One of the priorities will be succession planning for senior partners with big books, lawyers say
Fogler, Rubinoff LLP has moved to a co-leadership model, with Eric Roblin as chair and Leneo Sdao as managing partner.
Unlike some firms where leadership is divided between strategy and operations, Roblin and Sdao say they will share responsibilities while continuing to practise law.
“We have different titles, but we’re essentially sharing the role… We’re still working through the process of who will handle what, but major decisions will be made together,” Sdao says, adding that financial matters will be a shared responsibility.
The lawyers say that the law firm's main priority is “strategic incremental growth” and an opportunistic approach to lateral hiring and expanding into other areas of law.
“We're very strong on making sure that people are a fit, not only in terms of what they bring to the table from their skill set but also how they fit in with the others in the departments and in the firm generally,” Roblin says.
The lawyers say another key focus for the law firm is succession planning as senior partners transition out.
“That's been a key item since I've been here, but it's becoming more important as we have more lawyers that are in the later stages of their career with big books,” Roblin says.
Sdao wants to make the process more structured.
“We want to have a system in place where we can start engaging the client at different levels, with different-level lawyers,” Sdao says.
He adds that if you're able to do that, you establish relationships at different levels with your clients.
“You’ll always have the senior partner, but you also have to keep in mind that everybody ages and younger people will be taking over at the client as well,” Sdao says.
The new leadership says they don’t have a specific number they are striving for regarding the firm’s size.
With their new leadership roles, both Roblin and Sdao will scale back their legal practices, though to different extents.
Sdao, further along in his career, says it is a natural transition for him to “start delegating more work.
“My focus will be on high-level client involvement rather than day-to-day tasks.”
Roblin, meanwhile, expects to reduce his workload but is still assessing the balance.
“There’s a natural transition given our age differences and where we are in our careers,” he says. “I’ll have to cut back to some degree, but I haven’t determined by how much,” he adds.
Roblin says leadership demands will fluctuate throughout the year, with the start of each year being particularly busy.
“The window between late December and February is a very intense time because all the firms are working through their compensation plans and planning for the year ahead… After that, it becomes a little more normalized,” he adds.
Roblin and Sdao say they will take a flexible approach to time management, with no clear division between leadership and client work yet.
“There’s no hard line – issues come up throughout the day, and we have to be available,” Sdao says and adds that his and Roblin’s habits complement each other.
“I’m an early riser, so I get online around 5 a.m. and have a quiet hour or two before heading to the office.”
Roblin, meanwhile, works late.
“Leneo is definitely the morning person, so I’ll handle the late nights,” he says. “I deal with management issues as they come in during the day, then catch up on client work when things quiet down in the evening.”
They also introduced a weekly debrief to align on firm priorities that they hold at the end of every week.
Technology, particularly AI, is a growing focus for Fogler, Rubinoff, the lawyers say.
“The AI landscape is evolving quickly, and a lot of these tools are going to be game changers,” Roblin says.
He adds that the firm has established an internal AI literacy committee tasked with developing policies, assessing risks, and identifying valuable tools.
“We have to be careful,” Sdao says. “AI can make legal work more efficient, but it also comes with pitfalls, so training is key.”
He adds that litigation stands to benefit the most right now since lawyers mostly use AI as a research tool, with its drafting abilities “still pretty rudimentary.”
Roblin and Sdao officially assumed the roles on March 1, and Michael Slan, the former managing partner, will stay in the firm as senior partner.
“Not that he’ll be making decisions per se, but when information is needed based on some type of a historical matter, he’s a great resource,” Roblin says.
