Exceptional lawyers rise to meet the moment. The women on Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Top Women Lawyers are transforming the field today and shaping its future.
What does this moment demand?
Forbes brought together eight elite attorneys from the list for a roundtable conversation to find out.
These counselors lead major firms and represent a range of specialties, from intellectual property and criminal defense to commercial litigation and corporate law. They are:
- Felicia Ellsworth, partner-in-charge of WilmerHale’s Boston office and vice chair of the Litigation/Controversy Department
- Lindsay Harrison, managing partner of Jenner & Block’s Washington, D.C., office and leader of the firm’s Specialized Litigation and Arbitration Practice
- Kimberly Smith, Chicago-based global chair of Katten’s corporate department
- Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, shareholder and plaintiff’s lawyer at Searcy Law in West Palm Beach and president of the Florida Bar Association
- Alexandra Shapiro, co-founder of white-collar defense and civil boutique Shapiro Arato Bach in New York
- Terri Shieh-Newton, Ph.D., a partner in Mintz’s San Francisco office, focused on AI and life sciences
- Jeanine Conley Daves, employment partner and office managing shareholder for Littler in New York
- Lauren Tabaksblat, co-founder of litigation boutique Brithem in New York
The discussion, which has been edited for length and clarity, centered on AI disruption and the future of law practice, the qualities clients value most, what it takes to reach the top and how women can succeed.
LIANE JACKSON, Forbes senior editor: The legal industry is at an inflection point with artificial intelligence and legal technology transforming how law is practiced. What are clients looking for in outside counsel and how do you meet the need?
LINDSAY HARRISON: The fundamentals haven’t changed: know the law, know their business, tell them the truth—especially when it’s hard to hear. What I have noticed is a growing premium on long-term relationships. As cost pressures have intensified, clients really value lawyers who already know their business and can hit the ground running. AI is changing the practice every day, in concrete ways. But beyond efficiency, clients expect that AI never comes at the expense of judgment. We’re counselors first. The firms that get this right will use AI to sharpen their work, not substitute for it.
FELICIA ELLSWORTH: Clients want outside counsel who deliver excellent legal work with practical judgment, but also who operate as true partners in managing risk, reputation, and business realities. Increasingly, they also want counsel who can anticipate what’s coming and “look around corners”—procedurally, legally, or in the court of public opinion. What’s changed in recent years is the expectation of speed and efficiency without sacrificing quality.
TERRI SHIEH-NEWTON: Clients are focused on value from their outside counsel, which centers on practical, business-oriented guidance delivered efficiently and with sound judgment. That core expectation has remained consistent, but the pace and complexity of matters have increased. As a result, clients place even greater emphasis on efficiency, responsiveness, and counsel who can quickly make informed judgment calls grounded in experience.
ROSALYN SIA BAKER-BARNES: In my role as a plaintiff lawyer, my clients are coming to me having experienced the worst thing that has ever happened to them. They are looking for someone who will listen, fight for them, and help carry the burden forward. In the world of AI technology, our clients are often very educated on their condition because they can research it easily. But lawyers are still needed to be that advocate, to be the voice. The human element of advocacy is still very much alive and well and necessary, because my role is to put my clients in a better position than they’re in when they walk through my door.
ALEXANDRA SHAPIRO: Clients are looking for people who listen carefully, exercise sound judgment, and have the type of experience and approach that helps grow trust and gives them confidence that their problems are in sound hands. In my practice, AI has an important but limited role—it helps digest documents and facts. But most clients come to me for judgment calls and experience that, for better or worse, only human beings who have done what I have done for the past 30 years can provide at a quality level.
LAUREN TABAKSBLAT: Clients have always wanted sound judgment and a willingness to fight from their lawyers. What has changed, for law firms, is the value of leverage. For years, the size of a law firm was understood as a rough measure of its capability—those with more lawyers could do more. But technology has eaten away at that logic over time, and AI has fully swept away whatever was left of it. AI-driven tools now let lean, focused teams execute tasks that once required armies of associates. [Our firm] was built on that premise.
LIANE JACKSON: There has been notable progress for women attorneys, but there is still work to do on issues related to advancement, equity and representation at the highest levels. What’s changed and where is the practice headed?
FELICIA ELLSWORTH: There has absolutely been progress. More visible leadership, more pathways to meaningful work earlier, and a broader recognition that excellence comes in many styles. Today, I see more women in partnership, in firm leadership, and in the courtroom—and that visibility matters enormously. But progress doesn’t mean the work is finished. For new female graduates, the environment today is surely more supportive than it was previously, but it requires navigating a profession that is still evolving. It’s not enough to open doors. You have to actively invest in the people walking through them.
LINDSAY HARRISON: There has been real progress—and I mean that without qualification. Early in my career, we were literally educating partners about why they needed to stop assigning women to manage doc review while men got the depositions, the expert work, the courtroom time. That genuinely feels like ancient history now. Today, I manage our DC office and women manage half our other offices. Women also serve in record numbers on our management and policy committees, and lead some of our most successful practices.
ROSALYN SIA BAKER-BARNES: When I entered the profession, I was one of two female lawyers in a firm of 30 trial lawyers. I found the profession to be incredibly male dominated, with many circumstances where women had to deal with judgment, underestimation, and being treated as if you were not “tough enough” to be in this profession. I kept my eyes on the prize. I’ve seen tremendous growth, but we still have a long way to go. I am currently the president of the Florida Bar—an organization whose history dates back to 1889—and I am the first Black woman president in its history. While I am incredibly honored to serve in this role, it is my goal to ensure that I am not the last.
ALEXANDRA SHAPIRO: The women on this list could all be on any list of top lawyers, regardless of gender. That itself is a testament to how far things have come in the past 50 to 60 years. When Justice O’Connor and Justice Ginsburg graduated from law school, they faced blatant discrimination—law firms wouldn’t hire women, even when they graduated at the top of their classes at the best law schools in the country. By the time I was in law school, women represented 50% of the students and had made huge inroads in the profession. Things are even further along now.
KIMBERLY SMITH: It remains important to keep an emphasis on mentorship and professional development programs to support those entering the legal field. I personally enjoy meeting with junior attorneys for coffee to talk through any challenges they are facing and helping my mentees set goals that support their growth while giving them the confidence to reach them. Beyond mentorship, I suggest ways to raise their visibility—helping them make introductions at networking events, encouraging them to build connections with colleagues and clients. Such opportunities can directly contribute to their career growth and advancement.
LAUREN TABAKSBLAT: It may not be happening as fast as we would like, but there has been genuine progress for women in the profession over time. There are more women in leadership positions today, which made it easier for me to see myself as a co-founder of a law firm. Much of the progress that has been achieved can be traced back to impact litigation over the past few decades that has created new opportunities for women in the legal industry.
LIANE JACKSON: You practice in different specialties, but there are common qualities and characteristics necessary to make it to the top. What does it take to be a go-to lawyer?
ALEXANDRA SHAPIRO: By far the most important quality is good judgment and being able to read people and situations. Intelligence, analytical skills, and the ability to write and speak persuasively are critical—but the most important ability is strategic thinking. Are you able to see the forest through the trees? Are you thinking from day one about how you can win the case, or are you merely focused on completing a task? The best lawyers are always thinking strategically and are focused on the endgame. And the art of persuasion depends on telling a compelling story. That often means making things human, so that empathy can take root. Whether you are speaking to a judge or a jury, you need to be authentic, direct, clear, and to the point. Less is more.
JEANINE CONLEY DAVES: To be a top lawyer, it is imperative to be curious, creative and consistent. Being curious ensures an attorney never stops learning and is always working to hone her craft and understanding of the client’s business and industry. The legal industry is constantly evolving—particularly in areas like employment law—so you always have to be developing and sharpening your skills.
Along with these three traits, having empathy can help an attorney become a leader in the field by maintaining a thoughtful and open mindset toward others, which can be critical to building strong relationships and delivering effective counsel.
LINDSAY HARRISON: The lawyers who are truly exceptional are genuinely curious about their clients’ worlds—not just the legal question, but the business, the industry, the real stakes. That curiosity is what separates good lawyers from great ones, and you can’t fake it. They’re also honestly self-aware: clear-eyed about where they’re strong and where they’re not, willing to bring in someone who knows something they don’t, and able to tell a client something they don’t want to hear without softening it into something useless. I’d add courage—the willingness to take the harder right path over the easier wrong one. And finally: real investment in the people around you. The best lawyers I know make their teams better, and they’re better because of their teams.
ROSALYN SIA BAKER-BARNES: The most critical skill beyond being smart, being prepared, being professional—is resilience. The profession throws everything and the kitchen sink at you. And as a woman lawyer who is also a mother of three children, those challenges can increase exponentially in our effort to be a good lawyer, as well as a good spouse and a good parent. Having that resilience, that belief that you can in fact accomplish what you set out to accomplish, and not letting fear and other people’s limitations limit you—that is critically important.
FELICIA ELLSWORTH: I think it starts with a genuine love of the craft and a commitment to continual improvement. We all learn every day. You need the ability to identify what truly matters, to make choices under uncertainty, and to maintain credibility with courts, clients, and teams. It also takes stamina and humility. The best advocates are relentless about preparation, but they’re also willing to keep learning after wins and losses alike. The lawyers who distinguish themselves are the ones who make the people around them better and who measure success not just by wins, but by impact.
LIANE JACKSON: Law is a practice, but also a business. What are the keys to ensuring value and maintaining client relationships during boom times and slower periods?
ROSALYN SIA BAKER-BARNES: I believe very strongly in the mantra that your network is your net worth. In my practice area, having a wide and vast network is critically important to generating business during good times, during downtime, and everything in between. I’m engaged in both the legal community and the community at large—not for the direct purpose of generating business, but because there are causes that I care about. Having those relationships has resulted in the opportunity to represent people from all over the state and all around the country. One of the most critical parts of being a successful business generator is first being a good lawyer and a good person.
TERRI SHIEH-NEWTON: I always think about my work from the client’s perspective and focus on delivering practical, high-quality results with efficient, experienced teams. Long-term client relationships are built and sustained through sound business advice. During slower periods, I stay forward-looking and help clients anticipate what’s next, so we continue to add value regardless of market conditions.
LINDSAY HARRISON: I try never to think of client relationships as tied to any particular matter. The relationship is the asset, not the case. Slower periods are actually the best time to be in front of clients—thinking with them about what they’re worried about, flagging legal developments that could affect their business, connecting them with colleagues in adjacent areas. Clients notice when you’re helping them without a bill being generated, and they remember it. Breadth also helps: my practice spans hospitality, technology, higher education, international arbitration, appeals, government-facing litigation, and class action defense. When one area is quieter, another is usually active.
KIMBERLY SMITH: By staying ahead of market developments and sharing our perspective with clients, we position ourselves as partners who provide ongoing value regardless of the economic cycle. We have launched several industry reports reflecting Katten’s market insights and our understanding of middle-market dynamics—exploring challenges, opportunities, and expectations for dealmaking amid economic volatility and regulatory uncertainty. This shows clients that we are arming them with market intelligence they can use when they are ready to move forward on a deal.
ALEXANDRA SHAPIRO: The best way to maintain business is to always provide sound and trustworthy advice to your clients, even if it’s advice the client might not initially like. Simply pleasing clients is a formula for no more than short-term success. What most clients are genuinely looking for is a lawyer who they can depend on to speak the truth and to help them without judging them based on the circumstances. My practice is not dependent on any particular line of business and thus is less vulnerable to downtimes in the economy.
JEANINE CONLEY DAVES: To add value to your clients, you need to understand their business and be attentive to their needs. I regularly meet with a number of my clients so that I stay abreast of their concerns and what issues are top of mind or keeping them up at night. That way, when developments arise, you can proactively share insights and demonstrate that you understand not only their work, but the pressures they face internally. We are fortunate that employment law remains active when the economy is strong or during challenging economic downturns. I have found that if you can help your clients through challenges and serve as a resource without expecting anything in return, it generally comes back to you tenfold.
For the full list of America’s Top Women Lawyers, click here.
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