Tara Lynn Trifon, 37, Locke Lord

Office: Hartford, Connecticut.

Practice area: Litigation.

Law school and year of graduation: University of Connecticut School of Law, 2009.

How long have you been at the firm? Nearly nine years.

How long were you an associate at the firm? Eight years.

Were you an associate at another firm before joining your present firm? I was an associate at a small firm for one year before I worked at Locke Lord predecessor firms Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Edwards Wildman Palmer.

What year did you make partner at your current firm? Elected October 2018; effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Tara Lynn Trifon (Courtesy photo)

What's the biggest surprise you experienced in becoming partner? I have been a little surprised at how much things changed, and yet stayed the same. I sit in a small and tight-knit office. As a result, my day-to-day personal interactions with my colleagues have not changed a bit. At the same time, partners have more input regarding the operation and function of the office and firm, which I did not fully appreciate until after I was elevated.

What do you think was the deciding point for the firm in making you partner? In order to make partner, I think you have to be a good lawyer. In addition, though, you need to be a leader and a team player, and you really need to be driven to want to work hard and to have stamina! Succeeding as a partner is a marathon, not a sprint. So you need to be willing to put in a lot of time and effort without necessarily seeing the rewards right away. I work very hard, and I am passionate about what I do, which includes practicing law and building a teamlike environment. I think these qualities made it clear that I would be a good fit for Locke Lord's partnership.

Describe how you feel now about your career now that you've made partner. I have wanted to make partner, particularly at Locke Lord, for a long time, and I am very proud that I have achieved that goal. To some extent, though, making partner feels like starting a brand new career. I'm doing the same work, but I now have a whole new set of goals and aspirations that, in many ways, are completely different from what defined the first 10 years of my legal career.

What's the key to successful business development in your opinion? First and foremost, you need to do good work and produce a work product that clients can trust. No matter how likable you may be, I don't think clients will refer business unless they think you can handle the matter effectively. In order to get in the door with potential clients, though, I think you need to attend events and get your name out there as much as possible, whether for speaking engagements or articles or while serving on various boards. I also think you have to be yourself and be authentic. People want to work with those that they trust, and authenticity is important to earning that trust.

What's been the biggest change, day-to-day, in your routine since becoming partner? I am marketing a lot more than I did as an associate, sometimes spending a couple of hours every day on various marketing activities.

Who had the greatest influence in your career that helped propel you to partner? I would not have made partner but for the help and assistance of a lot of my friends, family and colleagues. The support of my husband and family has been invaluable, particularly over the past two years as we have been trying to balance parenthood with demanding careers. Locke Lord's Hartford office partner Donald Frechette has been a huge influence in my career, helping me to develop into the litigator I am today. Hartford and New York partner Alan Levin and West Palm Beach, Florida, office managing partner Thomas Cunningham have provided me with invaluable advice regarding marketing and business generation. Hartford partner Julie Mahaney has been a huge support for me and has provided me with an example of how to be a successful partner and a successful mom, all at the same time. There are many, many others whom I have learned from over the years, including partners Robert Mowrey, Rusty Perdew, Doug Sargent and Simon Fleischmann, to name a few more. There's just not enough space to list them all!

What's the best piece of advice you could give an associate who wants to make partner?  Don't lose sight of the big picture. I think it's really easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day routine of doing whatever project is on your plate at any given moment. But in order to achieve your goal, you need to put a plan in place and continuously work toward that goal. It's helpful to check in with yourself every so often to see if you're doing what you need to do to achieve success.

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