Matthew L. Caras

Matt is a founder and principal of Leaders LLC, and leads the firm’s petroleum marketing and propane practices.  In addition to representing privately-owned companies in the sale of their businesses and in growth through acquisition, he focuses on the representation of business owners and companies operating in a wide range of industries in restructurings, management buyouts, and shareholder buyouts. 

Matt’s appreciation for alternative dispute resolution in the context of disagreement among businesses owners, and in particular family businesses, spurred him to develop skills as a neutral mediator.  He has been trained as a mediator by Harvard Law School and Northwestern University, and is certified as a mediator by the State of Maine Judicial Branch.  Prior to his career in corporate finance, Matt practiced law with Verrill Dana LLP, a full-service law firm with 100 attorneys and offices in Portland, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Matt graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College in 1978, where he captained the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams, and received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1984.

Matt’s clients with whom he fishes kid him that the intensity with which he represents them pales in comparison to the intensity with which he fights the current of a remote river or ocean rip in pursuit of his passion. Matt is a salt and freshwater fly fishing enthusiast who will wet a line anywhere at any time, whether it’s chasing striped bass in Maine’s Kennebec River or stalking bonefish in the Bahamas.

Brian T. Deveaux

Brian is a founder and principal of Leaders LLC.  Prior to forming Leaders, he was Chief Operating Officer at Seabrook International, and held several management positions at Bath Iron Works Corporation (a subsidiary of General Dynamics).  In addition to working with the firms manufacturing, distribution and service related clients, Brian leads the firm's industrial, medical, and specialty gases practice, an industry in which the firm has completed close to 20 transactions since 2002.   He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been widely published on the topic of mergers and acquisitions in national publications.  Brian received his A.B. from Bowdoin College in 1990 with majors in Economics and Math.  He is the treasurer and past board chair of Literacy Volunteers of Maine, and is a former board member and committee chair of the United Way of York County.

Gov. Angus S. King

Angus joined Leaders LLC in November of 2003 and works with our clients in developing and executing M&A strategies. As Governor of the State of Maine from 1995 until 2003, he focused a great deal of effort and resources on economic development and job creation. Angus had come to appreciate the challenges faced by many small business owners through his own experiences as the founder and President of Northeast Energy Management, Inc.  He is currently a Distinguished Lecturer at Bowdoin College and a Visiting Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  Governor King is a graduate of Dartmouth College and The University of Virginia Law School.

J.R. “Buzz” Campbell

Buzz joined Leaders in 2002, bringing 40+ years of experience in the industrial gas industry to the firm.  Buzz began his career in the industry in 1962 with Air Products and Chemicals.  He left Air Products in 1975 to join Burdox, Inc. in Cleveland, OH as EVP and COO.  In this position, he was instrumental in the sale of Burdox to AGA (now Linde AG).  In 1981, Buzz started J.R. Campbell & Associates, Inc. to provide highly focused marketing and strategy consulting services to US and international businesses. In 1989, he began publishing CryoGas International, which has become the leading journal covering the industry. Buzz has a B.M.E. from RPI and an MBA from Lehigh University.