Our Core Values

If you are reading this, you have some reason to want to know who we are. Maybe you are considering entrusting us with an important legal matter- maybe you have already done so. Maybe you are a colleague or a referral partner. Maybe you just like reading law firm websites.

Whatever the reason for your interest, you have a right to know who we are, and what values inform our work, our decisions, and our interactions with each other, with clients, and with other professionals.

Why These Core Values

There are some words you won't see in our core values- this is not because we don't believe in them- we do. It is because we believe that things like integrity, loyalty, compassion, professionalism, and respect are baseline. They are what you have a right to expect from any law firm, indeed arguably from anyone.

We also believe that many of those things are behaviors, not necessarily values. We wanted to go a little deeper and identify the values that drive what we do and how we do it. These things together allow us to make the promise on each of these pages that "we've got this."

Generosity

We mean something deeper here than just sharing material things, or giving to charity. We mean that we are looking outside of ourselves, with a constant eye toward where we can be of help and service. We mean that we are thinking outside of ourselves, and viewing those with whom we may have conflict or disagreement through our most generous lens. We strive to give something of value in every interaction, even if the best we can do under the circumstances is a friendly smile or a kind word.

Optimism

Optimism is not a belief that everything will turn out exactly as we hope. It is also not just seeing the glass as "half full." Optimism is the belief that we can make the most of what is available, a choice to focus our attention and resources on the things that we can use to solve a problem, and a little bit of faith that continuing to do the right things for the right reasons will lead to the right results.

Persistence

Optimism without persistence is just hope. We get knocked down a lot, just like everybody else. We usually don't want to keep doing the same thing that got us knocked down over and over again- after all, people say that is the definition of insanity. But we do have to get back up, ask the right questions, and keep going. This is true for our work for our clients, as well as for the internal challenges we may face as a team.

Curiosity

Curiosity is so many things here. It is what makes persistence something more powerful than stubborn resolve- think, ask, wonder, find a different way out...But it is also key to how we strive to interact with everyone, from clients to opposing counsel to one another. Genuine curiosity about where somebody is coming from, why they believe what they do, what is motivating what they are saying or doing, and what information they want or need to share with you, is a critical ingredient to empathy and compassion.