Voice of Experience: Hilarie Bass, Co-President, Greenberg Traurig

By Michelle Hendelman

Hilarie Bass, Co-President of Greenberg Traurig, emphasized the importance of defining your personal level of success and mapping out a career path that will enable you to get to that level.

According to Bass, all lawyers should look at their careers through a long lens. “Think about what you want to achieve in five years and create a vision for what that definition of success will look like,” explained Bass. “Being a really good technical lawyer is a precondition to any level of success in the practice of law. That being said, technical ability in and of itself is not enough,” she added.

Career at Greenberg Traurig

Bass has a unique career path in that she has spent her entire career at one law firm. “I came to Greenberg Traurig as a summer associate, accepted a job offer on the spot, and have been here for my entire legal career,” explained Bass. She became a shareholder in 1987, and in the mid-nineties Bass became the head of the Miami Litigation Group.

After leading the litigation group in Miami, Bass spent eight years as chair of the Global Litigation Practice for Greenberg Traurig. She then became Global Operating Shareholder for three years, which gave her the unique opportunity to work with the chairs of all the practice groups at the firm.

Since February, Bass has been getting up to speed in her new position as Co-President. “In this role, I have a lot more opportunities for interaction between our lawyers and our clients,” said Bass.

“The achievement I am most proud of in my career, outside of practicing at Greenberg Traurig, is having served as the chair of the ABA litigation section, which is the largest section of the American Bar Association.”

She continued, “The other moment I am proud of is my work on a pro bono case in which I represented two foster children that led to the finding of unconstitutionality of the statutes that prohibited gay people from adopting in the state of Florida. We raised the legal issues from the perspective of two fit children rather than the adopting parents.”

“It was great to be able to use the law in the way I have always thought about it,” Bass said, “which is a tool for social change.”

Currently, Bass is approaching the end of almost four and half years of litigation in a major case involving Chinese drywall. She explained, “Post-Katrina, it made economic sense to import drywall board into the US. Between the real estate boom and the post-Katrina reconstruction, there was a high demand for drywall. As it turned out, the imported drywall contained an excessive amount of sulfur, which will deteriorate anything made of copper or silver in the house.”

Bass continued, “I represented many of the big public builders across the country who repaired their homes on behalf of their homeowners. We have had a lot of success reaching settlements with various parties. I am glad we are coming to a positive end on this case.”

Women in Law

Bass acknowledged the importance of having more senior level women in law, and identified this as a key factor in continuing to promote the advancement of junior women. She noted, “What we are seeing now is fewer institutional impediments to women’s advancement, but rather implicit biases that are much more subtle.”

She continued, “Key decision makers need to ensure that they are not making judgments about somebody simply because they are different from them.”

Bass encouraged young women entering the legal field to observe their job environment carefully. She advised, “It is hugely important that there are women leaders in your work environment, because it does make a difference. When men are accustomed to working with a woman leader, they treat women differently at all career levels.”

“You can learn a lot during the interview process,” said Bass, “If you see other women who are successful in that environment, it should increase your comfort level about the opportunities available at the firm and the lack of institutional barriers.”

Several years ago, Bass started the women’s initiative at Greenberg Traurig. She has since passed the torch to a team of dedicated women who are working hard to realize her vision for the program. Bass said, “The program involves mentoring and providing opportunities for women lawyers to meet with women business representatives, women clients, and women general counsel to create positive opportunities for business development, as well as provide opportunities to discuss common issues that exist and create effective solutions.”

In Her Spare Time

At work, Bass is currently dedicating a lot of her time to working on alternative fee agreements. She explained, “I am working with other lawyers to come up with creative alternatives to the billable hour. It has been a good exercise for our lawyers to think about how to deliver high quality legal services more efficiently.”

When she is not in the office or the courtroom, Bass loves to stay active through skiing, hiking, and cycling.