Courtesy photo

Noreen Kelly, Partner, McGuireWoods

Q: What are some of your proudest recent achievements?

A: My proudest achievement is having raised two successful, happy and independent children while maintaining a vibrant practice. Second to that, I am proud and honored to have led McGuireWoods' New York office at a time of remarkable growth in various practice groups, including real estate finance, insolvency, broker-dealer litigation and enforcement and M&A, as well as its design and move to a new space more fitting of our place in the market.

Q: What does it mean to be a leader?

A: Whether it is leading a team of lawyers or the office, I think that to be effective, you have to act consistent with the notion that you are simply a vessel for the success of the team as a whole. That means designing and driving a strategy that is not simply self-promotional, but that takes into account the needs, strengths and weaknesses of all of the team's members. You also have to be attentive to feedback, own your own failings, as well as the team's, to clients, courts, etc., and be endlessly positive. The infectiousness of a leader's toxicity and/or positivity cannot be underestimated.

Q: Name a lawyer whose leadership inspired you.

A: I have been fortunate to have had many mentors and distinguished colleagues who inspired me throughout my career. My former partners, David Brodsky and Alexandra Shapiro, stand out for me. I worked with Alexandra and David in my formative professional years as an associate and young partner. They demonstrated for me how to build inclusive, high-functioning, and happy teams, as well as how lawyers can maintain a high-caliber legal career, and yet stay focused on their families and personal lives. Watching them thread that needle inspired my own confidence that I could be a successful big firm partner and mother.

Q: How are the business and profession of law changing, and how should lawyers adapt for the future?

A: The legal market has changed dramatically since I graduated from law school. The impact of the contraction of the market in response to the credit crisis of 2008 has been lasting. Law firms and clients learned how to do more with less. As a result, law firms and in house legal departments had to learn to be leaner and more efficient. Successful lawyers and law firms are those that can be creative in delivering legal services efficiently and with a focus on budgets or alternative fee arrangements. They also conceive of creative ways to add value to make clients “sticky,” including by becoming experts in the client's industry and business lines and offering nonlawyer value in the form of data analysts.

Q: What is the best advice for someone considering a career in law, or someone already in the profession seeking to make a great impact?

A: At my law school graduation, Marty Lipton told us to “do good and you will do well.” I have thought of that mantra many times and can vouch for its wisdom.