Jennnifer Daglio, 51, Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth, Richmond, Virginia

Practice area: Securitization and structured finance

Law school and year of graduation: University of Virginia School of Law, 2000

The following has been edited for style.

How long have you been at the firm?

Nine years total. I spent three years as a junior associate immediately upon graduation from law school before moving elsewhere and then returned to the firm where I’ve spent the last six years.

What was your criteria in selecting your current firm?

When I began my career as a junior associate, I focused on Hunton Andrews Kurth (formerly Hunton & Williams) because it was nationally renowned for its capital markets practices. When I rejoined the firm in 2018, I was most impressed that the partners, who have built the structured finance and securitization team’s national reputation as issuer’s and underwriter’s counsel, among other representations, over four decades, continue to actively develop the next generation of junior partners and associates. Structured finance and securitization involves several disciplines including secured transactions, securities regulations, tax, ERISA, and bankruptcy. The partners and counsel are so generous with their time, sharing knowledge and experience involving various types of transaction structures and asset classes. It is an incredible privilege to learn from the people who developed bespoke structures that have now become common in the practice.

Were you an associate at another firm before joining your present firm? If so, which one and how long were you there?

Initially, I joined Hunton Andrews Kurth as a first year associate immediately upon graduating from law school. After that, I was a contract attorney on a part- time project basis in the legal department of a national banking institution over a period of four years and later counsel at an AmLaw 100 firm for three years. Most recently, I was in-house counsel at a privately held company for one year prior to rejoining the firm.

What do you think was the deciding point for the firm in making you partner? Was it your performance on a specific case? A personality trait? Making connections with the right people?

I believe a combination of all three—consistent high performance, key personality traits and connections with firm decisionmakers—contributed to the firm deciding to promote me to partner. In contrast to lateral partners who typically have a book of business to support their case for partnership, I think attorneys who are promoted from within the firm are considered for partnership based on their potential to contribute to the firm’s successes and generate business from existing and new clients. In terms of performance, I think consistently producing high quality work product was imperative. Initially, I focused on producing the best work product for my supervising attorneys (i.e., my internal “clients”). Over time, these supervising attorneys provided me opportunities to engage directly with clients and build a reputation and relationship with them. Ultimately, clients began reaching out to me directly with new projects.

In terms of personality traits, I have maintained an open mindset and thrived on finding creative solutions to complex issues. Whenever anyone asked if I had capacity to work on a novel transaction—whether a unique asset class or a new structure—I raised my hand. It was challenging to work on such varied transactions but it provided many benefits. It expanded my expertise. It allowed me to think creatively. And, by growing my areas of expertise, it provided an internal hedge. In the rising interest rate market of the past couple of years, new mortgage origination volume has reduced significantly and refinance activity has all but disappeared. Having broad experience has allowed me to focus on excess servicing spread transactions that are ideal in the current interest rate market as warehouse financing has tightened.

Finally, having sponsors and mentors that are also firm decisionmakers helped support and promote my case for partnership. I sought every opportunity to work with the firm’s thought leadership. A former mentor once told me that senior associates should strive to work at such a level that when it is your time to be considered for partnership, you want all of the partners to be thinking: “I thought she was already a partner.”

Who had or has the greatest influence in your career and why?

I am very fortunate to have had many people who supported me and my career advancement. Professionally, Rudene Mercer Haynes, a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth, has been an inspiration to me and has had a great impact on my career. She is an exemplary role model in her service to others—from clients, to colleagues within the firm, and to the community at large. In her role as a member of Hunton Andrew Kurth’s executive committee deciding firm-wide strategic objectives, Rudene has always made herself available for candid discussions with anyone who has had any concerns or questions. In the community, Rudene is on the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center Advisory Board (Massey). In recognition of her advocacy for cancer treatment for all, Massey has established the Rudene Mercer Haynes Clinical Trials Office Summer Internship.

During the pandemic, Rudene, together with Reverend F. Todd Gray and Dr. Robert A. Winn, M.D., co-founded Faith & Facts Friday to provide trusted voices and sources of accurate information to members of the community navigating frightening and challenging times. In addition to her client, firm and community service, Rudene is an active promoter and champion of the next generation of legal talent and thought leadership. Within the firm, Rudene is a firm-wide hiring partner, co-head of the summer associate program, and a tireless proponent to develop young associates. She breaks barriers and uses her influence for good and elevates those coming up behind her. She truly makes you believe nothing is impossible and inspires me to show up and give my best effort every day. It’s not about perfection; it is about effort. Rudene has recited this Maya Angelou quote to me: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” She epitomizes this sentiment.

What advice would you give an associate who wants to make partner?

I would recommend the following to any associate:

Contribute. Contribute to your firm, your team, and your work product. Think about what you like and what you are good at, and relentlessly pursue those areas of interest. Even if you are in your first month of practice, you can add value through simple measures: Deliver work product ahead of deadlines. Review closing checklists and offer to complete open tasks before you are asked to do so. Address email correspondence as quickly as possible—either resolve the issue; delegate the matter; or acknowledge receipt and offer a general timeline of when you will provide a response.

Mentor/sponsor others. Provide career development to junior associates through regular feedback on projects and periodic meetings about career goals and objectives. Developing a team of associates is crucial as you begin to develop business. You need to have a reliable team who reliably delivers high quality work product as you grow your client base.

Be curious. Connect with the firm’s reference librarians to receive digital publications in your practice area. Start your day reading newspaper articles and headlines daily—I prefer the Wall Street Journal. I also subscribe to receive its push notifications so I am up on real-time news events as they are occurring. Ask your clients what they read and follow along. Knowing your clients’ businesses and keeping yourself apprised of what events impact them will help you reinforce your role as a trusted adviser.

Maintain an open mindset. Say yes to projects especially early in your career. Do not be afraid to try something new. You may end up developing a niche and become the firm subject matter expert in that area.

Practice gratitude. Remember the team of supporters around you who have helped you achieve your accomplishments. Give credit where credit is due. Offer support to your team and the firm.

When it comes to career planning and navigating inside a law firm, in your opinion, what’s the most common mistake you see other attorneys making?

Early in my career, I read advice along these lines: The people who do not advance in their careers are those who either (1) do not do what they are told, or (2) only do what they are told. Know that you can and should add value no matter what level of seniority you are. Take every opportunity to do more than is expected to support your team, supervisors and clients, and you will have a significant advantage in your career.

What challenges, if any, did you face or had to overcome in your career path and what was the lesson learned? How did it affect or influence your career?

I am a working mother of four. When my children were younger, balancing childcare, their school activities and my busy work schedule was challenging. With no immediate family in town and a husband who was also a partner in an AmLaw 100 firm, I stepped back from full-time practice and worked on a part-time basis for a few years. Once my youngest was in kindergarten, I returned to private practice full-time. I believe there are many paths to professional advancement, including partnership. The path may not have been direct or short or initially what I envisioned at the outset of my career, but through patience, hard work and perseverance, I earned my team’s and firm’s support for my professional goals and development.

Knowing what you know now about your career path, what advice would you give to your younger self?

You may have heard this before but do not fret over the small things or the potential roadblocks that may never come to fruition. Focus on what matters to you and what you can control. Establish a 5- and 10-year plan with long term goals and work backwards including 3-4 annual action steps of what you need to achieve to attain each goal. Have a Plan A and Plan B. Persevere through the challenging times and eventually you will hit your sweet spot where your expertise and opportunities intersect in a way that provides tremendous fulfillment and satisfaction.

Do you utilize technology to benefit the firm/practice and/or business development?

Yes. We recently completed a large scale due diligence project and used Relativity to manage the large volume of documents we analyzed and to generate reports of the diligence results. We use other software products designed to perform analytics on transaction documents for internal consistency, defined terms are used and capitalized terms are defined. Running these analytics can improve the overall work product quality in a very cost-effective way. Artificial intelligence is the next big technological advancement, which when used ethically and responsibly, has the potential to harness vast amounts of data to make us more productive and efficient.

How would you describe your work mindset?

I have an open mindset, am very curious and ask a lot of questions. In large AmLaw firms especially, the amount of expertise and institution knowledge is incredible. One of the advantages clients are looking for when they engage a large AmLaw firm is tapping into this knowledge base through you—their contact. Find ways to make your expertise and knowledge known to your peers. This summer, a corporate partner spearheaded a corporate women’s directory where each of us contributed a half-page narrative about our practice area, our interests, and most importantly a “call me when” segment. In this segment, each of us identified key industry terms tied to our expertise and how we can help with client inquiries. It was a great way to share my specialty and to learn about the specialties of others.