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There鈥檚 a bit of an experiment underway at Miller Nash, which for the first time has both a managing partner and a firm-wide chairman at its helm.

The firm recently announced that Don Burns, managing partner since 2007, will return to his employee benefits practice full time. Earlier this year, Kieran Curley took over as managing partner, and Dennis Rawlinson began serving as the firm鈥檚 chairman.

In his new position, Rawlinson oversees the firm鈥檚 strategic planning process and leads its five-member Executive Committee, which determines the firm鈥檚 policies. Miller Nash noted in its announcement that while the chair position is new, the role reflects the work Rawlinson has been doing for several years. He will continue his commercial litigation practice.

Curley, the youngest managing partner Miller Nash has ever appointed, now oversees the firm鈥檚 internal management and the implementation of its strategic plan.

Rawlinson and Curley say there is a learning curve that comes with the new structure, though the fact that they are colleagues in the firm鈥檚 litigation department and have worked on cases together eases the transition.

鈥淚 think the structure makes a lot of sense for us in that it allows one person to focus on the day-to-day operation of the firm while the other person takes a long-term strategic look at what the firm needs to accomplish,鈥� Curley said.

Rawlinson sees the biggest challenge as charting the firm鈥檚 course for the future.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what strategic planning is all about,” he said. “We鈥檙e going to take a look at our clients, our relationships, our talent base and our resources and figure out the best way for those to support the future of the firm, not only months out but three to five years out.”