COURINGTON, KIEFER & SOMMERS, L.L.C.
New Orleans, LA YEARS PRACTICING: 25
PRACTICE AREA: Toxic Tort, Longshore, Workers Compensation, General Casualty, Admiralty
KAYE N. COURINGTON
BEFORE ATTENDINGTULANE UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Kaye Courington was a director of college admissions. But after four years she was ready to explore other career options. Courington, a member at the 14-attorney firm
Courington, Kiefer & Sommers in New Orleans and Ocean Springs, Miss., says, “Te rainmaking piece of my career came very naturally to me. I’m lucky that way. I’m
PARTNER, WATKINS & EAGER PLLC
Jackson, MS YEARS PRACTICING: 23
PRACTICE AREA: Product Liability; Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation
WALTER T. JOHNSON
“IAM FROM A SMALL TOWN IN MISSISSIPPI. My first exposure to lawyers was in the 1960s when the civil rights movement brought lawyers from outside of the Deep South to rural Mississippi,” says Walter Johnson, a rainmaking litigator at Watkins & Eager PLLC in Jackson. “I remember being impressed by the courage they demonstrated and thought about becoming a lawyer myself.” But the law was not Johnson’s first career. In his previ-
ous professional life, he was an X-ray technologist, and later a nuclear medicine technologist and clinical instructor in Jackson. “I grew bored doing the same thing each and every day,” he says. “An early mentor of mine told me that ‘a litigator never drinks from the same stream twice. No two cases are the same. Tere are always different stories and different damages.’ Tat was just what I was looking for.” Trying cases has made Johnson a rainmaker. He started
off doing medical malpractice defense, which allowed him to try a lot of cases early in his career. “And this was before tort reform in Mississippi,” he explains. “A lot of companies were being sued here. Te state became sort of a dumping ground for litigation. Eventually I expanded my practice from defending doctors to also defending pharmaceutical compa- nies and other product manufacturers. “A lot is expected with each piece of litigation, but the more you have the more you want,” adds Johnson.
MCCA.COM
outgoing and curious, always have been. My interest in clients is very genuine, so for me business development is never a chore. It includes getting to know people, learning about their businesses, and letting them know how we can help them. Tis is something I do every day without really thinking about it. A rainmaker never takes a break from business development. Even if I’m traveling to do something like looking at colleges with my kids, I try to meet with an existing or potential client.” Te firm also promotes a “nonprofit of the month”
program. Clients and employees nominate a charity that is particularly meaningful to them. Te selected cause receives a donation, and firm employees are encouraged to volunteer, if applicable and local. “Te program creates bonds and furthers relationships. Plus it’s good for the world and good business. So it’s a win-win situation.”
PARTNER, MCGUIREWOODS
Baltimore, MD YEARS PRACTICING: 27
PRACTICE AREA: Commercial Litigation AVA E. LIAS-BOOKER
“THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF BUSINESS DEVEL- OPMENT HAVE NOT CHANGED MUCH,” says Ava Lias-Booker, who was featured in Diversity & the Bar’s rainmaker article in 2010. “It’s still important for me to meet my clients’ strategic objectives in the litigation we’re working on, to develop relationships with clients so I understand their industries, and to nurture relationships with key decision makers within the client’s corporate or institutional structures.” Te managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Baltimore
office, Lias-Booker says while there is no substitute for hard work, engagement, or focus, she does credit much of her rain- making success to being active in organizations whose mis- sions are wholly or in part dedicated to supporting lawyers of color and women attorneys, such as the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the ClientFocus’ Women Rainmakers Roundtables, and Corporate Counsel Women of Color. She adds “Tere were some, but not a lot of these groups
when I entered the profession. It’s refreshing to walk into rooms where women are gathered talking about their careers and building networks. Becoming actively engaged can cut in half the time spent developing comfort and expertise around business development.” And then she says with a laugh, “It’s these groups that allowed me not to have to learn to play to golf. I could take a spa day with women colleagues and clients instead.”
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® 39
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