Shareholder and member of the firm’s Labor & Employment practice group Amy Bess was recently interviewed by Crain’s Washington DC, sharing her thoughts and lessons learned in the “If I Knew Then” series. This ongoing series highlights executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders’ mistakes made in their early careers that have shaped their business philosophy.

Ms. Bess , Administrative Shareholder to the DC office, member of the Vedder Price Hiring and Diversity Committees and mentor to many associates, discussed her tendency as a young professional to focus on her work deliverables, without as much dedication to building external client relationships and her professional network. “The lesson I learned was I didn’t start early enough, I didn’t plant the seeds early enough in my career when I was focusing on working hard and developing that expertise,” she said. “I focused almost exclusively on working really, really hard and doing excellent work.”

However, as Amy noted, her early mistake has led her to advising early career attorneys to start right away to build their networks and develop their contacts. “Focus on building client relationships the way you would build any relationship.” She continued, “Look at the way you can add value to those relationships, then you’ll end up with client relationships that are as important and rewarding as the personal relationships in your life”.

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