John Stanley and Jane Koehl Discuss Operations Leadership With Indiana Lawyer

Indiana Lawyer featured Chief Administrative Officer John Stanley in an article on his role overseeing a team of roughly 400 across 21 global locations, supporting Faegre Drinker attorneys through a wide range of behind-the-scenes activities. Chief Operating Officer Jane Koehl also discussed the support provided by the firm’s operations leadership team.

Stanley explained that his ultimate goal is to help clients. “My role has always been to ensure the smooth operations of our offices across the firm in order to support our ability to deliver exceptional service to our clients. A significant part of my role is to ensure Faegre Drinker just remains at the forefront to deliver best-in-class service.”

Koehl explained that in the months before the firm’s 2020 merger, leaders were thinking about how to create something different. “We have this awesome opportunity to bring a professional executive leadership team together that’s really focused on creating, making sure we have policies and talent and tools in place that help our lawyers and our consultants focus on our clients and not focus on how they get things done.”

Stanley also described a multi-year initiative he is leading that incorporates remote work skills to change the way administrative support is delivered to attorneys, allowing team members with the best knowledge and skills to be brought in to help regardless of geography. He also discussed how he and his team designed Faegre Drinker’s new Chicago office. 

In conclusion, Koehl stated, “(For) our operations team, our job is to be looking around the corner and making sure we are ready in terms of talent, in terms of technology, in terms of efficient support and being able to be very nimble and responsive to our clients and our clients’ changing needs.” She added, “Our reputation is built on our lawyers and our consulting professionals and the excellent service they provide. So, we have to be able to support them to provide that excellent service.”

The full article is available for Indiana Lawyer subscribers.