Robert M. Dell served as the Global Chair and Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins, and chaired the firm’s Executive Committee for 20 years before retiring at the end of 2014.

During Mr. Dell's tenure as Chair and Managing Partner, Latham experienced tremendous success, growing from nearly 600 lawyers practicing in 11 offices, to its current size of more than 2,000 lawyers in 33 offices, including 600 lawyers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Mr. Dell started his law practice in Chicago at a litigation boutique firm which Latham acquired in 1982. In 1990, he relocated to San Francisco to launch a new office for Latham and serve as its first office managing partner. In 1994, Latham’s partners elected Mr. Dell — only 42 at the time — as Latham's firmwide Chair and Managing Partner. He was subsequently reelected to a second, third and fourth five-year term.

Mr. Dell was instrumental in the growth of the firm's pro bono program. Through consistent and focused efforts to encourage the firm's lawyers to engage in pro bono work, Latham has become one of the largest providers of pro bono services in the world. From 2000 until 2013, the firm provided more than US$950 million in free legal services to the disadvantaged and the nonprofit sector, totaling more than 2.4 million pro bono hours.