Biglaw

Changing The Face Of Law

An interview with the new managing partner of Irell & Manella.

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Ellisen Turner (Photo by James Goodnow)

As a senior associate at Irell & Manella, Ellisen Turner spent six months shadowing the firm’s then-managing partner, Elliot Brown. At the end of the experience, Turner made a vow: “That is the hardest, worst job ever, and I’ll never, ever take that job.”

Last week, Turner took that job.

Turner has garnered press attention in recent months for being among the first African-American leaders of a major law firm in the United States. But the significance of Turner’s ascension goes far beyond race. I recently interviewed him at Irell’s headquarters in Los Angeles, and I met a man with a wealth of ideas and a vision that his partners at Irell are convinced will carry the firm through turbulent times of change.

Family, Firm, Clients

When you walk into Turner’s office, you immediately know he is not your typical lawyer. A string of vertical computer monitors, rotated to permit the former software engineer to easily study complicated patent filings, sits next to his treadmill desk.  The treadmill helps Turner stay physically fit despite the demands of his practice, and wipes out his occasional bouts of writer’s block.

A set of blocks on his couch stands ready to entertain his youngest children if they come to spend time with their father at work. A gigantic stack of blank cards towers on a table, for the many occasions Turner finds to send a handwritten note to a friend, client, or colleague.

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Over Turner’s desk hangs the word “Commitment.” At first he thought he’d change it monthly, but he decided to commit to commitment. It’s his daily reminder of his commitment to family, firm, and clients, in that order.

The family-first mantra is made easier by the fact that Turner works just five minutes from his home, a rarity in Los Angeles. Turner takes full advantage. He often brings his kids into work with him, even if just for lunch or an afternoon. “When I grew up, I knew what my dad’s title was. I didn’t actually know what he did.” He says it’s important to him that his kids have a sense of what a professional workplace looks like, and what people actually do in an office, to serve them better later in life.

The philosophy extends beyond Turner’s own family. The firm has a “We Care” room where new mothers can nurse and spend time with their children. The outgoing managing partner made it a practice to visit sick firm members in the hospital, a tradition Turner intends to continue. Turner donated $1,000 of his own money to a staff member pursuing higher education. He tells me he sees his new role as a chance to touch people’s lives — something he enjoys immensely.

The Greatest Challenges Facing the Industry

For Turner, it’s essential to maintain that family-style culture as the firm embarks on a smart growth strategy. But that growth may be no small order. It’s been well documented that Irell has contracted significantly over the past several years, dropping 27 percent in 2015 alone. The firm that once counted roughly 220 lawyers among its ranks is now down to 125.

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Turner is unshaken by the statistics. He understands the hazards, but he believes the firm will weather the storm if it begins to rapidly adapt to the changing landscape.

He speaks to me with passion about the two great challenges he sees facing the modern law firm. First, he views the increasing commoditization of law, a phenomenon I’ve written about before, as a danger to both firms and the clients who hire them. His in-house counsel contacts are often forced into the difficult position of being viewed by management solely as a cost center. They’re valued only on how well they’re able to reduce the cost of legal services, regardless of whether that impacts quality.

As with lawyers, Turner says, “when you go to a doctor or if you have an accountant, in a lot of professional services, you get what you pay for.” As price competition continues unabated, Turner cautions his clients to ask whether the deals they’re being offered are too good to be true. “Why are they so willing to do it for this price, where other firms are not?”

The second major challenge Turner sees is the need to accelerate diversity within the legal profession. “It’s not just some altruistic thing, although there’s that too,” says Turner, who grew up in a Michigan town home to only three black families. “It’s because it leads to better outcomes. Studies have shown it, everybody knows it. The more input you have from a diverse group of people, the better your decision-making.”

Turner believes that becoming diverse is a business imperative, as more and more clients are refusing to work with firms that don’t mirror the population. The firms and schools that aren’t keeping their eye on diversity? “They’re doing everything with one hand tied behind their back,” he says.

Turner is setting a pro-diversity tone at the management level. He added questions to the partners’ annual self-assessment asking what each partner has done to promote diversity within the firm. “They’re going to have to think about it every year,” he says, “and when they go into the start of the year, say ‘I’m going to be asked this question. What can I do next year to put something in that box?’”

Adapting to a New Generation

As I speak with Turner, I notice his socks. Rather than the silk stockings stereotypically worn by leaders of firms with profits per partner in excess of $3 million, they have a colorful, psychedelic pattern — more Kardashian than Perry Mason. The socks are emblematic of the perspective Turner brings to the position.

The winner of a slew of “40 under 40” awards in the past several years, Turner is not shy about saying his background and generational perspective will be tools he uses to help break with tradition. “The way law firms have operated, historically, is not necessarily for everybody in the new generation,” he says.

Turner notes, for instance, that many newly minted attorneys aren’t as interested in making partner or being the last to leave the office every day, so criteria for promotions has to change. And in a fast-changing world, partners also need to be open to hearing ideas from all attorneys. “Innovation,” Turner opines, “has to come from the ideas of people.” Consequently, he says, firms must “not have the bureaucracy stand in the way of someone bringing an innovative idea and trying that out.”

If there’s a thread to Ellisen Turner, it seems to be this: Whether it’s his family, his partners, his staff, or his community, Turner doesn’t let people fall through the cracks. And if he has a chance to fill in the cracks, even in a job that can grate on him, he’s going to take it.

James Goodnow

James Goodnow is an attorney, commentator, and Above the Law columnist. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the co-author of Motivating Millennials, which hit number one on Amazon in the business management and legal communications categories. You can connect with James on Twitter (@JamesGoodnow) or by email at jgoodnow@fclaw.com.

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