Name: Rachel J. Adcox

Category: Law Firm: Women's Legal Awards

Firm/Company: Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider

Title: Partner

Time in Position: Since 2014

What was your route to the top? 

I am a second-career ­lawyer, having spent a number of years as a city planner before deciding to study law. After graduating law school, I clerked for a year, spent two years as an honors attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and then began my tenure at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider as an antitrust specialist.

After four years as an associate at Axinn, I was promoted to partner, and in 2018 I became the first woman to serve on the firm's executive committee. My practice at Axinn focuses on leading clients through the defense of complex consolidated class action lawsuits and regulatory investigations by civil and criminal enforcement agencies.

As a young and growing firm, Axinn was the perfect platform for me not only to build my legal skills and personal practice, but to take a meaningful role in the growth and strategic direction of the firm. It has been particularly gratifying to see Axinn become a place where so many accomplished and motivated women have come to fulfill their own professional goals and forge new paths for others to follow.

What keeps you up at night?

I am always concerned with making sure that everybody at Axinn has the resources and support that they need to be successful. It is the foundation for everything that we try to do as a law firm, and everything that we are able to do for our clients.

What is the best leadership advice you've given or received, and why do you think it was effective?

When your team shines, you shine. Nobody is ever diminished by highlighting the good work of others and unreservedly giving credit where it is due.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you started out in the legal profession?

The practice of law is not an individual pursuit; your success is ultimately determined by your ability to build and nurture productive teams.

What is the most valuable career advice anyone has ever given you?

Twenty years ago, I met a 90-year-old Red Cross volunteer who introduced herself as "Dorothy from Kansas." Among her many other life accomplishments, Dorothy had raised three children alone in the 1950s after leaving an abusive marriage. One day, we were discussing my day job, and I was feeling defeated by some difficulty that I was having with a supervisor. Dorothy got very angry with me and said, "Never, EVER, let a man run you off of a job."

While I suspect that Dorothy meant those words literally, I use them more generally to remind myself that no matter how difficult a professional situation is, I am in the room for a reason, and I cannot leave it until I have done what I went there to do.