Change management demands a leader who values continuous learning and team building. It often starts with empathy and an ability to listen to others to quickly ascertain how best to use a person’s skill set to accomplish team goals. It’s like being a point guard or a quarterback; you need to stress collaboration and see the big picture while also knowing exactly when to deliver the ball for a teammate to use their skills to accomplish the larger organizational goal as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Upon becoming the vice president of legal affairs and general counsel at FirstService Residential Inc., LaToyia Pierce Frink set out to convince executives at the national property management company that she could transform six regional offices into one team, consolidating a legal ethos and streamline the company’s legal strategies.
“I had consistent meetings with the executives to show them the benefits of having an attorney manage the other attorneys in the company. I informed them of the benefits of direct-line reporting for the attorneys, which would lead to an overall legal philosophy of how to handle cases,” Pierce Frink said. “I explained that insurance companies look at our company as one company and not several different ones and that having a national head of legal would eventually have a positive impact on our insurance premiums and deductibles.”
Amy Stewart, Partner of the Stewart Law Group, said Pierce Frink created a structure to allow regional attorneys to collaborate on complex cases, which has led to more efficient case management and cost reductions.
“She has streamlined the company’s approach to litigation by implementing a management plan that emphasizes early escalation procedures and consistent communication channels, fostering cross-regional collaboration,” said Stewart, who was one of three lawyers who nominated Pierce Frink for the award.
“A core focus of her work has been to unify the legal department, transforming it from a collection of regional offices into a cohesive team with a shared legal philosophy,” Stewart said. “Through this change, she is creating a supportive environment where attorneys are encouraged to leverage each other’s expertise. This unified approach enhances consistency across regions, positively impacting insurance premiums by presenting a clear and consolidated legal strategy.”
Stewart added that Pierce Frink has further improved communication within FirstService Residential by launching a quarterly newsletter to inform managers about cross-regional legal issues that could impact their work.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook congratulate Pierce Frink for being selected as one of two finalists for the 2024 DFW General Counsel of the Year Award for a Midsize Legal Department, which is six to 20 lawyers.
ACC-DFW and The Lawbook will honor the finalists at the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards ceremony on Jan. 30 at the George W. Bush Institute.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: LaToyia Pierce Frink discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Pierce Frink is a change agent in part because she’s a lifelong learner who sets goals and accomplishes them. She grew up in Iowa with an older sister and two younger brothers. The family moved to Plano when she was a sophomore in high school when her father took a job transfer, and her entire immediate family still lives in North Dallas.
“My dad began working for John Deere right after his college graduation. In fact, the day after he graduated, he left Louisiana and moved to Illinois to work at John Deere’s headquarters. My mom began teaching in Chicago right after her college graduation,” Pierce Frink told The Lawbook. “When my parents got married, they moved to Davenport, Iowa. We moved to Texas because my dad received a job transfer with John Deere, and we left the snow and freezing weather behind, for the most part. My mother continued teaching in Texas and retired after teaching for 30 years. My dad also retired from John Deere.”
Pierce Frink acknowledges her mother’s influence on her career as Mom always told her that she should continue going to school until figuring out what she wanted to do as a career.
“I got the idea about being a lawyer from watching Perry Mason when I was younger,” she said. “I thought it was really cool that he could figure things out. However, as I went through high school, I became interested in chemical engineering. In college, I began taking a lot of science and math classes. I remember being in a math class looking at a problem that did not contain any numbers. There were only symbols. I decided that maybe I was aiming for the wrong profession.”
She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Texas A&M University and got an MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas while working at an actuarial firm balancing 401(k) plans for various companies.
“After receiving my MBA, I landed a job teaching math and coaching high school volleyball and basketball. I played both sports and was, and still am, a sports enthusiast. I loved the coaching part of my job but was not excited about the teaching part,” Pierce Frink said. “After two years and countless conversations with my mom, I decided that it was time for me to revive my earlier dreams of being a lawyer and apply to law school. I applied and got into SMU, and the rest is history.”
Pierce Frink joined FirstService Residential in 2019 — just before the pandemic — with the main task of leading litigation throughout the United States and Canada by partnering with each subsidiary general counsel to assist and direct litigation strategy and resolution.
“When the pandemic hit, I became a virtual executive along with most of the country. However, FirstService Residential is in the service industry, so the majority of our employees were essential service employees,” she said. “Working for a company in an industry with essential employees during the pandemic demanded that I work extremely long hours and expand my skillset. At that time, my role expanded from litigation management to include employment policies and procedures.”
In 2022, Pierce Frink’s role evolved once again to general counsel handling all legal matters affecting the company. Two years later, in March 2024, the “next evolution came” in the reporting structure as each lawyer in the company changed to report directly to her, making her the leader of the consolidated legal department within the company.”
Each of the company’s regional department “operated within a silo and was unaware of the legal challenges facing a similarly situated colleague working in another region,” Pierce Frink said.
“As a result of that system, there was not a cohesive national legal structure wherein the regional roles could be brought together to collaborate and thereby create and maintain a consistent company legal strategy,” she said.
Pierce Frink said that “change management is very difficult and requires patience and communication.” And that led her to push for the structural changes.
“I would be able to evaluate and direct the strategy of all of our cases and that consistency would be attractive to our insurers,” she said. “Fortunately, the executives understood the benefits of being able to utilize attorneys relating to their experience and not just limit them to their regions and agreed. In order to deliver the exceptional service we value, we need to make sure that we are utilizing all of our employee talent in the most efficient way possible.”
“I had to evaluate each lawyer’s strengths and weaknesses and convince our company executives that utilizing these lawyers in other areas throughout the company would not take away from the legal services that each region receives,” she said. “I advocated that the utilization of an attorney who already had experience in a certain area would result in those cases being managed more effectively and efficiently in every part of the country.”
In addition to creating organizational change within her company, Pierce Frink is using her influence to empower the next generation, providing invaluable mentorship and guidance to younger attorneys and professionals alike.
She is an advisory board member for the National Basketball Association Retired Players North Texas Chapter, which is comprised of former NBA and WNBA players. The advisory board member assists in raising money and providing services to children in underprivileged communities.
She was a director of the Network of Empowered Women and the NEW Roundtable for six years and remains active in a few committees. The nonprofit was founded in 2014 and includes about 100 Black women who are in-house and outside counsel attorneys in Dallas. The NEW Roundtable seeks to drive the inclusion and advancement of Black women attorneys through targeted relationship building, professional development initiatives and mentoring.
Pierce Frink is also involved with the Diverse Attorney Pipeline Program’s Job Placement Program by interviewing diverse female students for summer internships. The objective is to connect law firms and corporations with talented, client-ready women of color who have excelled during their first year of law school.
“LaToyia exemplifies exceptional leadership, strategic vision and an unwavering commitment to excellence,” said Chasity Henry, deputy general counsel at Jacobs and the recipient of the 2023 DFW Senior Counsel of the Year Award. “Her career trajectory, marked by consistent professional growth and significant achievements, reflects her deep understanding of the legal landscape and her ability to navigate complex challenges with poise and innovation.”
Henry said Pierce Frink’s philanthropic efforts exemplify a dedication to mentoring and empowering the next generation of leaders.
“Her efforts have helped bridge the gap for women of color in the legal profession, providing them with the resources and opportunities needed to excel in their careers,” Henry said. “Her speaking engagement at the Advanced Litigation Section meeting of the State Bar of Texas and her participation in the Dallas Bar Association’s We Lead Program underscore her influence and thought leadership. She is also a member of the State Bar of Texas appellate section and the ABA litigation section, further demonstrating her dedication to advancing the profession.”
Audra Braden, Collin County deputy member in charge at Clark Hill, said change management requires patience and consistent communication with executives and employees all while demonstrating the benefits of direct-line reporting. Because FirstService Residential works heavily with insurance companies, Braden said that Pierce Frink needed to explain how it would positively impact insurance premiums and deductibles to have a national head of legal because the insurance companies see FirstService as a singular entity rather than multiple regional ones.
“From her general counsel position, LaToyia can now evaluate and direct the strategy of all their cases and the consistency is attractive to insurers. Over the last several years, she turned her company’s fragmented legal department containing silos of regional general counsels throughout the U.S. into a consolidated legal department,” Braden said. “She created a strategy to create a cohesive legal department that could collaborate to efficiently handle cases while working within their own strengths. To bring the legal department together in this manner, she had to convince high-level executives that her vision of a single, collaborative legal department would benefit the company. “
Lowering expenses while increasing cross-departmental collaboration to achieve broader organizational goals is what all leaders strive for. Not all succeed. Pierce Frink does because she puts employees and colleagues in the perfect position at the right time for them to succeed.
“Her quarterly newsletter shares insights on significant legal issues nationwide, providing managers with relevant information to make well-informed decisions,” Stewart said. This communication initiative has enhanced understanding and engagement with legal matters, connecting her team’s work with broader organizational goals. Her journey from managing claims as a Senior Claims Counsel to restructuring the entire in-house legal team as General Counsel exemplifies her drive for continuous improvement and her ability to create meaningful, lasting change.”
Change is hard. Managing organizational change at a company that oversees more than 7,000 properties and 1.5 million residential units across 21 states and three provinces in Canada is beyond hard. It takes a leader who innately understands the need for continuous improvement.
Helen Dozois, who is vice president of performance & risk management at FirstService Residential, said Pierce Frink has earned her position through her commitment, results and professionalism.
“As a leader, LaToyia is a people leader, bringing other up as she proceeds in the company. She promotes team members’ strengths and provides opportunities to individuals to grow in their career,” Dozois said.
Andrea Brin, who is general counsel for FirstService Residential’s South Region, said the transformation and culture change at the company has created a workplace dynamic that is both productive and motivating.
“LaToyia’s strong analytical skills and problem-solving abilities are truly exceptional,” Brin said. “She has a remarkable ability to break down complex legal issues and identify effective solutions that not only address immediate challenges but also mitigate future risks. Her keen insight into our individual skills allows her to delegate tasks strategically, ensuring that each team member contributes in ways that maximize their potential. She leads by example, owning her decisions and outcomes, and expects the same from those she leads.”
BakerHostetler partner Courtney Perez points to Pierce Frink’s experience as a basketball player for her strength in developing a team atmosphere and empowering her colleagues to excel in their individual positions
“LaToyia is a thoughtful and strategic leader because LaToyia is a good listener, which is very rare in a profession where people love to hear themselves talk,” Perez said. “She respects and welcomes everyone’s input, ideas and diverse viewpoints, which helps her gain a fuller understanding of situations and therefore make more informed decisions.”
Mark Curriden contributed to this report.
FUN FACTS: LaToyia Pierce Frink
- Favorite book: I listen to Audible more than read. I don’t really have a favorite book, although I am into biographies lately. The last one I finished was Rainmaker by Hughes Norton. Hughes Norton was Tiger Woods’ agent at IMG.
- Favorite music group: I am a die-hard New Edition fan. I have seen them perform more times than I can count.
- Favorite movie: I don’t really have a favorite movie. I love romantic comedies.
- Favorite restaurant: I love Mexican food.
- Favorite beverage: Alcoholic — a good margarita. Non-Alcoholic — Coke Zero or water
- Favorite vacation: Maldives
- Hero in life: My mother. She has been an example of courage and strength while sharing her wisdom and her patience and unwavering love and support.