In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, FirstService Residential general counsel LaToyia Pierce Frink discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
The Texas Lawbook: Have you had any life-impacting events in your personal life or your career?
LaToyia Pierce Frink: I have experienced several life-impacting events that have had an impact on my personally and professionally. I took the February bar exam prior to graduating from law school because I wanted to get married in the summer of 2005. I made that decision in the summer of 2004. I took summer classes and spent the 2004 Christmas break and January 2005 studying for the bar exam. I passed and was one of a few people who were licensed at graduation. My license date is 05/05/05. Throughout my career, I have learned that I cannot be a superstar in every role I play because there are not enough hours in a day. Having kids has impacted me personally, as you can imagine. I have learned that life is full of different seasons. Each season brings its own challenges and opportunities and with each season comes a priority shift personally or professionally or both.
Lawbook: What has been your best day as GC?
Pierce Frink: I think that I have had several “best” days. My best days are when my team works together to tackle a difficult issue or to provide strategic ideas on a case. Watching them come together as a single department this year to handle legal issues throughout the company has led to my best days as a GC. Thinking about the evolution of our legal department, from having only regional legal departments, to coming together under a national structure and watching the regional groups collaborate and rely on each other has made me very proud of what we have accomplished and excited to see what is to come.
Lawbook: What do you look for in hiring outside counsel?
Pierce Frink: In hiring outside counsel, I look for expertise in the area that I need representation. I look for counsel who I have developed a relationship with or who have been recommended by my peers. Besides expertise and relationship, I look for highly communicative and responsive counsel because I need to make sure I am informed of all case events.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about working with you?
Pierce Frink: I welcome collaboration. I want to be involved in the decision-making process. I practiced litigation with a law firm for over 10 years, so I know and understand the process. I want to be involved in strategy and determining the best direction for our cases.
Lawbook: What pro bono or public service efforts are you involved in that you can discuss?
Pierce Frink: I am an advisory board member for the National Basketball Association Retired Players North Texas Chapter. The NBA Retired Players North Texas Chapter is comprised of former NBA and WNBA players. As an advisory board member, we assist the chapter in raising money and providing services to children in underprivileged communities. I am involved in the NEW Roundtable. NEW stands for Network of Empowered Women. It is a nonprofit organization comprised of close to 100 Black women in-house and outside counsel attorneys in Dallas. The NEW Roundtable was founded in 2014 to drive the inclusion and advancement of Black women attorneys through targeted relationship building, professional development initiatives and mentoring. I was on the board of directors for 6 years and am currently involved in a few committees. I am also involved with the Diverse Attorney Pipeline Program’s Job Placement Program by interviewing diverse female 1L law students for summer internships for the last 7 years. The objective of the program is to connect law firms and corporations with talented, client-ready women of color who have excelled during their first year of law school.
Lawbook: Regarding DEI, where do most law firms drop the ball? Why are law firm diversity numbers struggling to improve?
Pierce Frink: I think that most firms drop the ball on DEI is in inclusion part of their programs. They think just hiring diverse associates is enough. They fail to include those diverse associates on important cases to provide them with the experience they need to excel. The fail to include them in meaningful work assignments. They fail to include them in the business development opportunities. I believe that the failure to include their diverse associates has led to diverse associates failing to stay at those firms or even in the legal profession.
Lawbook: What is the role of GCs in seeking the solution to better diversity and inclusion?
Pierce Frink: When it comes to DE&I efforts, general counsels should demand that the team representing the company be diverse. They can also review the legal bills to determine if diverse counsel is doing meaningful work on the file. General counsels can request that those diverse associates are brought to business development meetings with their company. I am a firm believer that diverse backgrounds lead to diverse thought and better outcomes.
Click here to read the Lawbook profile of LaToyia Pierce Frink.