Helping young lawyers means more than just cheerleading them on
My leadership philosophy starts with a simple premise: building deep expertise does not happen alone. The area in which I practice – the Investment Company Act of 1940 – is not a body of law you master overnight, or without the guidance of people who have spent years thinking through its complexities. The regulatory framework, which sits at the intersection of securities law, corporate governance, and asset management, has evolved continuously since 1940. Successfully advising clients in an area that often involves novel interpretive questions demands sustained commitment, continuous learning, and the recognition that there are always new issues to understand. That kind of substantive depth is developed in the context of colleagues who mentor you, educate you, challenge you, and hold you to a high standard.
In my experience, expertise is built because someone invested in you first by taking the time to explain and to model what excellence looked like. I was fortunate to have strong mentors and colleagues who did that for me. At all stages of my career, being given the opportunity to work on matters that provided new substantive challenges, supervised by experienced mentors, has guided my professional development. As I’ve progressed as a practitioner and a colleague, I have carried forward that focus in helping others build expertise, whether through “stretch” assignments, honest feedback, or discussions of the “why” and the bigger picture beyond the immediate answer.
That experience has shaped a broader philosophy that expertise is a shared endeavor. You build it through individual commitment, you refine it through collaboration, and you honor it by passing it on. The most important thing I can offer more junior lawyers is an honest account of how I developed my legal expertise – the challenges, the recalibrations, and the moments of clarity that come through experience. Candid mentorship rather than simple cheerleading is what I try to offer to the people with whom I work.
Watching someone I’ve mentored tackle increasing responsibility and master new areas of our practice is one of the most satisfying aspects of my career. That, more than any award or recognition, is the leadership contribution I care most about.
