Gould & Ratner LLP is proud to announce the appointment of Ken Koehn into the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer, effective January 1, 2023, to lead the service and support provided to the firm’s legal professionals, as well as to help facilitate the firm’s strategic vision as a premier mid-sized, Chicago-based law firm.
Koehn moves into his role as COO after serving as Chief Financial Officer at Gould & Ratner for the past seven years.
“Ken has been a driving force behind our financial success and stability these past several years,” said Brian Gilbert, a Managing Partner of Gould & Ratner and chair of its Corporate Practice. “As our clients have grown and become more prosperous, we have shared in success. Ken has been a trusted and exceptional financial and executive adviser to our partnership through it all. This new role and increased leadership responsibilities both recognizes that achievement and puts us on a path for continued success into the foreseeable future.”
Koehn’s hiring as the firm’s first CFO in 2015 marked a significant new direction in how Gould & Ratner was managed, creating a platform that supported double-digit percentage growth in revenue and profits. Within a year of Koehn’s hiring, the firm promoted Laura Sears into the newly created role of Chief Administrative Officer and hired John Byrne as the firm’s first Chief Marketing Officer. Most recently, Julie Hanusa was named as Gould & Ratner’s first Chief Talent Officer.
“I’m very excited to take on this new opportunity,” Koehn said. “Gould & Ratner is a special kind of law firm – a place that values all of its professionals and strives to give them the tools, resources and environment where they can provide extraordinary service to our clients.”
With Koehn moving into his new role, Michael Hill has been named as the firm’s next CFO, after serving several years as its Controller.
“Ken and the entire C-suite of Gould & Ratner provide a wealth of knowledge and experience of managing a law firm that is far beyond that of most of our peer midsized firms around the country,” said Jessica Lingertat, another of the firm’s Managing Partners and a former chair of its Real Estate Practice. “Their tenure at the firm, as well as time spent at other law firms in top roles, helps give us an advantage in serving our clients – and attracting new ones.”
Koehn’s experience includes over 25 years in senior financial executive positions for Chicago law firms and other firms in the professional services and trading industries.
Koehn earned a BBA in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame. He is a Certified Legal Manager, a Certified Public Accountant with a CGMA designation and a Certified Management Accountant.
An active member of the Association of Legal Administrators, Ken currently serves on the Board of Directors for the group’s Chicago chapter, after previously serving as Chapter President, Past President, President-Elect, Vice President-Elect and Treasurer. At the international level, Ken recently served four years on the Certified Legal Manager Certification Committee, including two years as committee chair. He also served two years on the association’s Nominating Committee. Ken is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Management Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society.
