Charlie Harris, Charlotte Office Managing Partner, Haynes Boone

In an interview with Invest:, Charlie Harris, Charlotte office managing partner of Haynes Boone, discussed Charlotte’s rise as a funds finance hub, the role of AI in legal services, and the advantages of scale, culture, and recruiting in a competitive market. “Charlotte is a competitive market in a way that I have not seen before in terms of the moves people are willing to make to try to get talent,” Harris said.

How are you approaching recruitment and retention in an increasingly competitive legal market, and how are you supporting the next generation of attorneys?

People would like to have a degree of understanding and certainty about what is possible in their careers. They understand there are no guarantees, but they want to know that if they do certain things, if they contribute their energy and time, and if they do the things they should be doing, they have a path forward. Helping people identify a path for their careers is hugely important.

That can be a first-year attorney, but it can also be third- and fourth-year attorneys once they have gotten into the flow of their careers a little bit and are still trying to figure things out. Having someone who has been there before them say, “Here is what I have seen happen before, and here is what might be appropriate for you,” is important.

Charlotte is a competitive market in a way that I have not seen before in terms of the moves people are willing to make to try to get talent. You need to help people think through the reality that there is uncertainty in the market right now because of AI. 

Retention starts with having a stable platform and having the kind of place where, when people come in to interview, they actually meet people who genuinely say good things about our environment. They may have gripes about their day-to-day job, but we want them to feel supported, have the resources they need, have the specialists they need, and have competitive pay to reflect the value they are bringing to our clients and to the firm.
Finally, our Charlotte office moved into a new, thoughtfully designed space in 2024 to help with how much our headcount has grown. Our firm now occupies the entire seventh floor of the Legacy Union SIX50 building.

How are AI and other innovations changing the way Haynes Boone delivers legal services?

We have all heard about AI ad nauseam for at least the past five years, and the amount you hear about it has only accelerated. Over the past year, we have been seeing more than theoretical discussions. We are seeing more than training and more than discussions around potential pitfalls, including hallucinations and confidentiality issues. We are actually seeing it implemented.

We are rolling out products. Our firm is using AI tools, and we have to be careful to make sure that we comply with client directives on this. Some clients say you cannot use anything. Other clients want to see some of the efficiencies. In a lot of cases, it becomes a conversation around using a product that is a closed system, where confidential information can go into that closed system and enable us to do analysis that we can then check.

At the end of the day, it is a tool; a fancy, nice tool. There is still an element of safeguarding around AI. For litigators, you still have to go back and check to make sure the cases represent what you say they represent and that they have not been overruled. 

That is one of the advantages larger platforms have in terms of resources. With almost 800 lawyers, we can afford to have an AI guru who has a team of people strictly focusing on AI. We can afford to have an office of general counsel that looks at the ethics of AI and helps us think through that, so the partners and associates working on active matters can get caught up quickly on developments and new products. Scale really does have an impact.

How is Charlotte’s continued growth as a financial center influencing the type of work coming into your office, and where are you seeing the most demand?

Charlotte’s banking community obviously has a great history and pedigree. It is a nationally recognized banking center, but it is coming into its own in a way that is really interesting. Part of that is just a maturation of the market. Charlotte has now hit something of a critical mass where you have a concentration of human capital that is really special.

A big part of that in the Charlotte financial sector is the fund finance aspect of the space. Charlotte is a known fund finance hub in a way that is really special. Commercial banking and corporate banking have been happening for a while in Charlotte, but more recently, fund finance has been that additional layer of sophistication.

Banks see that there is a human capital concentration, and law firms see that too. There have been two waves of law firms opening offices in Charlotte. The first wave was around 2007 to 2014, and, at some level, those firms were following clients into the market. The second wave started around 2023. Firms may already have clients here, but now the market in and of itself is a reason to invest and open an office here.

National firms have a lot to offer both their clients and attorneys. For our clients, having a platform tied into New York, Dallas, London, and other places means we see more niche financial services work that has historically been centered in New York. For attorneys, you have support on AI and technology generally, and you have the resources to have enough people to support matters at a high level.

What differentiates Haynes Boone as more national firms move into Charlotte?

Well, this is not a quick elevator speech. The answer is not any one thing. Many things are working at the same time.

One of those things is that Haynes Boone simply does great work. Ultimately, that is the important thing to do, and that means hiring the right people and getting them to do the work we need to do. Part of it is also keeping an eye on costs. Not every firm has figured out how to manage costs, and that takes a certain kind of culture. We can talk through things, discuss things, and come to decisions through a collection of smart people who are well intentioned. That is huge.

A lot of what truly differentiates Haynes Boone is our culture. People come to us because they want a culture where partners truly act like partners. They do not want to give up top-tier legal work. We have a Supreme Court practice, a strong insurance group, a great IP group, and a strong team in funds finance and leverage finance, among other stellar teams around the firm. I also think a lot of it comes back to helping people know they have a path at Haynes Boone. 

How are client expectations evolving, and where are clients asking for more?

Client responsiveness is absolutely essential. Without client responsiveness, you are not going to have a client for long. Our clients have deadlines and expectations imposed on them by other people, and they want to do a great job just like we want to do a great job.

Part of our job is understanding that responsiveness is part of what our firm does best. We absolutely want to get the right answer and give the right advice, but we need to do it in a quick time frame. Again, that gets back to staffing. You need to have a model of staffing where you can put the right volume of people with the right skill set on a matter so you can respond quickly. We have that model at Haynes Boone to help our attorneys succeed.

We have also been in an inflationary environment for a while. As fees are going up across the industry, clients expect the work to be done quickly and accurately. There is also a greater focus on how firms can be more efficient. AI is going to be part of that, but it also goes back to making sure that on any given deal, you have the right person from the beginning and the right person at the right price point for the given task.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth in Charlotte over the next few years?

Banks and bank-adjacent institutions, including fintech, are going to continue to grow. I do not think there is going to be any slowdown in the financial services sector. Because of the concentration of human capital, I also think you are going to continue to see some corporate relocations into Charlotte.
Our firm has strategically grown right alongside the growth of the city. We started an office in Charlotte with three attorneys and have quickly expanded to 30 attorneys.

It is a great place to work, and Charlotte has a lot going for it. There is always going to be a challenge anytime you have growth in terms of infrastructure, but Charlotte has a great platform. It is, at some level, a financial and business capital for the Carolinas. In both states, you have sound public university systems, some fantastic private colleges, and good youth school systems, both public and private.

Growth is going to continue along the same themes, but with some variations of what has happened in the past 25 or 30 years. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next five to 10 years, and we are excited that Haynes Boone will be a part of that growth.