Mark Champoux
What aspects of your new role are you most excited about?
In addition to spending more time with the terrific partners on the committee, I’m looking forward to engaging more closely with the entire partnership on making sure we have the right structures and people in place to help everyone succeed in their individual and practice-wide goals. Also, I’m trying to figure out if this is the committee that has input on which sodas get stocked in the fridge.
What do you see as the firm’s biggest opportunities and challenges?
Because the firm has already been forward-leaning in adopting AI-related legal technology, we have a tremendous opportunity to capture more of our market by continuing to make the quality and efficiency of our work a difference-maker. A big challenge continues to be the consolidation trend among firms and the saturation of the Denver market.
What role does firm culture play in achieving business objectives?
Culture can’t be overstated though it is often hard to measure. I think our culture means we have a leg up in attracting and retaining high quality people, and we don’t waste a bunch of time on nonsense that occurs when the people in your organization lack trust in each other and lack alignment in their vision. We’re lucky to have a very strong culture at Davis Graham, in no small part due to positive contributions from many of our alumni.
Tess Hand-Bender
What aspects of your new role are you most excited about?
Shaping the future of the legal profession and our firm at a moment when there is so much dramatic change, both industry-wide and within our Denver legal community, is incredibly exciting. Davis Graham has such a fantastic legacy of being an excellent law firm full of exceptional human beings, and I am honored to participate in whatever way I can in guiding it through its next era.
What role does firm culture play in achieving business objectives?
Firm culture is everything. In order to keep doing the high level of legal work our clients expect, our lawyers and our staff need to be able to show up every day giving their best effort, and that requires a culture where they feel at home and included. I want all of our people to feel that they are working for an organization that cares about who they are both as people and as professionals, and is as invested in them as we expect them to invest in our work.
What advice would you give to young lawyers who aspire to leadership roles?
Keep showing up as your authentic self every day, and keep finding ways to contribute that are meaningful for you. This job will ask a lot of you, but if you can find ways that you can contribute that also are meaningful to you, there is opportunity to find incredible satisfaction in the work.
Sam Niebrugge
What aspects of your new role are you most excited about?
I’m excited to have a role in shaping how the firm continues to compete in an ever-evolving market. We are unique and a “one-of-one” in the Denver legal market. Ensuring that we can maintain our excellence while meeting client demands is an exciting challenge.
What role does firm culture play in achieving business objectives?
It’s everything. You can have the best strategy in the world, but if people don’t genuinely enjoy working together, none of it matters. What I’ve always loved about Davis Graham is that we actually like each other — and I don’t think that’s as common in the legal industry as firms like to claim. A strong culture means people stay, they collaborate, they refer work to one another, and they pick up the phone when a colleague needs help. No business plan can manufacture that. My job is mostly to not mess it up.
What trends do you think will most impact our business in the next few years?
I would likely be immediately impeached if I didn’t say AI. Like a lot of our attorneys, I am using AI as a daily part of my practice. I am already seeing the enormous efficiencies, and I am able to pass those efficiencies along to the client. Our challenge with AI will be ensuring that young attorneys coming into the practice will continue to get the mentoring and experience necessary for them to develop into excellent attorneys. Beyond AI, I think client expectations around efficiency and value will continue to evolve, and the firms that stay ahead of that conversation — rather than reacting to it — will be the ones that thrive.
What do you value most about the Davis Graham alumni network?
The memories of the great people that I have been able to work with over the years. I so appreciate that so many of our alumni continue to come to firm events; it is a wonderful way to stay in touch. It says something about a place when people leave and still want to come back. That kind of loyalty isn’t built on letterhead — it’s built on genuine relationships, and I think our alumni network is proof that Davis Graham gets that part right.