For Tony Pierce, culture is the key to running a top workplace in D.C.
The partner in charge of Akin鈥檚 D.C. office has worked at the law firm since the 1980s.
鈥淥ne of the things I think we’ve done, and we’ve instilled within all of our staff and lawyers, is to promote a positive culture,鈥� Pierce said.
He said staying positive is 鈥渢he key to our success.鈥�
Pierce currently oversees more than 500 employees and Akin requires staff to work in the office at least three days a week, making efforts to maintain a positive culture not the easiest of tasks.
鈥淚 tend to be old school. So I encourage people to come in as much as they can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it’s always better to have that personal interaction. So while we have a three-day policy, which we follow, many of our people come in more than that.鈥�
Pierce makes sure everyone is in the loop at Akin, a firm that traces its roots back to the 1940s and recently shortened its name for branding reasons.
鈥淚 think any effective leader has got to communicate,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd making sure that people in the office, indeed in our whole firm, know what’s happening in the firm is an important aspect of the success of Akin Gump.鈥�
Right now, Pierce is busy embracing artificial intelligence and studying its impact on the legal profession.
鈥淲e’re going through the AI transformation right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have a saying in our firm, ‘AI will not replace lawyers, but lawyers who don’t use AI will be replaced.’ So that’s a sign of us embracing the change and using it to bring more effective services to our clients.鈥�
AI requires a lot of fact-checking, he said, but it鈥檚 making his staff more efficient.
鈥淭here is a tremendous amount of economic activity associated with AI, investment of capital and you’re going to have to embrace that,” Pierce said.
He鈥檚 also busy making sure everyone is having fun. Akin, he said, holds a cornhole tournament and honors everyone鈥檚 birthdays each month. The firm also stages a Thanksgiving celebration each year.
And the most recent way to have fun? Ice cream.
Pierce approved buying three ice cream machines. What flavors are available to help his office survive the hot D.C. summer, you wonder?
鈥淥h, you want to know? Come on down to the office: salted caramel, chocolate, vanilla,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e even have a very nasty, low-calorie mango.鈥�
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