McGuireWoods’ Client Service

A Q&A With Chairman Jonathan Harmon

Client service: Many law firms tout it; McGuireWoods breathes it. Every day the firm’s lawyers and business professionals take action to build high-impact relationships, learn about businesses, anticipate challenges, design solutions and, ultimately, deliver for clients.

For almost 200 years it has been the impetus for everything we do and every decision we make. Chairman Jonathan Harmon, a nationally known trial lawyer who represents Fortune 500 companies in bet-the-company litigation across the country, knows the importance of client service as well as anyone.

Q: When we talk about client service, what do you think differentiates McGuireWoods from other global law firms?

Jonathan Harmon: We are one of the few law firms that use an industry-focused framework with great success, to the strategic advantage of clients. Our lawyers use their collective experiences across disciplines to get into the nitty-gritty and customize solutions for each client’s targeted business needs. No cookie-cutter, templated advice given here.

Our industry teams have been established for a long time, and while a lot of firms have since jumped on the industry team bandwagon, few actually make the investments needed to succeed. Not so at McGuireWoods.

Firm leaders truly believe in these industry teams and we have seen great advantages and value for clients. We have spent significant time creating natural synergies with the firm’s practice groups and practice areas, and our industry teams play a vital role, fostering collaboration with colleagues and lasting partnerships with clients. We measure client relationships in decades, not years.

Our industry teams and the strength of these client bonds set McGuireWoods apart in a highly competitive market. Client service is a core value of the firm. We must know businesses’ industry spaces inside out — and we do.

Q. Many law firms talk about value for clients. How do you define it?

JH: Two words: transparency and predictability.

McGuireWoods leads in value-added services that enhance key client relationships. We don’t talk at clients. We partner with them to understand their businesses and goals, efficiently manage their legal needs, and help them build now and in the future.

Financial Times has repeatedly honored McGuireWoods as one of North America’s most innovative law firms. Among other things, we’ve been recognized for automating accurate, timely responses to audit request letters; managing large, complex litigation portfolios under fixed-fee arrangements; and tracking deal points for each transaction completed, leading to greater fee predictability for clients and improved staffing efficiency for the firm.

Our one-of-a kind client program is an integral approach that drives transparency, predictability and maximum value. These dedicated, cross-disciplinary client teams develop and deepen our important relationships. We conduct regular feedback interviews with clients and provide them with an array of value-added services. We hold joint strategy sessions with clients multiple times throughout the year and engage them in the process.

In addition, we developed our own proprietary legal project management program; take original approaches to alternative fee arrangements; and use data analytics to guide strategy and decision-making while enhancing the value we deliver to clients.

“Business as usual” is not in our vocabulary. That’s why McGuireWoods is widely acknowledged as one of the best-run law firms in the Am Law 100.

Q: What does McGuireWoods do to stay out front on innovation?

JH: Given the fast pace of change in the competitive market for high-end corporate legal services, we can’t be reactive and a late adopter; we must stay ahead of the curve to maintain our edge.

Recently, we adopted AI-powered platform Harvey as part of our “responsible innovation” strategy. Spearheaded by McGuireWoods’ Chief Innovation and AI Officer Tom Trujillo, a former in-house lawyer with some of the world’s largest banks and automakers, the firm’s AI strategy ensures tailored solutions that enhance productivity and efficiency across different practice areas and adds value for clients.

Interestingly, when it comes to innovation some may automatically think of the latest high-tech gadget or software, but innovation takes many forms. One example of a low-tech, client-focused innovation is our Trial Team Roundtables, also lauded by Financial Times. We know that successful trial outcomes arise from experience and instinct, so we gather a group of our most accomplished trial lawyers from different practice backgrounds and join clients for a focused day of brainstorming, issue spotting and theme development. Clients like the interactive experience and come away with effective strategies they may not have otherwise considered.

We go above and beyond, taking a multifaceted view of clients’ issues. This includes, for example, providing insightful strategies focused on people, processes and technology to examine and refine workflows and functions of their legal department, helping it become more efficient, agile and aligned with their business. The end result is not just process improvement, but an enhancement of the entire legal operations function and the opportunity for improved bottom-line performance.

McGuireWoods helped a client’s legal department conduct audits of existing legal technology to identify tech gaps and duplicative systems; worked with a large financial institution to align its strategy with that of the entire legal department; assisted a client with outside counsel consolidation; designed a review process to assess opportunities to consolidate legal department spend; and advised a client on new systems by looking at best practices, data hygiene and workflow automation.

Yet another aspect of our commitment to clients is how we address issues from varied angles by partnering with our affiliate McGuireWoods Consulting. MWC combines unparalleled state and federal government relations skills with top-notch economic development, infrastructure, advocacy and public affairs know-how.

In a recent BTI Consulting survey of corporate counsel, McGuireWoods was named one of the most innovative U.S. law firms. It’s our culture of innovation that shows clients we mean business.

Q: How do McGuireWoods’ results for clients stand out in a crowded marketplace?

JH: Have we helped clients win cases, close deals and manage risks, adding value every step of the way? Yes, yes and yes. Our results tell the story.

We represented leading U.S. financial services institutions in groundbreaking transactions and impactful litigation amid challenges posed by high interest rates and tight capital markets.

Our private equity lawyers advised clients in transformative deals in every major sector of the economy including healthcare, life sciences, energy and technology. And they created the firm’s international Independent Sponsor and Emerging Manager programs, which distinguish McGuireWoods as a preeminent law firm for private investment fund managers.

When clients shaping our energy future confronted challenges for which there is no playbook, they relied on us to resolve novel issues across the corporate, finance and regulatory spectrum — and in the U.S. Supreme Court. We assisted one of the nation’s leading utilities in obtaining approvals for the largest offshore wind project in the United States and the first installed in federal waters. And we persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to block enforcement of a plan to reduce air emissions from electricity generation across 23 states.

When company resources and reputations are at stake, clients look to us to unravel the most complex financial structures, strategic transactions and business relationships.

We secured a massive settlement for DuPont in a historic cross-border case involving trade secrets theft. We played a key role helping Penn State protect its trademarks in a case with wide-ranging implications for intellectual property enforcement. We helped Asarco LLC prevail in a major environmental case, with Atlantic Richfield Co. ordered to pay Asarco $28 million toward the cleanup of a Montana Superfund site. And we won a landmark $500 million judgment against North Korea for the family of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died after being imprisoned and tortured in North Korea. 

McGuireWoods lawyers are known around the world for their skills, fromprivate equity, healthcare and energy to financial institutions, alternative lenders, and high stakes litigation and investigations. Everything I mentioned above ultimately leads to success for clients — goals achieved.

McGuireWoods has been around for almost 200 years. And we plan to continue helping clients for at least 200 more.