�鶹ֱ�� Career Perspectives | Insights | �鶹ֱ�� & Lardner LLP

Different Strengths, One Team: An Interview With Texas Attorneys of the Year Chris Converse and Chris Babcock

Holly Kane — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 19:03:15 +0000

At �鶹ֱ��, collaboration is embedded in our culture and in how we serve our clients. We recruit, retain, and promote people from a variety of backgrounds who bring together their unique strengths, perspectives, and approaches to deliver innovative solutions and service excellence.

The firm’s collaborative culture was on full display when partners Chris Converse and Chris Babcock worked together on a “rare kind of legal achievement” that required both strategic vision and deep technical analysis. Converse, the big-picture thinker, and Babcock, the in-the-weeds tactician, played a key role in shaping and advocating for Texas Senate Bill 29, drafting the legislation, testifying in support of it, and advising on major reincorporations.

Babcock and Converse recently won at the 2026 Texas Legal Awards, presented by Texas Lawyer and Law.com for their leadership in helping shape Texas’ evolving corporate governance landscape.

We caught up with both attorneys to find out more about their successful collaboration, what they have learned from each other’s differences, and why a variety of perspectives leads to the best results.

Chris Converse: One of the things I appreciate most about working at �鶹ֱ�� is that we are a firm with the resources to seize this type of advocacy opportunity. We have incredibly talented people across the firm, and the firm’s culture encourages us to hone our individual strengths while also working together to bring the most value to our clients.

Chris Babcock: That’s exactly right. Our work on Texas Senate Bill 29 was rare opportunity with a lot of moving parts and some difficult legal challenges. This type of complex matter benefits from having a team of people who think differently about the problem.

With 26 years of practice experience, Converse describes his role as helping clients and teams maintain focus on the broader strategy.

Converse: My instinct is always to step back and ask, “What are we trying to accomplish? What are the key issues that matter most?” When you’re dealing with a complicated matter, it’s easy to get distracted by side issues. I make it my job to ensure we’re staying focused on the objectives that will ultimately drive success.

Babcock, who has practiced since 2011, approaches challenges from a different angle.

Babcock: I enjoy digging into the details. I like getting into the weeds, understanding the nuances, and testing every assumption. That means spending time with the doctrine, the technical issues, and the areas where the answer may not be immediately obvious.

The two attorneys divide the work with mutual deference and some humor, and their collaboration proved powerful.

Converse: Chris has an incredible ability to immerse himself in the details and uncover arguments or implications that others might miss. That’s a tremendous asset on a matter where precision matters.

Babcock: And Chris brings the strategic perspective that keeps everything connected to the client’s goals. It’s not enough to have the right legal answer. You have to understand how it fits into the larger picture and what it means for the client.

The collaboration also reflects something both attorneys see as distinctly �鶹ֱ��.

Babcock: There’s a real appreciation here for different working styles. People aren’t competing to prove they can do every aspect of a matter themselves. The expectation is that you’ll bring your strengths to the table and trust your colleagues to bring theirs.

Converse: That’s one of the reasons �鶹ֱ�� has been such a rewarding place to build a career. There’s a deeply rooted understanding that we serve our clients and each other best when we work as one team. Everyone contributes something unique, and that’s viewed as a strength, not a limitation.

Looking back, both attorneys agree that their contrasting approaches produced something greater than either could have accomplished alone.

Converse: The best teams are rarely made up of people who think exactly alike. It’s been one of the most rewarding things in my whole career.

Babcock: We complement each other really well and see each other’s blind spots. The combination of strategic focus, technical depth, creativity, and collaboration helped us achieve a result we’re incredibly proud of.

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Episode 147: Roland Potts, Partner

Holly Kane — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:18:55 +0000

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Building a Meaningful Legal Career in BigLaw: Louis Lehot and Andre Thiollier on Adaptability, Relationships, and the Future of Law

Holly Kane — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 20:10:14 +0000

�鶹ֱ�� partners Louis Lehot and Andre Thiollier have built legal careers shaped by early exposure to the profession, international experience, and a shared belief that successful client service is rooted in relationships.

In a recent conversation with Neil Taylor and Greta Propp from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Lehot and Thiollier reflected on the experiences that shaped their careers, the value of working across borders, and why relationships continue to matter in an increasingly technology-driven legal profession.

Career paths are not always straight

Lehot knew early that he wanted to become a lawyer, viewing the profession as a way to make an impact. Before law school, he worked on international transactions and privatizations in Europe, experiences that showed him how lawyers help clients navigate important business decisions.

Thiollier, a fourth-generation lawyer, began working in a law firm while attending law school in Brazil. Being in both the classroom and the office helped him understand how legal concepts are applied in real client situations.

For Thiollier, career growth often came from being asked to take on something new. He described it as a “plateau game”: learning something, getting comfortable, and then having to stretch again. Those moments helped him build confidence and shape his practice.

International experience offers important lessons

Both Lehot and Thiollier spoke about the value of working across countries and cultures. For Lehot, international work showed that law is not only about documents and deals — it is also about understanding culture, communication, and context. People may use the same words but mean different things, making cultural awareness an important part of advising clients effectively.

He also encouraged lawyers considering time abroad to think carefully about “re-entry” and how they will translate that experience when returning to a domestic market.

Thiollier said moving from Brazil to the United States required him to “climb the ladder again” in a new legal market. That transition reinforced the importance of persistence, humility, and a willingness to keep learning as one’s career path evolves.

Relationships are central to client service

“This is a service business and a relationship business,” Lehot said. For him, great lawyers do more than provide strong legal work. They make clients feel supported, especially during difficult moments. He said great lawyers make clients feel “covered, comforted, and thought about.”

That mindset informs how he approaches relationship building. Lehot described making regular calls with “no agenda” as a way to stay connected, support people, and invest in relationships before there is a specific need.

Thiollier similarly emphasized that client service is ultimately about people. Lawyers may formally represent companies, but the work itself centers on helping people solve problems, make decisions, and navigate challenges. Trust, responsiveness, expertise, and clear communication are central to that work.

AI is changing the work, but human judgment still matters

Lehot encouraged young lawyers to become “masters of the technology” while continuing to develop the communication skills and judgment that clients value.

“I think AI is going to allow young lawyers to have more client contact because there is going to be less need to do what I’ll call grunt work that kept lawyers in the background. They’re now much more in the foreground.”

Thiollier said AI can increase efficiency, but lawyers still need to understand the substance of the work. Technology may help produce an answer, but young lawyers must learn why that answer is correct, how it applies, and how to communicate it clearly to clients.

Advice for young lawyers

Lehot encouraged young lawyers to make time for people. Meeting peers, staying in touch, and building relationships over time can shape a career in ways that are not always obvious at the beginning.

Thiollier encouraged young lawyers to keep learning and to expect moments when they will need to grow into a new level of responsibility. Each stage of a career brings new challenges, and those challenges are part of developing confidence, resilience, and judgment.

Across the conversation, Lehot and Thiollier returned to a consistent theme: meaningful careers are built through experience, adaptability, and relationships. While technology will continue to transform how lawyers work, they emphasized that successful client service remains rooted in trust, sound judgment, clear communication, and human connection.

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