jsweet@lawpracticeconsultants.com
215 680 1188
Mr. Sweet practiced law for over 30 years, the last 5 as the Chairman of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a Philadelphia based, Am Law 100 firm. Immediately prior to that, he chaired the firm’s litigation department and built it into a national practice. During his eight plus years in management, the firm opened six new offices, doubled in size, added a number of practice groups and developed a national reputation in a number of practice areas, particularly in the defense of class action litigation lawsuits and the protection of Intellectual Property. During his years of active trial practice, he focused on antitrust and securities litigation, as well as pharmaceutical products liability cases, intellectual property disputes, and environmental insurance coverage matters. He has tried cases to verdict in state and federal courts across the country and argued appeals in many of the federal circuit courts of appeal. He is a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Sweet has frequently spoken about law firm issues, most recently at the Law Firm Leadership Summit, the Law Firm Leadership Conference and the PBI conference on Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel in Philadelphia, where he spoke on Ethics and Professionalism. He has been profiled in the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer and is often called to comment upon trends in the legal marketplace. He is a fellow of the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria and participated in its seminar entitled “Globalization and the Development of Transnational Legal Services.”
Currently, Mr. Sweet serves as general counsel to an educational institution in Philadelphia and is a partner in Law Practice Consultants, based in Boston. Mr. Sweet has extensive experience in a number of management and leadership areas. In his practice, Mr. Sweet counsels law firms and firm managing partners in a number of management and leadership areas, including law firm mergers, strategic planning, compensation systems, managing high performers and leadership coaching. His particular interest is coaching and mentoring law firm chairmen and managing partners.
Mr. Sweet received his BA from Wheaton College (IL) and his law degree, cum laude, from William & Mary Law School where he was the Articles Editor of the William & Mary Law Review. In 1998, Mr. Sweet was honored as the recipient of the “Citizen-Lawyer Award” from his alma mater for “Outstanding service to the Law School community and for fidelity to those qualities of character and leadership which exemplify the ideal of the Citizen-Lawyer.”