Gene Besen Featured in Texas Lawyer Managing Partner of the Year Finalist Q&A

Bradley attorney Gene Besen was featured in a Q&A with Texas Lawyer as a finalist for the publication’s Managing Partner of the Year award.

Texas Lawyer: What was your route to the top?

Besen: There was no map! My route wasn't exactly traditional. I started my career at a six-lawyer firm. I learned a lot about the practice and business of law from my time there. I left a boutique for big law as a fourth-year associate.

I made partner in big law after only seven years of practice. I left big law again to start the White Collar and Government Enforcement practice at a regional firm and learned even more about building teams, recruiting talented lawyers, and what makes law firm offices thrive.

I returned to big law five years ago when I joined Bradley's new Dallas office shortly after it opened. I've been able to share in the successes of my partners as we have grown from 11 to 60 lawyers over the last 5 years.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you started out in the legal profession?

The legal community is small and close. It is honor to practice law with so many fine lawyers, in this great city.

Treat everyone you encounter along the way with kindness and respect. You will undoubtedly run into them again on your journey. As I write this, I find myself wondering about the times I fell short. To all with whom I may have fallen short, I am sorry and hopefully better today than I was then.

What is the best leadership advice you've given or received, and why was it effective?

Listen to hear, process for empathy, and put your energy into the real problem.

As I've taken on more and more leadership roles in my career, what has become most clear is that oftentimes the problem on the surface is not the problem that needs to be solved. Time isn't entered? I care more about why. Hours are low? Then how can we help?

I know when my wife is upset with me for not taking out the trash, it's never actually about the trash. Our relationships with our colleagues aren't any different. We need to listen so that we hear, and hopefully help solve, the real problem not just whatever we can see on the surface.

Ultimately, building real connection and relationships with my colleagues has been the single biggest leadership hack I've discovered.

The original article, “Managing Partner of the Year Finalist: Gene Besen,” appeared in Texas Lawyer on September 26, 2024.