Leading Questions: Hanson Bridgett’s Kristina Lawson

Lawyers are great at asking questions, but how are they at answering them? Bloomberg Law is talking with lawyers and other legal industry players at the top of their fields to find out what makes them tick, what challenges they face, and how they do what they do.

Kristina Lawson, an entitlement and land use lawyer at Hanson Bridgett, in January became the first female managing partner in the firm’s 63-year history.

“I am at the firm, in part, because it was such a leader when it comes to women lawyers, she says. “We have a tradition, for example, that part-time lawyers can become partners here. Other firms don’t permit that.”

In her entitlement and land-use work, she says she only recently got the initial approval for a development project she worked on for 15 years.

“That’s not unheard of in entitlements in California,” Lawson says, “given the numerous agencies you have to go through to get to ultimately build—and the lengthy environmental review cycles that are mandated by law in California.”

Lawson usually works in the firm’s San Francisco office, but since the pandemic, she’s been spending time in the firm’s Walnut Creek office. She’s well known in the area, given that she was a member of the Walnut Creek city council, which included a stint as the mayor, from 2010 to 2014.

Bloomberg Law spoke to Lawson about how being a public servant has helped inform her law leadership, why community service and pro bono work help attract new clients, and the importance of having a mentor early in a legal career.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Bloomberg Law: How will the firm conduct work post-pandemic? Will there be a return to the office full time?

Kristina Lawson: We had the dynamic workforce initiative, which got underway in 2018 and was initially focused only on our San Francisco office.

We were continuing to grow as a firm, but we wanted to contract in terms of space. So we went to a model where attorneys could work from home 100% of the time.

We had a handful of people at that time who chose not to have a physical location anymore, including my predecessor, Andrew Giacomini. We call it a “hoteling concept,” which means an office is not assigned to a specific lawyer.

We’re doubling down on that, and I expect that across all of our offices, we will allow not only our attorneys, but also our staff, to have the option of working remotely.

Right now we’re not requiring anyone to have to go into the office. But I expect we’ll be opening up this summer and allowing people to work in the office if they’d like to.

BL: You are the first woman to serve as managing partner in the firm’s 63-year history. How have your life experiences shaped how you lead?

KL: I was extraordinarily fortunate to have a very strong mentor who saw my potential as a lawyer from day one.

It can be a difficult industry for a woman to be ambitious in. I’m the mom of three kids. When you think about the time constraints of managing a private practice in a law firm, you really do need a strong mentor and a strong sponsor helping you.

Having that support—someone teaching me early on about what it means to be a lawyer in private practice, what it means to be at a law firm, what this industry really is about—shaped the leader I am today.

My service as an elected official also has shaped how I lead. While I was serving on the city council, I had the opportunity to interact with issues across industry sectors—health care, real estate, land use, and labor and unions. I had this broad array of experiences that gave me a window into the different things we do at Hanson Bridgett. So I bring that to the table as well.

BL: How challenging is it for developers to navigate through California’s ever-toughening environmental protection laws?

KL: It’s unbelievably challenging. For example, in the past couple of weeks I secured an initial approval for a project I’ve been working on for more than 15 years. That’s not unheard of in entitlements in California, given the numerous agencies you have to go through to get to ultimately build—and the lengthy environmental review cycles that are mandated by law in California.

It’s further complicated given the fact that really anyone under California’s landmark environmental legislation, whether it’s a neighbor, a community member, or an organization, can challenge a project, offer comments, and ultimately file litigation. It can create tremendous delay and uncertainty.

Kristina Lawson

Photo courtesy of Hanson Bridgett

BL: What legal question keeps you up at night?

KL: Since I was selected to be the next managing partner of the firm, I’ve transitioned from the discrete legal questions that face my land use and environmental clients to focusing on the needs of our diverse portfolio of clients.

The things that are keeping me up at night are, what challenges are our clients facing in their businesses, sectors and industries? How can we innovate as a firm to serve our clients and address their needs?

BL: I’m a new associate, fresh out of law school, what should I do to stand out and advance my career in the best way possible?

KL: There’s a wealth of knowledge and expertise around every corner of a law firm. Ask questions, not just about the cases you’re working on, but also about what it’s like to be a lawyer. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about how to advance your career. There are lots of lawyers who want nothing more than to be able to help the next generation of lawyers succeed in the industry.

BL: What strategies are you using to attract and retain clients? What’s the biggest challenge?

KL: The biggest challenge is our working-remote environment and our inability to connect with our clients in person and at conferences and industry events.

When the pandemic struck, we created our Covid-19 resource center, an online tool where we would post daily about quickly changing news and alerts to help our clients stay connected to us.

Another core commitment of Hanson Bridgett is serving our communities. We really do believe that our service, in the form of connectivity to our communities through our community service and pro bono work, is a strategy for attracting and retaining our clients.

A good example of our community service work is our RACE taskforce—Real Action Calling for Equity we formed over the past year.

The group organized a series of webinars for the Bay area organization of Black-owned businesses on a variety of legal issues. It’s not pro bono work in the traditional sense. We weren’t handling a specific impact litigation matter. We weren’t seeing creditable pro bono hours, and it wasn’t a billable matter. But we extended it as a community service project.

BL: Does the firm have specific diversity targets, is the firm meeting those targets and what does it still need to do to improve diversity?

KL: In January, we appointed a Latina partner as the firm’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, and she is tasked with leading our efforts going forward. She reports directly to me, which is intentional by design, to make it clear internally and externally that this is important to us as a firm.

Over the course of the past year, we reprioritized our pro bono work toward racial and social injustice initiatives and supporting minority-owned businesses.

We’re proud that we have been the recipient of dozens of diversity awards over the years, and this was really the hallmark of my predecessor, Andrew Giacomini, to be able to be where we are.

It’s worth noting that I am at the firm, in part, because it was such a leader when it comes to women lawyers, and, in particular, the emphasis the leadership of the firm put on advancing women’s careers.

We have a tradition, for example, that part-time lawyers can become partners here. Other firms don’t permit that.

Over 40% of our equity partnership are women, and that’s really an extraordinary figure. But I’d be happy see it tip the scales and become 60% women and 40% men at some point.