QA with Kristy Wagner, Attorney at Law
Kristy Wagner is a seasoned transactional attorney with more than a decade of experience structuring, drafting and negotiating mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings and other commercial transactions. Ms. Wagner advises clients on multi-jurisdictional financings, project financings, lease financings, syndicated bank lending, notes issuances, tax equity transactions and private equity acquisition financings. Ms. Wagner has diverse transactional experience and she represents an array of clients across a variety of industries including clients involved in energy, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure and water sectors. Ms. Wagner is oftentimes engaged at the earliest stages of a transaction, whether it be to draft Memoranda of Understanding or review Letters of Intent, and Ms. Wagner frequently remains engaged through closing. Ms. Wagner has played a lead role on a multitude of transactions, large and small, including a transaction valued in excess of $2 Billion USD. Ms. Wagner also plays an outside general counsel role to clients who appreciate her vast experience and multiple areas of subject matter expertise.
Ms. Wagner is a graduate of Bucknell University’s Class of 2001 and Boston College Law School’s Class of 2004. After graduating from Boston College Law School, Ms. Wagner worked for, and progressed within, several international law firms and was elected partner in late 2014. Ms. Wagner was named “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers in 2014, and in late 2015, Ms. Wagner was named one of “The Top Women Attorneys in New York”. More recently, Ms. Wagner formed her solo law practice, which is based out of New York.
How did you get started in the business of law?
I have always been entrepreneurial – even in my earliest days as an attorney. I was fortunate to have great mentors early on in my career who taught me how to develop and expand client relationships. As a result, I understood the business of law from the outset. I only developed a stronger entrepreneurial spirit over time, which enabled me to transition from a large law firm setting, where I practiced for the first 10 plus years of my legal career, to a small firm mentality.
What actions do you take to generate profit?
To be profitable as an attorney, you must be capable of establishing your value-add early and often during the course of a representation. It is also important that attorneys form dynamic relationships with clients. A client should never have the opportunity to second-guess its choice of outside counsel. In 2018, there were more than 1.3 Million practicing attorneys in the United States. As the legal industry continues to grow, attorneys must continue to better themselves over the entirety of their legal careers. There is no such thing as good enough. That goes for attorneys and their work-products.
How long did it take for you to become profitable?
I was profitable as a first-year attorney. I accomplished this by maintaining a willingness to take on new matters; making myself available to service multiple firm practice groups; paying close attention to the work-products and client communications of those with whom I worked; and investing my spare time in studying and understanding the transactions that others in my practice group were closing. I followed-up by asking questions of attorney-leads and expressed interest in working on similar transactions in the future.
When you were starting out, was there a time you doubted it would work?
I never doubted that I would be a successful attorney. Instead, I considered myself a perpetual student all along the path to success. I made sure to frequently and realistically take stock of both my accomplishments and the areas in which I could stand to improve.
How did you get your first client?
I landed my first client during my first year of practice essentially by imitating the client communication and development skills of my first law firm mentor. I was very lucky to have a mentor who invested in me from our first days working together. He taught me to draft contracts by walking through my drafts, line-by-line. Our drafting sessions typically lasted several hours and, by the end of each session, I had a clear understanding of how I could improve my drafting. He also took me on new business pitches from day one and taught me to always be responsive to clients.
What is one marketing strategy that has enabled you to generate business?
The best marketing strategy is doing great work at every turn. There is simply no better way to attract new clients and to earn the continuing loyalty of existing clients.
What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
In recent months, the tougher decisions have related to the best use of time, whether it be joining a particular committee of a bar association, volunteering my time to those in need, joining a local organization of entrepreneurs or expanding existing relationships. Each of these activities are rewarding in their own right so it comes down to forcing myself to remain well-rounded without over-committing.
What makes you successful?
My broad and deep experience across nearly every type of transaction makes me uniquely situated to service the vast majority of a client’s legal matters. I also fully dedicate myself to each and every client, regardless of the identity or size of the client. I also make myself readily available to clients; I might not be within reach of my laptop at all times but I can always be reached on my cellphone or by email.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Some of my greatest successes have occurred by virtue of clients enjoying working with me and continually desiring to do so.
What are you most excited about?
I am excited by the prospect of getting to know new clients as it is always rewarding to look back upon a new client relationship and see the tangible impact of my counsel relatively early on in the attorney-client relationship. I enjoy getting to know clients’ employees and enabling them to better perform their job duties through the provision of sound business and legal counsel.
What books have inspired you?
I am currently reading “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder. My rationale for selecting this book is the premise that underscoring every great attorney is an adept businessperson who inherently understands business fundamentals.
What is a recent purchase you have made that’s helped with your business?
I took some time to research ways in which to satisfy continuing legal education or CLE requirements of the states in which I am admitted to practice law. I first made a list of subject matters in which I hoped to deepen my existing knowledge, with particular attention to recent changes in law, and also paid particular attention to prior viewers’ comments regarding CLE presentations. As a Big Law attorney, it is all too easy to go with the CLE providers with whom your firm has an account. I found myself taking a chance on a new CLE provider and was very happy with the content of all the programs I attended. It was equally rewarding to communicate with the attorneys whose presentations I attended, who were eager to answer questions and, when demand mounted, deliver additional presentations!
Please ask and answer any question of your choice.
One question other attorneys frequently ask is how I stay on top of the nuances of contract drafting on a day-to-day basis. On any given day, how can I anticipate the impact of revising a reference to materiality to instead refer to a “material adverse effect” or vice versa? I take a multi-pronged approach: (1) I periodically do research and read publications on each hotly contested term or sequence of words (yes, I maintain a running tab!); (2) I listen to how counter-parties advocate for or defend their choice of words; and (3) I seek-out opportunities to geek-out by attending talks, CLEs or even conferences on the subject of contract interpretation.
Connect:
www.kristywagnerattorney.com
