Bob Baradaran was happy leading the real estate transactional group at Greenberg Glusker and serving as general counsel to companies in the real estate, sports and entertainment sectors. The idea of ascending to the role of managing partner was not something he had ever thought about.
But when the opportunity presented itself earlier this year, Baradaran got right to work with the same high level of energy he has always brought to his clients.
“What I do every day for my clients is solve problems and try to understand their business,” says Baradaran.
“My goal is to find ways to improve their business and execute on their strategic plans and goals. So the transition of doing that daily for my clients to effectively doing it within our organization was pretty seamless.
“While I previously developed plans in concert with my clients, now I do that for the firm.”
Baradaran is just the fifth managing partner at the firm since it was founded in 1959. Stability has been a hallmark of the firm’s leadership, but the same cannot be said for the legal market.
“There are quite a few changes happening in the legal market and as a result, the biggest challenge is the change we’re going through internally to adjust,” Baradaran says.
“Whenever you have change, you have challenges. At the same time, that change can be a big opportunity.”
Baradaran has a style that reflects both authority and approachability, which has helped him effectively lead his team of some 100 attorneys.
“At the end of the day, when you’re managing an organization, you need to have a vision and a plan and you need to find ways to execute that plan,” Baradaran says. “You need to energize and motivate people to help you execute that plan. It’s all about managing relationships and motivating people — something I really enjoy doing.”