalding; David Baron, a partner in the Employment Group, from Hogan Lovells; and Daniel Viola, a partner in the Investment Management Group, from Sadis & Goldberg.

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Nora Shearer

(212) 574-1413
shearern@sewkis.com