What was your route to the top? I was fortunate enough to begin my career in a practice area and with a team that would become my professional home for decades to come. When you pause to consider the countless ways someone can practice law after graduating law school, it is astonishing to recognize how lucky I was to land in a practice that supported my passions and skill set. With that fortuitous foundation, I suspect the rest of my story is fairly unremarkable. I burned the proverbial midnight oil, looked for every possible stretch opportunity to grow professionally, and I garnered the support of powerful advocates who championed my advancement.

What keeps you up at night? (i.e. What are your biggest business-related concerns?) My biggest business-related concern is the proliferation of arbitration agreements with class-action waivers in supply agreements. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our U.S economy. Nearly a full 50 percent of our workforce comes from these often family-owned entrepreneurial businesses who are working harder than ever to provide for their families. Unfortunately, the battle of interests between Wall Street and the so called “Main Street” has come out in favor of the former with the now judicially approved practice of including these provisions in supply contracts. This increasingly leaves small businesses without any legal recourse when they are the victims of anticompetitive conduct. And we know from history, that some corporations will be incentivized to violate our federal antitrust laws without any effective deterrents. I tend to take the long view and am optimistic that the system will right itself eventually, but I fear it will not happen until there are some fairly significant repercussions in our economy.

What is the best leadership advice you provided, or received, and why do you think it was effective? Hire people who challenge your views—and thank them for it at every opportunity. The heart of that advice captures my two guiding lodestars in the profession: diversity and gratitude.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you started out in the legal profession? The legal profession can be very competitive and it is easy to look at others from afar and assume that somehow they are smarter or more capable than you. I wish I had known back then that all of the ways in which I had started out as an imperfect person would actually enable me to become a better lawyer.

What is the most valuable career advice anyone has ever given you? Don't be afraid to fail. Fear is a very powerful force as a lawyer that can cut both ways. While fear can be motivating, it can also prevent lawyers from taking a chance to try out a new legal theory or tackle a riskier case. You can't really be an innovator without trying something new and failing every now and then. I like to remind my three sons that even Hall of Fame hitters fail two-thirds of the time, so I have to practice what I preach.