Time for Change

Time for Change

By David R. Corder

Associate Editor

Nine years ago the board of directors at Carlton Fields PA made a strategic change to its management structure. For years, a committee had managed the Tampa firm and its six offices.

It was apparent to the 17-member board that the firm - which then had annual revenue of $42 million and 140 lawyers - needed a full-time chief executive officer to manage day-to-day operations and execute its growth strategy. Prior to this change, a board member had served as president, headed the management committee and also practiced law.

Carlton Fields, founded in 1901, needed a president and CEO who wouldn't practice law. Tom Snow, a board member, was the guy for the job.

"To ask an attorney essentially to abandon a practice and undertake a very different role and career was asking a lot, and there was nobody who was jumping up and down asking to do it," Snow recalls. "I guess I got the job by default."

Since 1997, Snow has guided the firm through the rise-and-fall of the dot-com era of the late '90s and the recession in the early part of this century. The firm has grown to about 225 lawyers in seven offices, and revenue has more than doubled to about $96 million.

Earlier this month, Snow told the firm's controlling shareholders he plans to retire by February; he turns 60 on Dec. 10.

"The firm has known for a few years I intended to retire no later than my 60th birthday," he says. "Consequently, the issue of succession and developing a plan for orderly succession has been on the table the last 12 months. The result is we have a plan for the orderly and effective transition to a new leader of the firm. That will begin now."

Who may succeed Snow remains a mystery to all but the most loyal Carlton Fields insiders. Snow won't say whether he has a favorite heir apparent.

"If I did, I wouldn't say so," Snow says.

Some suggest Luis Prats, the Tampa-office managing partner, may be a frontrunner. Snow appointed Prats about three years ago, when responsibilities for managing the Tampa office and the firm became too taxing for him.

A Hispanic-American lawyer, Prats' professional growth complements the firm's nationally recognized commitment to the hiring and advancement of minorities. Citing national statistics, the firm claims higher percentages of women shareholders, shareholders of color, women associates and associates of color than most other national firms of its size. It ranks fourth on Florida Trend's list of Florida's largest law firms, and 180th on the National Law Journal's 2004 list of the 250 largest U.S. law firms.

But Prats won't speculate on the succession.

"We've got some wonderful people in the firm who will do a good job of filling some very big shoes," Prats says. "Whoever follows has a very big act to follow."

Snow does say his successor won't come from outside the firm.

Besides Prats and Snow, members of the board of directors from the Tampa and St. Petersburg offices are Sylvia Walbolt, who chairs the board, David Punzak, Gary Sasso, Chris Coutroulis, Richard Denmon, Ruth Barnes Kinsolving, Edgel Lester and Bob Soriano.

The succession plan is a simple one, Snow says. The next time board members meet they will create a committee to gather a list of potential CEO candidates.

That list will be submitted to the full board within six months.

"At that point the board will elect a new CEO," Snow says. "I expect by then there will be consensus so that there won't be real significant issues in that regard. My successor will spend the next six months transitioning from what I think will be an active law practice to take over my responsibilities."

The decision to retire comes down to Snow's desire to just spend more time with his family. His wife, Mary, retired nine months ago from her job as assistant general counsel at Tampa's Walter Industries Inc. They have two children and a grandchild.

"We're both looking forward to it," he says. "We've been in Tampa for 22 years, worked very hard in our careers and left precious little time to be together, on reflection. And this is a good time to spend a lot of lost time together."

Walbolt says there's no doubt it'll be a loss for the firm.

"He really took us to a different level through day-to-day attention to the firm and its business," she says. "I heartily applaud (his decision). It's been a very time-consuming job for him. It's been a seven-day a week job. He deals with a lot of personnel issues, so there's a lot of stress.

"He wants to enjoy life more," she adds. "All of us are really sorry to see him go, because he's done such a fabulous job for us. But we respect his decision."

Prats attributes Snow's success to his ability to listen to his colleagues.

"He's a thoughtful person, who really considers issues from all sides," he says. "He's one of the best listeners I've every worked with. Because he considers all sides of the issues, is a good listener and gets input from all the folks, he makes good decisions because they are informed decisions. He's just a very good consensus-builder."

The firm's growth, he says, is evidence of Snow's consensus-building skills.

"He doesn't just embark on a direction to grow the firm unless he thinks the lawyers in the firm are agreeable that it's a good direction to go," he says. "He does a good job of vetting the issues to the point where there's a general agreement and consensus. Sometimes folks become a little anxious about growing. But we've grown at a fairly steady rate with the right folks."

Snow gets much credit for the firm's expansion in the late '90s into Miami and last year into Atlanta. Since 1997, the Miami operation has combined with two other firms to create an office that now has about 63 attorneys. The Atlanta office now has six attorneys.

The growth in Florida also has complemented the vision of the firm's leadership in the 1960s to create a national client base, Snow says.

In promotional materials, the firm boasts that it has served nearly two-thirds of the nation's Fortune 100 companies.

He attributes that national growth to the wisdom of Carlton Fields leaders such as William Reese Smith, who as a former president of the Florida Bar and the American Bar Association, raised the firm's profile at the national level.

"My style has been one of commitment and real appreciation in my position as a steward to a firm that was already a great law firm," he says. "I'm just thankful I didn't muck it up."