Lateral Story - Cinthia Granados Motley

Cindy was in a leadership position in a high demand practice when her firm announced that it would be closing its doors. Cindy saw firsthand the dynamics and decisions that led to the closing, and therefore had a very clear idea of what to look for when evaluating where to take her practice. Cindy found Dykema while she already had a number of other offers on the table, but Dykema was the only firm that so fully met all of her criteria.

The Importance of Quality Leadership and Stability
At Dykema, Cindy met with top firm management, including the firm’s Chairman, who readily made themselves available, and she asked some tough questions about the firm’s vision and how it was managed. One seemingly small, but especially relevant, discussion point exemplified the level of quality management that she was looking for and that is the firm’s diligence with succession planning. Cindy had personally experienced how important proactive discussions are in order to protect clients and colleagues, and was impressed with Dykema’ s approach.

Another testament to firm quality that Cindy has experienced is the “amazing” client loyalty. Cindy was surprised by the number of institutional, long-standing loyal client relationships. Dykema is trusted by many for the quality of the legal work provided over many years, and clients continue to turn to Dykema to expand the value the firm can provide.

Entrepreneurial Mindset
When Cindy is asked by former colleagues how things are going at Dykema, she finds herself enthusiastically talking about the many ways Dykema’s entrepreneurialism is helping her grow her practice. Most notable is the seamless way that offices work together. Cindy says that she “gets referrals from across the entire firm on a regular basis,” a refreshing change from other environments she has experienced, where offices act as siloes and therefore limit opportunities to one’s immediate geography.

“The pervasive culture to cross-sell and bring additional value to clients seems to be inherent at Dykema, and doesn’t need to be as forced or as structured as I’ve seen elsewhere.”

Cindy was also pleasantly surprised by the engaged alumni at in-house positions who remain loyal to Dykema. She hadn’t anticipated how Dykema’s alumni network would be so supportive in helping her grow her practice.

Personal Fulfillment Through Leadership and Diversity
Cindy joined Dykema in a leadership position as Director of the Global Data Privacy and Information Security practice. As a lateral, she is in good company, as 65 percent of all Dykema’s leadership positions are held by laterals. In this role, she is given the latitude and support to lead the practice according to her vision, a fulfilling challenge.

As a diverse attorney, Cindy is also proud that Dykema “walks the walk, and doesn’t just talk the talk.” An experience many diverse attorneys can relate to is being placed on pitch proposal teams but never seeing the work that is awarded. “That hasn’t been my experience at Dykema,” says Cindy. Dykema’s Chairman sets the tone from the top that diversity is not just a “check-the-box” exercise.

In fact, as Cindy notes, Dykema is ranked as a Top 10 U.S. firm in Law360’s “The Best Firms For Minority Attorneys."