Blank Rome said Friday that longtime Chairman David Girard-diCarlo will step down at the end of next year and will be replaced by partners Alan Hoffman and Mike Dyer. In addition, Carl Buchholz was re-elected managing partner and CEO and Gary Goldenberg was named finance partner. Girard-diCarlo has served as either managing partner or chairman at the 500-lawyer firm for 20 years, during which time the firm has more than doubled in size and opened offices in New York, Washington and Hong Kong.

Girard-diCarlo, 64, returned to Philadelphia last spring after spending six years in Washington, where he helped grow the firm's office and client base there. He was aided by his close relationship with President Bush, for whom he was a chief fundraiser in 2000. Bush appointed Girard-DiCarlo to the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Hoffman, 59, and Dyer, 61, will become co-chairmen of the firm Jan. 1, 2009. Philadelphia-based Hoffman is head of the 200-lawyer litigation department and Dyer heads the Washington office and the firm's business department. He joined the firm when it acquired Dyer Ellis & Joseph in 2003.

Buchholz, 41, replaced Fred Blume, 66, as managing partner last year. The Girard-diCarlo announcement completes the firm's management succession planning.

Buchholz will be responsible for running the firm on a daily basis while the chairman traditionally provides strategic management and guidance.