The days of decades-high interest rates are over, as the Federal Reserve is ushering in a new era for financial markets — and, in turn, shaking up some of the advice money managers are offering their clients.
During one of its regularly scheduled meetings in September, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal funds rate — the interest rate banks charge each other to borrow money — by half a percentage point. That marked the first time policymakers cut interest rates after embarking on an aggressive strategy to raise the federal funds rate from near zero to as high as 5.5% between 2022 and 2023 in an effort to combat inflation that swelled to levels last seen in the early 1980s.
The U.S. economy is “very strong,” says Dalal Salomon with Salomon & Ludwin. “I don’t believe a recession is really in the cards at this point.” Photo courtesy Salomon & Ludwin
And in early November, the Fed cut its key interest rate again, that time by a quarter-point. Meanwhile, the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, was 2.6%. That was down from 3.1% for the same period in 2023, a year when the CPI started out at 6.4%.
Of more significance than the rate cuts was the message they telegraphed to investors: With inflation sufficiently contained, Federal Reserve policymakers will refocus their efforts on achieving maximum employment. The Fed’s goal going forward is to gradually “normalize” interest rates so they’re not so restrictive to economic activity, explains Aashish Matani, a managing director and wealth management advisor with The AHM Wealth Management Group in Norfolk, a division of Merrill Private Wealth Management.
“The rate cuts are precautionary rather than reactionary,” Matani says. “The current economic environment is a point of strength; we’re not running from a recession, and inflation has come down.”
Understanding that context is importantparticularly because many people may associate periods of falling interest rates with economic turmoil. The last time policymakers slashed interest rates was during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when they took swift action to stabilize the economy.
The Fed’s motivation this time around is different, particularly because the U.S. economy is “very strong,” says Dalal Salomon, founding partner and chief financial officer at Salomon & Ludwin in Richmond. “I don’t believe a recession is really in the cards at this point,” she says.
While unforeseen shocks to the economy could always cause the Fed to change course, policymakers are currently charting a course of steady rate cuts. The federal funds rate is projected to fall to about 3.4% by the end of 2025 and to 2.9% by the end of 2026, according to the median of year-end forecasts from central bankers.
Given the likelihood that interest rates are headed lower, what should you do with your money now? Matani, Salomon, and other Virginia-based financial advisers say it’s a prime time to reassess investment strategies and holdings.
Control what you can control
This new era of falling interest rates isn’t a reason to overhaul your saving and investing strategies, but it may serve as a good excuse to do a financial checkup.
“We have no control over how much the Fed will likely cut rates,” says Susan Kim, a private wealth adviser and managing partner of Kim, Hopkins & Associates, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services based in Vienna. “That’s why I tell my clients [to] focus on what you do have control over.”
Just as you prioritize family relationships and physical and mental health, it’s similarly important to think about your financial well-being, Kim says. Things you can easily control include your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses, along with the amount of money you save each pay period. She pushes clients to achieve a personal savings rate of 15% to 20%.
Another way to save money? By looking for opportunities to refinance debt. While central bankers directly control the fed funds rate, other interest rates tend to move directionally in sync — and you may stand to benefit.
Rates for 15- and 30-year mortgages have fallen “significantly” since peaking last year and are likely to come down further as the Fed continues cutting rates, Matani says. That means you should actively monitor how much you’re currently paying on your mortgage or other fixed-rate loans and be ready to refinance at lower rates, he adds: “Make sure you’re taking advantage of areas that you can.”
As the Fed ratcheted up interest rates, savers were benefiting by taking advantage of a variety of low-risk ways to earn 5% (or higher) returns on cash. These once-attractive options have already lost some of their luster.
If you were padding a high-yield savings or money market account with extra cash to earn easy returns, you may want to reconsider that decision now — while, of course, keeping in mind your specific financial goals and cash flow needs. “People are going to have to find a place to put that money, and the obvious place would be equities for long-term investments,” says Ryan Torguson, a wealth adviser, portfolio manager and partner with VWG Wealth Management in Vienna, a division of Hightower Associates.
Equities, including stocks, historically earn higher returns, albeit with more risk than fixed-income investments like bonds. People pouring money into the stock market could serve as a catalyst, while lower interest rates will reduce borrowing costs for Wall Street companies, which could further boost profits and returns, Torguson notes.
Because a lower interest rate environment will be a major theme for financial markets ahead, investors should consider tweaking their strategies. “This could be a good time to look at your portfolio and reevaluate your tolerance for risk,” Salomon advises.
Before the end of the year, investors also may want to consider selling assets that have outperformed the market, either to invest in areas of the market that have underperformed or to have extra cash on hand, Salomon notes. The stock market has notched one record high after another this year, and an eventual selloff is inevitable, though she urges investors to avoid trying to predict when that could happen and instead react once it has. “If markets are falling, we know that’s a great buying opportunity.”
In fact, the rate-cutting cycle, along with a new president, could result in more market volatility, Matani notes. But that’s no reason to stay on the sidelines. “Long-term investors don’t want to be out of this market,” he says.
Staying invested is also important for retirees or people preparing for retirement. A backdrop of lower interest rates once again makes one area of the stock market more attractive: companies that pay steady or growing dividends. “People who need to have predictable, growing income should invest in dividend-yielding stocks,” Kim says.
Building and maintaining a well-diversified portfolio is a good practice no matter what’s happening in the broader economy, but it’s especially important when a broader market shake-up is underway.
Matani and his colleagues have been recommending that clients increase their allocations to high-quality stocks that provide reliable cash flow and better growth potential amid lower interest rates and potentially slower economic growth ahead. Likewise, he says, it’s important to include “defensive” investments in your portfolio, such as shares of companies in the utilities, consumer staples and financial services sectors that could provide more resilience and help to cushion portfolios against uncertainty.
Even though there are no indications a recession is imminent, some investors who prefer a tactical approach to managing their portfolios may want to monitor consumer spending to watch for any signs of a slowdown. A more cautious investment strategy may be warranted, particularly as behaviors evolve, because consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic growth, Matani says: “The resilience of consumers is going to be important.”
Diversify beyond stocks
In addition to reevaluating your stock holdings, now is a good time to assess your broader portfolio diversification. Many investors have become less enamored with a traditional 60/40 portfolio — 60% invested in stocks and 40% in bonds — in favor of investing in a wider array of assets that includes cryptocurrencies and commodities.
There are opportunities to capitalize on lower interest rates beyond the stock market, including investments in commodities, Salomon notes. And lower mortgage rates don’t just benefit homeowners but will also make real estate investments more attractive once again, she adds.
Likewise, Matani has been recommending that clients adjust their portfolios in anticipation of lower interest rates, including allocating to sectors like real assets, including real estate, commodities and precious metals. “We’ve been telling clients: Make sure you’re diversified.”
But just because interest rates are coming down, that doesn’t mean you need to pile into financial markets in a more aggressive way than in the past. Advisers recommend that clients should have an emergency savings fund with three to six months’ worth of living expenses that’s readily available, and your financial situation may warrant having extra cash on hand right now.
For the past six months, Torguson and his colleagues have been advising clients to prepare for falling rates by opting for safe assets with longer duration maturities. That advice still stands — though the sooner you act, the higher rates you’ll secure.
For cash you don’t need in the immediate future, you may want to lock up money for several months — or, potentially, several years. The shortest-duration U.S. Treasury bonds or certificates of deposit (CDs), those that mature as soon as one month out, may offer the highest yields, but investors are better off opting for slightly lower rates in exchange for a longer-term guarantee.
“People who got into long-term bonds over the summer, with interest rates falling now, are going to appreciate that decision,” Salomon says.
Finally, don’t get so swept up by what the Fed is doing that you neglect some long-standing end-of-year money advice. The clock is ticking on several tasks that must be completed by year-end.
Now is a good opportunity to look at your charitable giving for the year and make any additional contributions, Torguson says. It’s also a popular time of year for tax-loss harvesting or selling any assets that are unprofitable to offset or reduce your capital gains tax burdens. “We’re talking to clients quite a bit about that and how to take advantage of any volatility that comes around the end of the year.”
On the flip side, Salomon says, selling profitable long-term investments may be a good idea if you believe capital gains tax rates are headed higher in the future. What’s more, some provisions of 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in 2025, so she’s been working with some clients who are doing “pretty significant” estate planning ahead of that.
If it feels like there’s a lot going on, that’s because there is. As Matani notes, the end of year, coupled with the Fed cutting rates, the presidential election and sunsetting tax provisions is making for a “dynamic environment” in the four pillars of wealth management: financial strategy, investment strategy, tax minimization, and legacy planning. “This is a really important time,” he says, “to sit down and talk with your adviser.”
The country’s aging, overwhelmed electrical grid. Threats of cyberattacks. The explosion of interest in — and confusion about — artificial intelligence.
These real-life problems don’t know boundaries. Neither should the search for solutions, says Azim Eskandarian, dean of Virginia Commonwealth University‘s College of Engineering.
Cross-disciplinary learning is the way of the future and VCU’s engineering school is setting itself up to be that kind of learning institution, says Eskandarian, who advocates for what he calls “engineering without boundaries.”
In a move to break down walls between disciplines and qualify students for high-demand jobs, the college has added six new minors for undergraduates: artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, nuclear engineering, software engineering, cybersecurity, and data science. These minors became available at the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year.
What makes the addition of these minors so valuable is that engineering “has become a more interdisciplinary field that requires at least a basic understanding of principles from a variety of industries,” says John R. Harrell, Dominion Energy’s director of nuclear engineering and fuel department.
Richmond-based Dominion, which runs four nuclear reactors in Surry and Louisa counties and is taking steps toward potentially developing a small nuclear modular reactor at the North Anna Power Station, relies on VCU engineering graduates to fill a wide range of positions, including mechanical design engineer, electric transmission engineer, nuclear core design engineer and nuclear spent fuels engineer.
“Knowledge of nuclear power generation could be beneficial to an electrical engineer working on the power grid. A deeper understanding of nuclear energy can enable them to find better and more efficient solutions for Dominion Energy,” says Harrell, a member of VCU’s nuclear engineering advisory board.
Having expertise in more than one engineering discipline allows new hires “to rotate between roles on a team that might have been unavailable to a specialist,” he adds.
The engineering college teaches nearly 2,000 undergraduate students and approximately 300 graduate students who are pursuing degrees in everything from biomedical engineering through nuclear engineering.
In addition to the new minor focuses, the college has six new master’s concentrations in aerospace engineering, engineering management, environmental and sustainable engineering, rehabilitation engineering, systems engineering, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.
Eskandarian describes VCU’s engineering curriculum as focused and unusual. “We don’t have programs in industrial or civil engineering — we don’t have that traditional type of program.”
“Every graduate of VCU should have a chance to get educated in data science and AI,” says Preetam Ghosh, interim chair of VCU’s Department of Computer Science. Photo courtesy Virginia Commonwealth University
Nuclear option
The new nuclear engineering minor helps VCU address the ever-expanding need for education relating to nuclear power reactors, shipbuilding and medical isotopes, according to John Speich, interim chair and professor of VCU’s Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering.
The demand for sustainable energy has spurred interest in small modular reactors (SMRs), which have a lower initial capital investment, greater scalability and a smaller physical footprint than traditional reactors, allowing them to be built closer to the grid.
In July, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill aimed at accelerating the deployment of SMRs in Virginia. Dominion Energy followed up with requests for proposals to study the feasibility of an SMR at North Anna. In October, Dominion Energy Virginia signed an agreement with Amazon.com to explore potential development of SMRs, with Amazon helping finance the move.
Only two SMRs are currently in operation worldwide, officials note, and Virginia likely wouldn’t have its own small reactor until at least the mid-2030s.
The new minor, says Supathorn Phongikaroon, engineering foundation professor and director of nuclear engineering programs at VCU, will help expand the pool of scientific talent available in Virginia. “We want … to involve and include people who often think this is an extremely difficult area” and shy away from it, he says.
For example, he says, students majoring in electrical engineering could add the minor to enable them to better explore possible nuclear-power solutions to the U.S.’s growing demand for energy, largely attributed to expanding digital use and data center growth.
Five or six students are already taking the nuclear engineering minor. The intro class typically has about 30 students, but about 40 are enrolled this fall, Phongikaroon says.
VCU offers students a wealth of opportunities to research various aspects of nuclear power. Its Nuclear Reactor Simulator Laboratory is home to the GSE Solutions GPWR (Generic Pressurized Water Reactor) nuclear reactor simulator, which mimics the behavior of a nuclear reactor like those at Dominion’s power stations that heat water to create steam and drive an electric generator.
This gives students hands-on experience with nuclear plants’ operations and lets them learn how to handle unanticipated events.
“It can simulate an entire power plant,” Eskandarian says, which allows researchers to study a range of issues, including sustainability and potential safety hazards.
VCU also is involved in research at the Center of Operational Excellence for Nuclear Products and Services in Lynchburg and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The university’s work has been honored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency, among others.
The nuclear engineering minor also is valuable in the nuclear Navy and the shipbuilding industry, Speich says.
Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is one of two primary designers and builders of nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy. And it is currently building the Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the first new aircraft carrier design in decades.
VCU has many nuclear and mechanical engineering alumni at Newport News Shipbuilding, as well as other big employers like nuclear fuel maker BWX Technologies and nuclear reactor builder Framatome in Lynchburg, Speich notes, and “we have representatives from these companies on our advisory boards.”
Other options are in the study of medical isotopes, an essential part of radiopharmaceuticals that are used to detect diagnosis and treat cardiovascular diseases and cancer, according to Phongikaroon.
In 2023, the Energy Department awarded a VCU-led team a $5 million grant to develop a more efficient method of isotope production, and researchers from VCU, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University are forming a consortium with the Oak Ridge laboratory to train 70 undergraduate and graduate students in all aspects of isotope production.
The next frontier
Nuclear energy isn’t the only hot area of research. VCU engineering master’s students have the option for a concentration in aerospace engineering, which prompted the idea of offering a minor to undergraduates.
The demand for education in the field certainly has been strong, according to Speich. “When we have open houses, people ask if we have aerospace.” VCU students are active in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics professional society and in RAM Rocketry, which provides experience in the field of rocketry and aerospace design through student rocketry competitions.
The minor will be useful to engineering students seeking jobs related to the design, manufacture and testing of airplanes, helicopters, drones, rockets, spacecraft or satellites, Speich says. So far, “we have at least a dozen in this minor,” he says. One student who had already begun taking electives, “will be graduating in December.”
Having already offered aerospace courses, VCU can cite an impressive list of employers its engineering grads have gone on to, including NASA, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Artificial intelligence is also another popular area of study, Eskandarian says — “perhaps the hottest topic now. It’s on the news all the time.”
This new minor covers the essentials of AI technology, with a selection of courses that delve into topics such as machine learning, natural language processing and the ethical considerations of AI.
According to a survey of 300 U.S. and U.K. organizations conducted by Gartner, a technology research and consulting firm, 56% of software engineering leaders rated AI/machine learning engineer as the most in-demand role for 2024, as well as the biggest skills gap.
While perhaps not quite as red-hot as AI is currently, VCU’s minors in data science, cybersecurity and software engineering are also promising fields for future employment.
All types of businesses want employees who know how to handle data, says Eskandarian, and the data science minor is primarily for students majoring in computer science and mathematical sciences with a concentration in statistics.
This interdisciplinary field combines expertise in statistics, computer science and domain-specific knowledge to extract insights and knowledge from data, according to Preetam Ghosh, a professor and interim chair for the engineering college’s Department of Computer Science.
Ghosh’s department is the largest in the college, offering courses on AI, cybersecurity, high-performance data mining and machine learning, among other fields. Data science is used in all of them, Ghosh says. “Every graduate of VCU should have a chance to get educated in data science and AI. Every job needs some type of data and AI, even arts majors.”
As for the cybersecurity minor, it’s open to non-computer science majors and gives them valuable troubleshooting skills that let them identify hacking weaknesses and correct problems. The student may not be qualified to create a cyber defense product, Ghosh says, but “it covers the basics” such as blockchain technology, a method of recording information that makes it difficult for the system to be hacked or manipulated.
As for software engineering, Ghosh says it’s a mainstay for the IT industry, where “the demand is more than the supply. These are good jobs with security.”
The minor is meant to provide students with an understanding of software life cycles; architecture and design patterns; agile software development; and maintenance and testing methodologies. Students also learn about how to collaborate in large software development teams.
Many software jobs don’t need to be filled by someone who has majored in the field, Ghosh adds. It could be an art student or a marketing major. “We’re creating new pathways for students from different backgrounds. We’ve democratized software engineering.”
Eskandarian sees all of these new minors as critical to meeting the needs of students and companies in Virginia. “We want to produce student leader engineers that are serving the market.”
VCU at a glance
Founded
Virginia Commonwealth University was founded in 1838 as the Medical College of Hampden-Sydney and was later renamed the Medical College of Virginia. In 1968, MCV merged with Richmond Professional Institute to form VCU.
Campus
VCU has two campuses in downtown Richmond covering a total of 198 acres. The Monroe Park Campus houses most undergraduate students and classes. VCU’s five health sciences schools, the College of Health Professions, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and VCU Health are located on the MCV campus.
Full-time faculty: 2,457
Full-time university and academic professionals: 3,675
Tuition and fees
In-state tuition and fees: $16,720**
Tuition and fees (out of state): $39,884**
Room and board and other fees: $14,268***
Average financial aid awarded to full-time freshmen seeking assistance: $20,261
* Includes VCU and VCU Health
** Based on 15 credit hours per semester and 30 credit hours for the 2024-25 year. This does not include program fees, which vary based on a student’s major.
*** Room charge is based on a double occupancy in Rhoads Hall, and the dining rate is for the 200 swipes with $225 dining dollars meal plan for the 2024-25 year.
Other legal specialties: Advising governmental entities across Virginia
Education: Shippensburg University, bachelor’s degree; American University, law degree
Career mentors: I’ve been fortunate to have many wonderful mentors who genuinely cared about my career and guided me along the way. They include Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, with whom I interned during his time as a circuit court judge in Fairfax County; Judge Claire G. Cardwell, who taught me and many local trial attorneys how to investigate and litigate difficult criminal cases before juries when I was a young lawyer in the Office of the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney, and she was the chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney; retired Police Chief Jerry A. Oliver, who taught me so much about organizational leadership and management.
First legal job: I was a law clerk for a family law sole practitioner in Washington, D.C., John C. Maginnis III.John was an incredible attorney and early mentor, but that experience taught me that I was not built to be a family law practitioner.
What lessons or insights have you taken from your time as a prosecutor and judge into private practice? As a prosecutor, I first discovered the importance of being professionally intrepid, prepared and diligent, while also learning the art of effective oral advocacy before juries. During my time as a judge, I discovered that listening is one of the most critical skills a legal practitioner can possess. While many people think judges primarily make decisions, the reality is that effective decision-making relies heavily on the ability to listen carefully to the facts and evidence presented.
You led the Richmond School Board’s external investigation of the June 2023 shooting outside a high school graduation ceremony. Why? I took the lead on that investigation because I was eager to conduct a thorough and unrestricted inquiry. The opportunity to investigate without limitations meant that no person or process was off-limits, which I found empowering. Having experience with investigations, public safety, criminal justice and education, I felt well-suited to address the issues at hand, and to produce a meaningful, useful and objective report.
As coastal populations grow and traditional and novel maritime industries increase their use of the Atlantic Ocean, the state government is developing a comprehensive plan to support the coexistence of different uses of the ocean.
A group of more than 100 stakeholders — including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — are developing the Virginia Ocean Plan, a document that is set to come out in a public draft next year.
There are six workgroups focused on different aspects of the plan: fishing and aquaculture; cultural and historic resources; seafloor resources; energy and infrastructure; sustainability and conservation; transportation navigation and security.
“Virginia has the largest naval base in the world, the deepest port on the East Coast, one of the largest commercial seafood industries on the East Coast and the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S., with more on the horizon,” notes Ryan Green, who manages the Virginia Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program under the state Department of Environmental Quality. “It’s important to have coordination and collaboration across these uses.”
One area of conflict, Green says, has been between offshore wind and commercial and recreational fishing, so the plan will include maps of fishing areas in relation to ocean floor leases for wind farms.
“We want to make sure other users are considered and given plenty of opportunities to weigh in,” Green says. “It’s helpful to have a cross-cutting discussion driven by stakeholders and the public.”
Todd Janeski, Virginia Commonwealth University‘s natural resources program manager, says that wind farms, subsea cables, sand mining and changes in shipping lanes have also impacted commercial fishing.
“The commercial fisheries industry is very apprehensive about changes in ocean use,” he says. “How do we better coordinate around those issues to be more efficient and address conflicts?”
Although Green acknowledges that these deadlines are “moving targets,” an internal draft of the ocean plan is expected to be completed in early 2025, while a public draft will be available in the second half of the year.
“We want it to be as close to a consensus process as it can be,” Green says. “We plan for this to be a living document. As new opportunities are being developed, we will continue to revise it.”
In the past 10 years, the Richmondlaw firm has seen its annual revenues swell from $106 million to $171 million and its annual profits have risen by 11.2%. What’s more, the firm’s president, CEO and chairman of the board, Calvin W. “Woody” Fowler Jr., is bullish on that growth continuing. He projects “north of $185 million” in revenues for the current fiscal year, ending Jan. 31.
Williams Mullen, with 260 attorneys on staff, about 70 of them hired within the past two-and-a-half years, is now the third largest law firm in the commonwealth, but it got off to a decidedly more modest start. Its origins reach back to 1909, when Lewis C. Williams and James Mullen decided to open a practice in Richmond aimed at helping local enterprises negotiate a changing regulatory environment. Four years later, when Congress further complicated life for businesses by instituting a federal income tax, many new clients came calling, and the firm was off and running.
In the 115 years since the firm’s namesakes first hung their shingle, Williams Mullen has evolved into a one-stop shop for the legal needs of a swath of clients, both corporate and private.
The firm has three core sections — Corporate, Litigation and Real Estate — and a host of specialized practices ranging from tax, employee benefits and immigration to intellectual property, energy, health care and government relations.
Its attorneys represent 4,000 clients across industries as varied as banking, senior living and industrial and manufacturing. Notable clients include the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the state attorney general’s office, Atlantic Union Bank, TowneBank and Koch Industries.
The firm represented Sweet Briar College during its near dissolution 10 years ago, and among its current roster of local clients is Charlottesville-based Red Light Management Group, the music entertainment management group building the Allianz Amphitheater in Richmond.
Williams Mullen has been picking up increasing amounts of national and international work in recent years, but its focus remains resolutely regional, and it maintains offices in Richmond, Charlottesville, Norfolk and Tysons, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. “We’re just as good as anyone and at a better value because we don’t have the overhead of big cities,” Fowler says.
Go-to for startups
In addition to serving long-established corporations, the law firm has become a favorite go-to for new enterprises, as well.
In 2020, for example, Richmond pharmaceutical startup Phlow, which landed a $354 million federal contract to help build a strategic national reserve of essential medications, turned to Williams Mullen for assistance.
Gregory R. Bishop, head of Williams Mullen’s 90-attorney corporate section, the firm’s largest practice group, helped shepherd Phlow’s 19,200-square-foot manufacturing operation in Petersburg through the approvals process needed to get it up and running in a speedy fashion. The facility opened this spring, and a second plant is in the works.
Entrepreneur Gary Warren turned to John M. Paris Jr., a partner at Williams Mullen, for advice when Warren was starting up his Virginia Beach health care tech company, ivWatch, in 2020.
“John knows the ins and outs of how to do it properly,” says Warren, who also cites the work of Williams Mullen partner Anne E. Domozick in helping to make ivWatch a reality. “They are good with all the corporate law stuff that is usually ignored by startups.”
Another notable entrepreneur who sings the law firm’s praises is Tom Walker, CEO of DroneUp, the high-profile, fast-growing Virginia Beach-based aerial drone services company.
Walker relied on the expertise of Paris and fellow Williams Mullen partners Thomas R. Frantz and David C. Burton to guide DroneUp in raising $23 million in private financing. The legal team also helped negotiate DroneUp’s partnership deal with Walmart on a pilot program providing last-mile drone delivery services.
“People have said time and again to get a bigger law firm, but there’s never been a time when the advice they gave wasn’t good,” Walker says of the trio of Williams Mullen lawyers. “I’d be hard-pressed to work with anyone else. They are top-notch.”
Triple commitment
Williams Mullen’s ability to provide clients with a high level of comprehensive services is the result, Fowler says, of an intentional strategy to build a collegial and supportive in-house culture aimed at attracting, developing and retaining talented lawyers. “We take care of our people,” he says.
As proof, Fowler notes that during the firm’s past two summer associate programs, the firm made 25 job offers and had 25 acceptances, something he calls “unprecedented. You usually predict you’re going to get 60% to 80% of the people you make offers to.”
The firm has developed a deep bench of “young leaders” and “young producers” in the 35- to 50-year-old demographic, says Fowler, adding, “We should be good for the next 25 years.”
Although turnover can be a fact of life at many law firms, Williams Mullen lawyers tend to spend their entire careers there. Paris, for instance, has been with Williams Mullen more than 30 years and Bishop for 26. Fowler himself has been with Williams Mullen for almost 34 years, spending the past 10 as CEO.
With just a mere decade at Williams Mullen, Jamie Baskerville Martin, head of the firm’s 13-member health care section, is a relative newbie who found herself pleasantly surprised by the firm’s culture. “We are not siloed, not separated. The sections are permeable,” she says. “The willingness of everyone to pitch in and work collaboratively has exceeded my expectations.”
Another big plus for Martin is that community service is baked into Williams Mullen’s DNA. On day one, Bishop says, new hires are asked what community organizations stir their passions and are told that Williams Mullen will get behind whatever cause moves them.
In Martin’s case, that has meant donating pro bono hours to nonprofits providing care to people who otherwise would fall by the wayside. For Bishop, the cause is multiple sclerosis, because a close family member was diagnosed with the disease back when he was a young associate at the firm. Since then, he has donated many hours to working for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has also served on its board and put together a Williams Mullen bike team that raised more than $40,000 for the cause.
In all, Williams Mullen supports more than 200 organizations through a combination of leadership, service, pro bono work and contributions from the Williams Mullen Foundation, which has donated more than $1 million to local, regional and national nonprofits during the past five years.
While technology and generations might change, Williams Mullen’s formula for success — a triple commitment to its clients, staff and community — won’t, says Fowler: “That philosophy will always underpin everything we do.”
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