Eyes on the Horizon: Litigators Serving as Managing Partners Discuss Managing Change in the Industry
The best litigators are part storyteller and part cat-herder.
They know how to put abstract ideas into human, narrative terms. They also know how to tackle complex challenges on tight deadlines. They do all that while navigating (and nudging) the varying personalities they encounter.
That sounds like somebody cut out for law firm leadership!
The “How I Made It” series that my colleagues at Law.com put together featured the insights of three litigators who held firmwide management positions at their firms over the past year: Anthony “Tony” Froio, the chair of the executive board and managing partner of litigation powerhouse Robins Kaplan; Laurie Carr Mims, the managing partner of San Francisco litigation firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters; and Jaime Drozd, the firmwide managing partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, where litigation is the highest revenue-generating practice. All three shared their thoughts about what it takes to be an effective law firm leader. They also provided some informed perspectives on where the legal market is going and the steps they’re taking to position their firms for future success.
Let’s start with Froio, who is based in Boston and has been with Robins Kaplan for more than 30 years. He was elected chair of the executive board and managing partner of Robins Kaplan last year. He said that he strives to find the right balance between his responsibilities as chair of the executive and managing partner. “Delegating tasks has been a key part of that balancing act, while providing meaningful feedback and direction to our team,” he said.
Froio said that he would advise anyone interested in a position in firm leadership “to learn to listen and listen carefully.” He said that it’s important for leaders to understand their firm's history, culture and trajectory. They also need a solid understanding of law firm economics, he said.
“Respect the past and make careful but decisive change to improve all aspects of your firm,” he said. “And lastly, learn to be both comfortable and confident in your decisions, especially when it comes to saying no.”
As to the future, Froio said he expects that competition in the market for legal services will continue to intensify “and the firms best poised for success will be those that carve out their unique identities and business models.” Specifically, he said he anticipates a growing emphasis on case budgeting with clients placing a higher value on cost-effectiveness. “To thrive in this evolving environment, firms will need to prioritize efficiency, strive for optimal results at efficient cost levels and continuously attract clients through distinct value propositions and world-class service and results,” he said.
Keker’s Mims became the first woman to serve as the managing partner at the single-office firm in March 2023. She said that when she joined the firm back in 2005, she wasn’t thinking about one day becoming a partner, let alone a firm leader. “Instead, I focused on the work—learning about new industries, understanding clients' businesses and piecing together facts to craft compelling narratives for judges and juries,” she said.
Those are important skills for a leader at Keker, where managing partners have traditionally maintained a trial practice. With the firm’s growth, Keker has brought on a chief operating officer to help manage day-to-day operations. Mims said part of her focus now is “meeting the needs of the firm’s talented next generation of partners.”
“A decade or so ago, we had three or four people taking lead roles over trials and business generation, and today that number has quadrupled,” she said. “The next five years are going to matter a lot as we professionalize and adapt how we operate.”
That transition, she noted, is occurring while artificial intelligence is changing the way many people work. “For trial firms like Keker, we expect to use the tools for data and document analysis, legal and factual research and, probably, for some of the drafting of routine papers like objections and responses to discovery,” she said. “Client expectations will drive adoption as firms seek a competitive edge with faster turnaround times and data-informed insights.”
However, she said she doesn’t expect that AI will “drastically” change most of the work the firm does. “Our lawyers’ good judgment and experience will continue to have the final say in strategy and decision-making,” she said. “Clients will continue to need our services and ability to deeply understand and explain complex and highly technical arguments.”
Davis Wright Tremaine’s Drozd joined her firm as a lateral partner in 2014. She became firmwide managing partner in 2024 after previously serving as co-chair of the firm’s litigation department. She said that the biggest change to her day-to-day routine has been the amount of time she spends interacting with the firm’s clients and the professionals across the firm who support them. “For example, working with our client experience teams and exploring how we can level up our industry-leading client service even further has been rewarding,” she said. “I’ve also found it really satisfying to do a deep dive into the capabilities the attorneys who lead our industry-focused teams can bring to bear for clients in the healthcare, food and beverage, technology, financial services, energy and entertainment/media sectors.”
She said that anyone interested in firm leadership should first focus on building a practice, a task she says correlates strongly with a focus on client service. “Even when you’re carving out time for leadership-related responsibilities, client service must remain the first priority,” she said. “I found that my client relationships taught me things that are helpful in firm leadership, like relating to a broad-spectrum of people and personalities, problem-solving and how different businesses need different things from their lawyers in given situations.”
