Even as the novel coronavirus has caused businesses across all industries to adapt and adjust, some Big Law firms are moving forward with C-suite changes and investments.

Among them is New Jersey-based Lowenstein Sandler, which has hired J. Danielle Carr as its new director of diversity and inclusion, while also bringing on veteran legal recruiter Kerry Lunz as its new director of legal talent acquisition.

Carr, whose official title is director of diversity, equity and inclusion, has been running her own business as a law firm recruiting specialist since October. She was previously the director of inclusion at Kansas City-based Polsinelli and director of professional development and inclusion at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale in St. Louis.

"I started looking for a position last year, and wanted to join a firm where administrative staff were an integral part of the law firm team," Carr said in an interview.

Carr said she has been doing diversity and inclusion work for close to 20 years, and has lived through the changes that firms made to diversity and inclusion programs during the Great Recession.

"One of the first things firms did was trim back their D&I programs," Carr said. "I think that is the biggest mistake you can make. You need to double down on your efforts. If you scale back disproportionately, the long-range effects that can have are big. It takes a long time to rebound from that."

Carr said she received a call from the firm as she was relocating to New Jersey from St. Louis and the effects of the virus were becoming apparent. Afraid the firm was calling to either put the position on hold or delay her start, she was pleased that it was simply a call to reaffirm her and asking her what sort of support she wanted.

"That level of commitment made me feel comfortable," she said.

She said that while meeting everyone via video happy hours and virtual trivia has been nice, she is looking forward to meeting them in person once offices reopen.

"People are really making an effort to make sure we stay connected," she said.

Lunz, Lowenstein's new director of legal talent acquisition, said she wasn't looking to make a move from her position as director of lateral partner recruitment and integration at Pepper Hamilton. But she happened to start getting calls from recruiters once it became public that Pepper was planning a merger with Troutman Sanders.

"I got a call regarding Lowenstein, and for the same reasons as Danielle, it was of interest," Lunz said. "Being an integral part of the team and to work not just on attorney hiring but staff as well."

Lunz recognized that COVID-19 has an effect on her new role. Still, she said, "We continue to recruit at the partner and associate levels. Always evaluating and evolving."

Lunz said the firm isn't "down the road" with any current laterals to the point where an in-person meeting would be quashed by current restrictions, but it is on her mind as the firm continues to move forward with recruiting.

"We are still going through the recruiting processes," Lunz said. "But the focus right now is going to be on integration."

Prior to her time at Pepper Hamilton, Lunz held recruiting positions at Blank Rome, O'Melvney & Myers and Holland & Knight.

Fried Frank's New COO

In another move, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson hired former longtime White & Case COO and Norton Rose Fulbright CFO Victor Nuñez as its next chief operating officer.

Nuñez, who spent almost 15 years at White & Case before joining Norton Rose in 2018, will be working out of Fried Frank's New York office, once it opens back up. Both Carr and Lunz will work out of Lowenstein's New Jersey headquarters.

Nuñez, who had only been at Norton Rose for about two years, said the opportunity to get back into a more operational role was key for him in making the move to Fried Frank.

"I sort of grew up at White & Case," said Nuñez, who spent his last seven-plus years at the firm as its COO. "I still pined for the operational aspects and being involved in the core business functions."

Meanwhile, Fried Frank "was coming through a couple of years with a lot of success and very quickly it validated that this was a great opportunity for me," he said.

Nuñez has over 20 years of experience in professional services at law firms and financial services organizations. He will oversee the a leadership team that includes the firm's CMO, CFO, CIO and chief human resources officer.

He said many of the initiatives he would normally push forward when starting a new position have been "put on pause to some degree" because of COVID-19, and that right now his core focus is making sure that people at the firm are "happy and healthy."

"I think we are in the same boat with a lot of firms," Nuñez said. "No one has a crystal ball, but we are fortunate we are in a good financial position to date."

Nuñez said his initial task will be evaluating plans for future growth, examining business elements of the technology the firm uses, its financial systems and marketing and business development arms to make sure the firm is properly positioned once business returns to some semblance of normal.

Like many firms, Nuñez said Fried Frank is taking a hard look at its physical footprint as well, a process that was in motion before the pandemic came to the U.S., but which has taken on new life now that most firms are working remotely.

"That is something that had begun even prior to this pandemic," Nuñez said. "We are going to have to have a fresh perspective on what the firm's face looks like in the future. If anything, I am an optimist and always try to see an opportunity, even in crisis."

Norton Rose and Pepper Hamilton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.