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Jeny Maier
What is the best way for law firms to retain and recruit attorney talent? Perhaps the key is to show lawyers through diversity, equity, and inclusion programming that they are truly valued for who they are, no matter their gender, race, ethnicity, or orientation. A law firm with a welcoming culture can achieve these things and more — and it can become a launching pad to turn your firm into a “destination” for attorney talent. Isn’t it about time for your law firm to start?
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jeny Maier, who was recently named managing partner of Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider, the biggest antitrust boutique firm in the country, to get her thoughts on the matter. Here is a write-up of our lively conversation on the importance of inclusive culture and diversity within the legal profession.
Staci Zaretsky (SZ): Congratulations on your promotion to managing partner! It must be very exciting to be at the top of your game in antitrust, which is such a male-dominated practice area. How does it feel?
Jeny Maier (JM): It feels great. And yes, the fact that I am a woman occupying roles historically held primarily by men makes this a special moment for me and, I hope, others. I am honored to be the first female managing partner at Axinn, and I appreciate the importance of serving as that groundbreaker.
Of course, as you note, any woman in antitrust (among other areas of law and life) has worked in an industry with a gender imbalance. However, that has changed notably over my 20-year career. Axinn, in particular, has been a wonderful environment in which to practice as a woman partner. There’s an impressive group of women leaders in the Axinn antitrust practice — including Rachel Adcox, Lisl Dunlop, Leslie Overton, Denise Plunkett, and Tiffany Rider — who find it invigorating to work together. The company and friendship within that group is as valuable as the very real business development opportunities that we regularly share with each other.
Likewise, the number of female law firm leaders is growing, too. Certainly, there are materially more today than when I was coming up as a lawyer. I look forward to collaborating with them and learning from them. For my own part, I hope to show other women lawyers that you can be a leader while still serving your clients, having a family and life outside the office, and remaining true to your character.
SZ: I know that you are working hard to achieve Mansfield certification for the firm. (Mansfield Certification is a science-backed and data-driven solution designed to help boost inclusivity, access, and diversity in leadership at law firms and legal departments.) Could you please tell me a little more about that?
JM: We’re very actively working along our path toward Mansfield certification. I’ve been the partner champion of that effort for a few reasons. Mansfield certification of course communicates to the market that a firm places a priority on diversity, equity, and inclusion. That’s an important function — we want our values known by clients, prospective hires, and others. But the effort that goes into the Mansfield certification process doesn’t just go toward getting a badge. The process focuses the firm on living out those values. It requires us to adopt best practices to help ensure that, when it comes to C-suite or leadership roles, pitches, promotions, and open lawyer positions, we are inclusively giving consideration to candidates who merit it, and not overlooking talent.
These are all things we want to be doing for their own sake. The Mansfield certification process is a tool that concentrates our attention on making process improvements internally, while also allowing us to validate them externally.
SZ: In what other ways are you trying to diversify your firm for the better?
JM: I am not saying anything revelatory, but I agree with others who have made the point that making progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion requires law firms to remain conscious of and intentional about those goals in everything they do, from summer associate programs to billing practices. We’re taking a variety of specific actions, both big and small. One example is that we offer up to 50 hours of billable credit for participation in DEI-related initiatives. We also recently launched a number of employee resource groups, which are open to both attorneys and staff, and to members of underrepresented groups and allies.
There’s yet another avenue to supporting DEI at law firms that perhaps is overlooked, and which Axinn is particularly strong on: investing in our associates, since they are the future of the firm. We eagerly support our associates in pursuing speaking opportunities, writing opportunities, conference attendance, bar association activities, and other ways of building their individual profiles within and outside the firm, and expanding their professional networks. At a higher level, we are going to be focusing on defining our firm culture and brand in a way that underscores our commitment to DEI.
We are proud of the progress our firm has already made. Approximately 43% of our associates are from underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups and/or are LGBTQ+. More than 65% of our associates are from such underrepresented groups and/or are women. Approximately 16% of our partners are from racially or ethnically underrepresented groups. But we’re far from content with that status quo, and understand that supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion is a project with no stopping point.
SZ: In a recent interview, you said that you wanted to continue to build on the firm’s brand, and that you wanted to make Axinn a “destination” for talent. How do you plan on doing that?
JM: In a lot of ways, we want to keep doing what we’re doing — but do a better job of telling people about it.
Axinn is an incredible place to start and grow your career. Exhibit A for that statement goes back to what I said earlier about our willingness to invest in our associates. At Axinn, associates are truly encouraged to engage in business development and marketing activities from their early years, and are well supported in doing so. In addition, we are making it easier for our lawyers (associates and partners alike) to show that they are thought leaders in their field. We have invested in improving our marketing technologies to more effectively enable our lawyers to create relevant and valuable content for our clients to consume. We have no invisible associates — we want them out there, in front of clients on our matters, in front of prospective clients at conferences and bar association events, speaking, writing, and showing the world how impressive they are.
Because we invest so much so early in our associates, we are focused on developing their talent and retaining them. That belief in organic growth is not going to change at Axinn. We will certainly look to make strategic hires of experienced lawyers to fill client needs, but we have had too much success with our approach to abandon it. And frankly, today it distinguishes us from the majority of firms that rely on lateral hiring to fuel their growth.
If we have one, our biggest failing on this front is that we’re still one of the profession’s best-kept secrets. Consider this interview one step toward changing that.
On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, we’d like to thank Jeny Maier of Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider for taking the time to help answer some pressing questions on how law firms can diversify themselves for the better, and in the process become highly desired places to work.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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