The story of John Soroko’s leadership at Duane Morris LLP actually begins years before he took over as chairman and CEO of the law firm in January 2008.
For nearly a decade before Soroko assumed the firm’s top post, Duane Morris had been transitioning from a local Philadelphia law firm with a centralized base of lawyers and clients into a national firm with offices in most major markets throughout the U.S.
By the time Soroko took over, Duane Morris employed 650 lawyers and 1,400 total employees, reporting $375 million in 2007 revenue.
Soroko needed to continue growing Duane Morris, and he needed to do it with a firm that had vastly increased its locations, its employee numbers and, perhaps most dauntingly, the miles in between.
“That was my big challenge, to keep that [growth] going, to move on to the next plateau and do it all while maintaining the culture that we very much value, a culture of collegiality and cooperation,” Soroko says. “Then, just to make things a little more complicated, do it all in an economic environment that is far from ideal.”
To make it happen, Soroko has placed an increased emphasis on hiring people who fit the culture, utilizing feedback to fuel growth and staying accessible.
It’s been a complicated process involving risk, but as with any business, the consequences of inaction are potentially more severe.
“The thought process was that if we stuck with the former, the best that could come out of that would be a fairly moribund institution,” Soroko says. “Therefore, it was a good gamble to take. We felt we could leverage our existing firm and culture to attract outstanding lawyers to help us build offices everywhere from San Diego to New York to Miami.”
