Thomas Froehle to head Faegre Baker Daniels

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It’s been five years since Faegre & Benson became Faegre Baker Daniels, and things are going well, says its new leader, Thomas Froehle.

Froehle embodies the firm’s new look and feel as the chair/managing partner slot shifts from Andrew Humphrey to Froehle, effective March 1, 2017.  His v-card identifies him as working in the FaegreBD Indianapolis office, but since the merger, the firm has followed a “one-firm” approach, he said. The firm doesn’t have a “headquarters” and has leaders in many locations.

There is so much travel that goes with the chair job that scheduling time “at home” is challenging, said Andrew Humphrey, chair/managing partner until March 1. Froehle has an office in Minneapolis and has met many of the local clients, Humphrey said. Froehle knows that it will be important for him to be personally present in Minneapolis, still FaegreBD’s largest, as well as the firms’s 14 other offices, including Beijing, London and Shanghai.  But he also says that there is leadership and talent in all the offices.

Besides, Humphrey points out, he’s not going anywhere on March 1.

“I feel really good about this transition, substantively and in its process,” Humphrey said.  “We’ve done it in a careful and seamless way that’s been good for the firm and the clients.”

The seamless project was a lot of work to integrate the two firms’ systems, people and practices. Having the people integrating well was a priority. To that end, the firm has had an attorney retreat and many other meetings.  It also has had attorneys across the country working together.

“There’s nothing like working together to build trust and collegiality,” Froehle said.

‘One size fits one’

“Seamless” is what the clients want as well, Froehle said. They also want efficiency and collaboration, and for the attorneys to be part of the in-house team.  That’s what will continue to be the focus at FaegreBD, Froehle said.

Of course, all law firms put high-quality work at the top of their priorities, but Froehle says that’s a minimum and the firm will focus on “world-class client service.” The law firm commits to learning what is important to the clients and proceeding based on the client’s point of view. “Our belief is one size fits one,” Froehle said.

That means understanding the business and being part of it, but there’s more.  Clients now want their fees to be certain and predictable at a minimum. “Clients want us to think differently about fees,” Froehle said. That includes a fee based upon the amount in controversy (not necessarily a contingent fee) and possibly an incentive based on results.

Froehle and Humphrey resist the “alternative fee” label, looking at it as fashioning a fee structure compatible to the industry the firm represents.  That’s one reason the firm’s lawyers like to “immerse” themselves in the business.

“If we have a depth of understanding everything clients are facing, we can be more creative and responsive,” Humphrey said.  The firm’s industry focus encourages predictability, he added. “We understand if predictability (of fees) is the most important consideration.”

Another reason the “immersion” method works is that the fee arrangements work best when there is a high level of trust between client and attorney.  “Clients just want us to be fair,” Froehle said.

Keeping in mind that litigation costs range from high to unbelievably high, technology also plays an important part in the client relationship and the fee arrangements. “The days of having lawyers pour over documents are over,” Froehle said.  Some cases and clients will require leaner staffing than attorneys have been used to.

Which leads to the question, what do these changes mean for lawyers’ career prospects?  FaegreBD has a career track that offers mentoring and coaching along with training and skill development, but also recognizes that not all lawyers proceed at the same pace.

Under its “associate career model,” FaegreBD uses a “levels approach” allowing associates to progress through the career model at a flexible pace.  Lawyers are evaluated based on competence levels in critical practice skills, behavioral competencies, consistency and possible flexibility in their approach to career opportunities and advancement, transparent information about what it takes to build a successful practice and reinforcement of core values, including excellence and hard work.  Every associate has an “advisor” who assists in the lawyer’s development.  The firm recognizes that not all lawyers strive for management positions, Froehle said.

The other important component of professional life at FaegreBD is diversity and inclusion, both Humprhey and Froehle say.  Racial diversity is a particular challenge in Minnesota and to FaegreBD, as well as an issue the entire profession struggles with, Humphrey said. FaegreBD has a Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group and full time, professional diversity staff.  It also has forged partnerships with other groups including the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, a national organization of corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners, and Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, of which it is a founding member.   It participates in fellowship and pipeline programs.

It also has a Women’s Forum for Achievement which provides programming to support lawyers in developing their careers, practices and networks and works with a variety of state and national women’s organizations.

Growth and development of the firm and at the firm will never be over, Froehle and Humphrey concur. They know it’s an intensely competitive field for lawyers and that clients’ expectations are high. They also know the needs of their lawyers and staff are changeable. They believe they’ve successfully managed their transition, but know that the profession continues to change.