The Importance of Leveraging Leverage in Profitability Analysis

Kristina Lambright is Senior Director of Strategic Growth at Perkins Coie LLP. She has had a fascinating legal career, serving various roles within the industry. After practicing in commercial litigation for nearly a decade, Kristina became a research specialist at Vinson & Elkins LLP, where she also assisted with budgeting. Seeking more involvement with driving decisions and revenue at the firm, she ventured into strategic pricing under the guidance of her colleague Toby Brown, the firm’s first director of pricing—and a friend of the podcast. Kristina went on to work at Akin Gump LLP, where she developed the firm’s strategic pricing and legal project management efforts. She has continued with pricing and LPM work at Perkins Coie, though her primary responsibility is leading the sourcing and acquisition of lateral partner candidates to meet the firm’s strategic goals. Additionally, Kristina is a founder and board member of the Legal Value Network, which drives deeper partnership and collaboration between legal organizations in order to accelerate the evolution of the industry. In our conversation, Kristina talks to us about her journey from commercial litigation to strategic growth, building trust with lawyers and clients, how she and her team at Perkins Coie approach lateral hiring, and how the Legal Value Network has grown since its inception.