By Chelsie Adams
I did not plan to become the Managing Partner of my firm’s Las Vegas office when I did, or under the circumstances that led me there. A colleague’s sudden passing required immediate action: client notification, file assessment, and rapid workload redistribution, all while I maintained a full litigation docket. There was no runway, no transition period, and no manual. Leadership arrived overnight.
That experience reshaped how I view both management and the practice of law. Managing a local office within a regional firm is not an extra role layered on top of billable work. It is an important professional responsibility rooted in protecting client trust, developing people, and sustaining the practice.
What follows are practical lessons from that transition, offered for lawyers who find themselves leading from the middle—accountable to firm leadership, responsible for local culture, and still fully engaged in client service.
Build trust through authentic, accountable leadership
Authority does not come from title alone. It is earned through transparency, decisiveness, and follow-through. Authentic leadership does not require perfection or performative confidence. It requires the discipline to acknowledge uncertainty while still providing direction and space for others to contribute.
No managing partner succeeds alone. Effective leadership means recognizing one’s own limits, identifying gaps in experience or capacity, and empowering others to step into those roles. When people are trusted with responsibility and supported through accountability, engagement deepens and trust follows.
Leaders who model this approach encourage candor. When people feel safe acknowledging strain or uncertainty, issues surface earlier and can be addressed before they escalate.
Align actions with values
Leading a thriving law office requires more than setting goals; it requires aligning daily actions with shared values. Teams perform best when expectations are clear and when lawyers and staff understand how their work advances the broader strategy. Involving the team in shaping that strategy creates buy-in. Buy-in fosters ownership.
A managing partner’s role includes translating firm-wide initiatives into office-specific action. This is where local leadership adds unique value, aligning strengths with needs, pairing experience with opportunity, and structuring work so each person’s contribution matters. When individuals see how their work fits into the greater effort, motivation increases, and uncertainty diminishes.
Creating space for open dialogue is essential. Encouraging collaboration over competition, promoting mentorship, and reinforcing that the office succeeds or fails together strengthens culture and performance.
Bridge generational dynamics with intention
Today’s law offices span multiple generations with different expectations around feedback, flexibility, and career development. Ignoring those differences creates friction. Addressing them intentionally creates alignment.
Senior attorneys winding down their practices often bring deep client relationships and institutional knowledge. Younger attorneys often bring stamina, fluency with emerging technologies, and execution capacity. Effective leadership pairs those strengths, preserving continuity for clients while creating meaningful opportunities for developing lawyers. Done well, this approach advances succession planning and reinforces that diverse career stages are assets.
Balance profitability and people through disciplined execution
Local office leadership sits at the intersection of finance and morale. Billing, collections, staffing, and workload allocation shape retention, performance, and client outcomes.
Transparency matters. Explaining the why behind expectations, whether tied to realization, staffing, or workflow, builds trust and reduces friction. But transparency alone is insufficient. Profitability goals must translate into measurable outcomes so accountability is shared rather than imposed.
Profitability must also be sustainable. Burnout erodes both people and profits. Strong offices monitor workloads, cross-train staff, and address strain early. Leadership is not about absorbing every problem personally; it is about creating clarity, assigning responsibility, and following up before issues compound.
Build systems that enhance—not interrupt—practice
The greatest risk for lawyer-leaders is allowing management to crowd out lawyering. The solution is not longer hours, but better systems.
Documented processes, deliberate delegation, and standardized reporting reduce friction and free leadership to focus on strategy. Calendar discipline protects time for client work. Short, focused meetings replace reactive interruptions and keep priorities visible.
When systems function well, leadership supports practice rather than competing with it, allowing lawyers to spend less time managing chaos and more time practicing at a high level.
Leading from the middle
Managing a local office within a regional firm requires judgment. It demands translating strategy into execution, balancing profitability with people, and maintaining momentum through consistent follow-through.
Leadership is not separate from practice. It is practice. And when approached with intention, accountability, and structure, it strengthens not only the office we manage but the profession we serve.
About the author
Chelsie Adams is a Director in Fennemore’s business litigation practice group and serves as Managing Partner of the firm’s Las Vegas office. Her practice focuses on complex commercial disputes and construction litigation, including claims involving defects and delays, differing site conditions, insurance and indemnity, prompt payment statutes, and lien enforcement.
About the article
This article was originally published in the Communiqué (Mar. 2026), the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association. See https://clarkcountybar.org/about/member-benefits/communique-2026/communique-mar-2026/.
The articles and advertisements appearing in Communiqué magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the CCBA, the CCBA Publications Committee, the editorial board, or the other authors. All legal and other issues discussed are not for the purpose of answering specific legal questions. Attorneys and others are strongly advised to independently research all issues.
© 2026 Clark County Bar Association (CCBA). All rights reserved. No reproduction of any portion of this issue is allowed without written permission from the publisher. Editorial policy available upon request.