The Business Side Of Law: Sarah Santos Of Davis + Santos On 5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm

An Interview With Eric Pines

Always do right by your clients and ensure that the common and primary goal of everyone at the firm is, first and foremost to serve our clients with excellence.

Law school primarily prepares lawyers for the practice of law. But leading or starting a law firm requires so much more than that. It requires the entrepreneurial skills that any CEO would need to run a business; How to manage personnel, how to hire and fire, how to generate leads, how to advertise, how to manage finances, etc. On the business side of law, what does an attorney need to know to create a successful and thriving law practice? To address these questions, we are talking to successful law firm principals who can share stories and insights from their experience about the “5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm”.

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Santos.

Sarah Santos is the co-founder and managing partner of Davis & Santos. Sarah primarily focuses her legal practice on banking and commercial litigation. A native Spanish speaker, Sarah regularly represents clients and is a trusted advisor in cross-border matters involving parties and assets in Mexico.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are? Specifically we’d love to hear the story of how you began to lead your practice.

My parents are from Mexico, and they moved to Laredo, Texas, where I grew up, shortly before I was born. They did this all in the name of giving us a better life and recognizing the value the U.S. places on education and hard work. I am the youngest of four siblings and from an early age, my father always ingrained in us “mas vale ser cabeza de raton, que cola de leon,” which means that it is preferable to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion. To me, this saying was not about whether I would engage in small or large ventures, but rather that I should always strive to be a leader wherever I found myself. Because of my upbringing, one of the values I hold highest is leading by example — in how we serve our clients with the utmost integrity, how we conduct ourselves in our profession, and most importantly, how we treat our team members.

I’m a huge fan of mentorship throughout one’s career. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Who has been your biggest mentor? What was the most valuable lesson you learned from them?

Although my father and my mother grew up in a culture of “machismo,” they raised my two sisters and me to be strong, confident and independent women. They instilled in us from an early age that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, and looking back, I know that learning that form of encouragement early on was simply invaluable. I would be remiss if I did not include my sisters as mentors: one is a federal judge, and the other is a doctor specializing in both OG/GYN and anesthesiology. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had such strong, confident women in my life who opened roads and paved the way for other Hispanic women and me. I consider it my duty to help others in this same manner.

From completing your degree to opening a practice and becoming a business owner, your path was most likely challenging. Can you share a story about one of your greatest struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?

After I graduated from law school, I first worked at a large national firm, followed by a regional firm, and then a large international bank. Each job had its own challenges and struggles, but I learned that if you always give 100% and strive for excellence in everything you do, success tends to follow. When I was asked by my partner if I wanted to open a firm, I was terrified at the uncertainties of being a business owner — from not knowing whether we would make enough money to cover expenses to whether I would get a paycheck or not.

I often recount the story of my partner’s explanation to my questions. We were seated at a restaurant in Laredo, Texas when he grabbed a napkin and a pen. In one column, he began to write down anticipated expenses of running a firm and in another, the money we could expect to earn from the hours worked. He subtracted the expenses from the revenue, and somehow, the simplicity of it all made sense. I still question why I trusted the napkin calculations over my own reasoning, but I can now tell you now that it was the best decision I could have ever made.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?

My favorite quote is “work hard, play hard.” I think this embodies how we work and the overall vision we have for the firm. We are not micromanagers and expect that everyone is professional and will always work hard to accomplish our primary goal, servicing our clients. Even if that means working late and on weekends, we do what needs to be done. In fact, the greatest compliment I received from a client is being told that I treat them like they are my only client! Additionally, when I am not working, I take time to enjoy the things that I love to do, like spending time with my family and traveling. Because I work so hard and have created such a strong team, I know I can “unplug” when needed to revel in what I have accomplished and know the firm is in good hands.

This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?

Litigation is definitely not for everyone, as it is filled with challenges, unexpected twist and turns, and never ending fire drills. Complex litigation often has many moving parts, and it is up to attorneys like myself to make sense of it all. We digest volumes of information into a comprehensible story, create arguments and zealously advocate for our clients within the confines of the law. I find that these challenges motivate me. Through the years, I’ve learned that it is in challenging situations and adversities that I find the most meaningful fulfillment and growth as a professional.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Some of my most exciting cases have involved helping clients who are victims of fraud and embezzlement schemes. This is an area that continues to grow and causes severe hardships for the victims. I have represented banks, companies and individuals who were the victims of financial fraud, employee embezzlements, and fiduciary misconduct. My background in economics and banking has helped me navigate through complex schemes and to represent my clients in these types of cases. I love the challenges that come with tracing the money and identifying the type and scope of the fraud schemes.

Fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing the business of law. Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?

Our firm has very unique characteristics. My colleagues all come from diverse backgrounds. Some of us come from large firms, some from the Department of Justice, and most have clerked with federal judges and/or state appellate judges. We provide the type and quality of work that you would generally see at a large firm, yet we are able to customize our representation and fee structures to meet our individual client’s needs. Interestingly, many of our clients are referred to us by other lawyers who recognize the quality of the work we provide.

You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The three character traits that I believe have been most instrumental to my success and the success of our firm are work ethic, creativity, and perseverance. At the outset, when we evaluate cases, we counsel our clients on the strength or weaknesses of their case. Unless I know I have a good-faith basis for making a legal argument, I will not make it even if a client wants us to do so. I have turned away cases and clients following this principle, which I consider to be attributed to a strong work ethic. While you would think clients would be frustrated with this, I have found that clients trust me all the more, knowing that this is how I operate.

This leads to the second trait — creativity — because laws do change over time, and if there is an avenue to make a good-faith argument on a claim or defense, then you can be sure that we work hard to find the support to advocate our client’s position as best we can.

Finally, with perseverance, all I can say is that litigation is often a very long process, and you can’t give up along the way. Many times, this includes not only getting through a trial, but also through appeals until you finally succeed.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

From my personal experience and the experiences I have had hiring and working with many lawyers, there is no “bright-line” rule. Attending a top-tier school does not guarantee success, but it can open doors for you. What does guarantee you success is hard work and effort.

Managing being a law practitioner and a business owner is a constant balancing act. How do you manage both roles?

Law school doesn’t really teach you to be a lawyer and it certainly doesn’t teach you to be a business owner. I have had great mentors throughout my career who taught me how to practice law, how to treat and manage clients, and how to comport oneself in court and with opposing counsel. When I decided to open this firm with my partner, I learned a lot from him as to how to manage the business side of the practice. I was the managing partner for the first five years of the firm and have always remained involved in running operations. Managing both is not always easy, as one can divert time from the other, but it is something that you simply must do. What has helped me manage both is having the right team in place, from my partners to our staff. We take time to ensure that anyone who joins our firm shares in the vision, as it always makes the operation of the business smoother and more enjoyable.

Can you help articulate the entrepreneurial skills a lawyer needs to run and lead a successful law firm?

Running a law firm is certainly an entrepreneurial venture. In my opinion, some of the entrepreneurial skills that are key to running a law firm include the ability to think strategically, to be forward-looking and to unite people to work as a team. Of course, you also need to have some risk tolerance to weather any ebbs and flows of business, stay focused on how to solve any business issues and continue moving forward.

As a business owner you spend most of your time working IN your practice, seeing clients. When and how do you shift to working ON your practice? (Marketing, upgrading systems, growing your practice, etc.) How much time do you spend on the business elements?

From the day we started the firm, we have worked hard and grown our practice through repeat clients and many referrals from other clients and attorneys who have seen our work. Through the years, we have also been involved in various legal associations and groups, which helped us develop a significant network of contacts. As we have brought on board more attorneys, we have also made more united and concerted efforts to market our firm outside of our personal networks. We have a fantastic team of attorneys, and I have to say that it is very easy to promote them with the qualifications they have and bring to the table. My partners and I share this role and the distribution of time amongst us allows us to work on marketing while also managing our active docket.

Can you share some specific, non-intuitive insights from our personal experience about how a leader of a law firm should:

• Manage personnel: Treat everyone with respect and lead by example. I often tell people that I hire that while we have different roles to help us create efficiencies, there is nothing I will ever ask anyone to do that I am not willing to do myself.
• Hire and fire: Take time to do both. The right team is key to a successful practice.
• Generate leads: We often joke that every time my co-founding partner is in court, he’ll pick up two to three cases from people who saw him in action. Working hard, being prepared, and treating clients right will always lead to more business.
• Advertise: My kids jokingly tell me that my firm will be the best firm once I get a billboard. For the types of cases we handle, the best advertising is probably done through the cases we handle, the clients we represent and the speaking engagements or articles that convey our areas of expertise.
• Manage finances: It is important to be conservative and to set priorities and goals and stick to them.

Ok, thank you. Here is the main question of our interview about the business side of law. What are your 5 Things An Attorney Needs To Know In Order To Create A Successful And Thriving Law Practice.

1. You will be running a business and not just practicing law. Be sure this is something that you want to do and that you are willing to devote a significant amount of time to.
2. Make sure you have partners that share your vision for the firm and the business and that you can rely on.
3. Invest time and energy into getting the right team in place, from attorneys to paralegals to assistants, to your office managers. They each play a critical role.
4. Be willing to persevere. All businesses encounter setbacks, hurdles and challenges, and you need to learn how to work through them.
5. Always do right by your clients and ensure that the common and primary goal of everyone at the firm is, first and foremost to serve our clients with excellence.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

How can our readers further follow your work online? They can see all the amazing work our firm accomplishes on our website and our LinkedIn page.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!

About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.

While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.

Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.

Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.