What was your route to the top? I began at Stinson 30 years ago, first focusing on environmental litigation then pivoting to devote most of my career to defending financial institutions in complex fiduciary litigation. As my career progressed, I balanced the demand to be a high performing attorney, critical to my own professional success, with the calling to serve in numerous leadership roles for the benefit of Stinson overall. My leadership roles included serving as chair of the associate evaluation and associate development committees, practice division leader for the financial services litigation division and as a member of Stinson's board of directors. These leadership experiences allowed me to deepen my understanding of Stinson's business operations, develop personal relationships with attorneys across the firm and showcase my leadership skills. I'm honored that Mark Hinderks selected me 8 years ago to serve as Stinson's deputy managing partner.

What keeps you up at night? (i.e. What are your biggest business-related concerns?) Like all law firm leaders, the changing nature of the legal profession and how best to help our attorneys adapt to fast-paced change is always top of mind. Whether it's cutting-edge technology, new competition from alternative legal services providers or increased focus on alternative fee arrangements, change is always in the air. At any given time the challenges and demands facing our attorneys vary widely depending on their practice and clients. In order to provide the highest level of client service we must deploy the right resources to our attorneys at the right time. This always requires leading with both the present and future in mind.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you started out in the legal profession? That developing excellent legal skills, while absolutely critical, is only part of what it takes to succeed as an attorney. Back then the message to most new attorneys—especially at large firms—was to focus solely on legal skills development. Little was said or taught about business development or law firm economics. This made the shift to partner feel somewhat abrupt. Continued success suddenly depended on quickly developing a much broader skill set. Beginning to learn those skills as a newer attorney allows them to provide better client service to both internal and external clients, and provides a more solid foundation for building a successful career. Fortunately, we do a better job today of educating new attorneys on all aspects of the profession.

What is the most valuable career advice anyone has ever given you? My friends, colleagues and mentors have given me wonderful career advice over the years. But the advice I hold most dear is that there are many paths to success. What's best for me, may not be best for you. We must resist the temptation to copy the path of someone we perceive to “have it all” because their definition of “having it all” may be vastly different from ours. There is no “right way.” There's only the way that works for you.