Managing Partner Jeff Sharp Talks Leadership, Longevity, and Law Firm Culture

In this exclusive interview, Marshall Gerstein Managing Partner Jeff Sharp discusses leadership, longevity, and law firm culture from the perspective of an IP practice.

Marshall Gerstein has remained fiercely independent, unlike many of its peer intellectual property firms, which have merged. What specific strategic decisions have been most critical to sustaining that independence, and how might other managing partners apply similar thinking?

Jeff Sharp: We’re an IP specialty firm with about 90 attorneys, plus patent agents, some of whom will become attorneys down the road. About 90% of our attorneys have engineering or science backgrounds, and we appreciate being around others who enjoy being immersed in such a science-focused environment. Cultural cohesion is a significant part of why we value independence.

Strategically, the most important thing that has helped us over the years has been maintaining a long-term perspective. It’s easy to react impulsively to market shifts, but we’ve tried to resist that. We’ve always had the mindset that markets fluctuate, and you’ve got to remain steady through those cycles. Even though we’re focused on IP, we work across the full spectrum of it, which gives us resilience.

We also don’t overreact when one area slows down. We don’t rush to cut staff. We’ve seen time and again that things come back, so we avoid sudden moves, whether it’s over-hiring or quick layoffs. That stability and technical diversification have served us well.

Science is constantly evolving. One of the great things about this job is that we get paid to keep learning. Most of us had done something else before attending law school. I worked briefly in the chemical industry. Many of our attorneys come from academia or the private sector, bringing a real-world perspective.

What’s fun about this job is that we get to see new technologies every day, unlike in an industry where you might work deeply in one narrower area for an entire career. It keeps the work interesting.

So, while it’s not directly about firm leadership, I think that curiosity and passion for learning have a lot to do with why we’ve stayed independent and happy doing what we do.

You’ve emphasized excellence in recruiting, retention, and professional development. What concrete practices or policies have had the most measurable impact, and how do you track their success?

Jeff Sharp: These are practices that have definitely evolved. About a dozen years ago, we overhauled our candidate interview process by transitioning to panel interviews and requesting writing and technical writing samples, which led to better outcomes. However, candidates are different today, and we’re conducting some post-facto analysis to determine what still works and where we can improve.

About half of our hiring is from straight out of law school but the rest comes from industry or academia in STEM fields, although we also periodically hire laterals. Either way, the heavy lift is in training and development. Law school teaches legal research and writing, but not how to practice law. That part is still very much an apprenticeship. You learn by working with people, starting with smaller tasks and building from there.

We’re very intentional about that. We’ve had a mentoring program for years and continue to refine it. Another thing we’ve done for a long time that’s been impactful is our review process. Twice a year, we conduct formal reviews with associates, and we also ask associates to review the partners anonymously.

That was pretty controversial when we started it 20-some years ago. Even today, when I talk to people at other firms, they’ll say, “Oh, our partners would never go for that.” But we’ve done it long enough now that many of our current partners went through it as associates. 

One of the things associates rate is the quality and timeliness of partner feedback. Those results go to our compensation committee—anonymously, through a double-blind process—and we actually use them when evaluating partner performance. Everyone knows it’s coming, and I think that motivates people to be better mentors and better partners.

Another key is making sure people feel heard. These are smart, thoughtful professionals who have valuable insights.

We have an associates committee—three associates elected each year on a rotating basis—that meets regularly with the executive committee. We also have monthly meetings with senior administrators and with all associates more broadly. We share ideas and invite feedback.

We engage with our professional staff in the same manner. They don’t have a formal committee, but we present to them monthly and open the floor. They’re the ones who know how things work, whether it’s billing systems, document management, or any of the operational stuff that makes the firm run. Their insights are incredibly valuable, and we make a concerted effort to listen to them.

In what ways has your firm’s commitment to DEI strengthened your ability to attract and retain top IP talent, and how do you ensure these initiatives are not just symbolic but deeply embedded in the firm’s culture and operations?

Jeff Sharp: We’re a law firm. We don’t make widgets. We offer the wisdom and expertise of trained attorneys and other professionals to help our clients solve legal issues. Sure, we have technology and a nice office, but ultimately, it all comes down to the quality of our people.

Talent is broadly and widely distributed across various demographics, including race, ethnicity, gender, and region, among others. We’re constantly looking for smart, hardworking people. And to do that well, we must look everywhere. This means making intentional efforts to recruit from a diverse range of backgrounds. We don’t just go to the so-called “top ten” law schools, or any narrow set of schools, for that matter. That’s never been our hiring model, especially since we bring in a lot of people from industry.

Our reputation for being inclusive makes it easier to attract the kind of talent we want to hire. And that matters, especially now, when some organizations are unfortunately reevaluating their diversity commitments. But for us, it’s essential. It’s not symbolic. It’s embedded in how we think about building a great team.

There’s also the myth that diversity means compromising on quality. That’s just not true. We’ve never done that, and we never will. What we do is look harder and cast a wider net to find great people who may not come from the “usual” places, but who have the intelligence, drive, and potential to succeed. And once they’re here, we focus on training and developing them to do excellent work for our clients.

That also reflects the reality of who we serve. Our clients are diverse. We not only work with lawyers and general counsel, but we also collaborate directly with inventors, scientists, and engineers—an incredibly diverse group, both in the United States and globally. It only makes sense for our team to reflect that diversity as well.

Ultimately, DEI isn’t something we do in addition to other things. It’s fundamental to who we are and how we operate.

Given the competitive pressures facing mid-sized specialist firms today, how do you balance client demands for efficiency and innovation with the need to invest in long-term talent and firm infrastructure?

Jeff Sharp: We’re fortunate to be big enough to afford those investments. We invest heavily in technology to help us work more efficiently, and having scale allows us to do that. I don’t know what the minimum size is to make those kinds of investments viable, but we’re definitely at a size where it works.

It also means we can support a strong administrative leadership team, comprising the COO, CTO, CFO, and many others who handle a significant portion of the operational and infrastructure work. That frees up our lawyers to focus on practicing law instead of managing offices or systems themselves.

Do you think that threshold will lower over time as technology advances, especially given the rapid evolution of AI?

Jeff Sharp: It already has, to some extent. Technology has replaced many of the manual processes. Think about accounting. There used to be entire teams of bookkeepers for what one person with software can now accomplish.

When it comes to large, complex cases, technology helps tremendously. We manage hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of documents in some matters. That used to mean paper everywhere, literally, Bates stamping and highlighting documents by hand. Thankfully, those days are gone.

Yes, technology helps us practice law more effectively. And while we have a large administrative staff that still plays a critical role, technology makes it all more manageable.

When it comes to adoption, we don’t try to be first movers or beta testers, but careful observers. We watch what others are doing, learn from their experiences, and adopt solutions that make sense for our firm. That approach has served us well.

Looking ahead to your firm’s 70th anniversary, what leadership lessons would you share with other managing partners about navigating change while staying true to a firm’s core identity?

Jeff Sharp: I’ve been in this role for 23 years now, which is a lot longer than I originally intended.

One lesson that’s stuck with me came from an unexpected place. My freshman roommate in college joined the Army ROTC and earned a scholarship to pay for school. I remember asking him, “What do they teach you about leadership?”

He said, “Two things: first, lead from the front. And second, take care of your people.” At the time, we were only 19 or 20 years old, so the full meaning didn’t sink in right away. Still, that second one—take care of your people—has really stayed with me over the years.

He explained it this way: if someone in your unit is dealing with something difficult, like a divorce or a sick child, that’s not just their problem. It’s your problem as a leader because it affects how the whole unit functions.

I’ve seen versions of that lesson throughout my career. Before I became a lawyer, I worked as an engineer at a chemical plant in Houston. Some of the foremen there ran union crews, and they knew how important it was to take care of their people. These were seasoned workers—some had been there 25 years—and they really understood how to keep the plant running safely.

Whether you’re running a chemical plant or a law firm, it’s all about people. As a leader, you need to model the behaviors you want to see and support your people when they face challenges, whether those challenges are personal or professional.

If you can do that, if you build a culture where people feel supported, the organization tends to run well.