September 2007

At the end of 2005, I was elected by my colleagues to manage the firm.  I am honored to be entrusted with this responsibility, and to follow the path of our past Executive Principals – we have had just three in our thirty years – Ted Groom, Bob Gallagher, and Gary Ford.  I am fortunate to count each one as a friend and mentor.

I want to share with you our vision for Groom Law Group.  Simply put, in this day of very large law firms, we are an independent specialty firm that provides state of the art, strategic legal solutions for the full range of our clients' employee benefits needs.  Solutions to complex benefits problems take many forms, and we have the depth and breadth of expertise necessary to craft the most effective solutions, whether that means working closely with federal agencies and Congress here in Washington, litigating in federal or state court, or implementing sophisticated compliance strategies.

The headlines today make clear that employee benefits involve increasingly high stakes.  Whether it's the Pension Protection Act's funding rules and fiduciary reforms, corporate bankruptcies and plan terminations, stock drop and cash balance plan litigation, executive compensation compliance, more vigorous IRS enforcement activities, health care class actions, or DOL and SEC regulatory initiatives – it's clear that navigating benefits law is growing more challenging every day.

Our mission is to work alongside our clients as they meet these challenges in every area of employee benefits.  That's a tall order.  To meet it, we are continuously evolving and working to better protect and advance our clients' interest.  At the same time, we are striving to become a better place to work.

• We continue to assemble the best and most comprehensive team of benefits lawyers in the United States.  We have added 21 new lawyers in the past 2 years and now have 57 benefits lawyers, all at our single Washington, D.C. location.  Many of our lawyers have had extensive prior careers as federal regulators or Hill staff.  Ten attorneys at Groom are recognized by Best Lawyers for their employee benefits work, and we are regularly listed as the top employee benefits firm in Chambers USA ("Nationally recognized as a premier benefits boutique…") (emphasis in the original!).

• We are investing in our young lawyers – they are our future.  We have established a comprehensive training program; we have instituted a mentoring program for new associates; and we have set up a "coaching" program for associates to better hone their client relationship skills.

• We are committed to increasing diversity among our firm's attorneys and among attorneys in the employee benefits bar. In addition to our recruiting efforts and funding of a minority scholarship program, we are reaching out to diverse bar organizations, and working with local law schools to raise the profile of employee benefits law with diverse law students.  Stimulating more diversity in the employee benefits bar will require a sustained effort by many, but as the Nation's largest benefits practice, we are committed to providing leadership to enhance diversity among benefits attorneys.

• We are reinvigorating our pro bono efforts. We have established a new Pro Bono Committee, increased the hours we recognize as credit towards "billable" hours and have actively supported non-profit organizations like MicroCredit and Links in Pink.

Almost any one can look up a regulation or an advisory opinion.  But we aim higher.  Our goal is that each of our lawyers be problem solvers informed by the practical and business considerations of our clients, as well as a full appreciation of the importance of our relationships with our clients and each other.

I would appreciate hearing from you on how we are doing – what we are doing well, and where we can improve.  You can contact me at (202) 861-6641 or at jwb@groom.com.  As always, we are enormously grateful for our clients' continued confidence and support and for the privilege of working with our friends in the benefits community.