Dallas firm Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal will see a new generation of leadership with the recent election of Monica Latin as the firm’s next managing partner.
Latin, a commercial litigator, will be Carrington Coleman’s first female managing partner in the firm’s almost 50-year history. Latin will assume her position May 1, 2020.
She will succeed Bruce Collins, who has been Carrington Coleman’s managing partner since 2013. She praised the firm’s strategic planning approach under Collins’ leadership, since he announced one year in advance when he would step down, which allows time for the firm to assess leaders in an “open and transparent” way. This method is believed to be somewhat unique amongs law firms.
“The fact that Bruce decided he was going to end his tenure in 2020… in advance gave the firm the opportunity to think about its future and plan for it,” Latin said. “We could have just waited a year, but the idea of doing this now is really terrific because it allows him to serve as a mentor over the next year and allows the firm to plan for that transition. I am really grateful for his foresight and support of that idea.”
Latin has practiced at Carrington Coleman for her entire legal career and has been mentored by many other high-powered female (and male) attorneys. Her first supervising partner was Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn of the Northern District of Texas, who was Carrington Coleman’s first female lawyer. In fact, the first case Latin tried was with Lynn in the very courtroom Lynn now calls her own as a federal judge.
“Our firm has really always been gender-blind,” Latin said. “There’s no implicit bias; it really is an equal opportunity environment that’s allowed so many women over the years to flourish.”
Today, Latin serves as the chair of the firm’s business litigation practice and is also a member of the firm’s executive committee. She’s called corporate household names including Honeywell and Royal Bank of Canada as clients.
Her practice, which involves cases at the trial or appellate level, has spanned across areas including business ownership disputes, construction and real estate, data privacy and cybersecurity, employment disputes, fiduciary duty, insurance coverage, noncompete and trade secrets, partnership and LLC disputes, professional liability and unfair competition/antitrust. About one-third of her practice consists of arbitration.
Asked what she looks most forward to achieving during her upcoming tenure as managing partner, she said she’s excited to carry on Carrington Coleman’s unique culture into the next generation of firm leadership.
“Our firm is a special place to practice law,” she said her firm, which was co-founded by legendary trial lawyer Jim Coleman. “It’s always been a little bit different and a real partnership of people who genuinely enjoy practicing law together with the highest standards. I think that’s the glue that holds our firm together – that mutual respect and dedication to what we do.”