Christopher Nasson, Managing Partner: Boston, K&L Gates LLP

In an interview with Invest:, Christopher Nasson, managing partner of international law corporate law firm K&L Gates LLP, talked about the firm’s global presence and its focus on key industries such as asset management, life sciences, and renewable energy. Highlighting record-breaking revenue and strategic expansions, Nasson emphasized the firm’s commitment to navigating evolving regulations and integrating new technologies, while addressing challenges like talent retention and inflation. 

Can you provide an overview of K&L Gates and its presence in the legal landscape? 

We are a global law firm with offices across five continents and nearly 2,000 lawyers. In Boston, we have nearly 100 lawyers and function as a full-service law firm, with a focus on asset management and funds, commercial and financial services litigation, white-collar defense and investigations, labor and employment, and intellectual property.

What are some key highlights and accomplishments from the past year? 

In 2023, we had a record revenue year, beating the revenue record we set in 2022. I am optimistic that 2024 will be another record year. We became a billion-dollar business several years ago, and our size and scope continue to grow annually. In Boston, we added a number of lateral partners over the last year that we think have grown our strength in a number of industries, including life sciences, asset management and renewable energy. 

What are some of the key industries driving demand? 

Some of the biggest drivers we are seeing in this market are financial services and asset management companies, life sciences and healthcare. Historically, asset management companies have always been a big force in the Boston market, and in the last decade, we have seen the life sciences industry grow exponentially. It feels like everywhere you look there are cranes in the sky building lab and office space for life science companies that are growing or moving to our region. 

What are some of the opportunities in the energy sector? 

We did add a lateral partner, Theodore Paradise, about eight months ago who focuses on renewable and green energy. We have seen a lot of interest in that space over the last few years. We are seeing the government at all levels start to pour a lot of money into renewable energy because there is an understanding that this is the wave of the future. It is important from a climate and security perspective, and it is critical that a country like ours leads the way in renewable energies because if we let competitors lead the way it will have a negative impact on our national security moving forward.   

What evolving regulations are you navigating, both for the firm and its clients? 

Compliance is a big piece of it, and as industries grow and evolve, government regulation tightens. We have a strong regulatory team in the healthcare space and a strong regulatory team in the asset management space. One of the things we are seeing is that our clients are increasingly being impacted by the changing regulatory landscape globally. We can provide value there because of our global presence — we have offices where our clients are doing business, full of subject matter experts who are actively navigating these new and evolving regulations. 

We are very focused on being where our clients need us. In the last several years, we have strategically opened offices in markets our clients consider underserved. Nashville is a growing market when it comes to healthcare, tech and private equity, so we opened an office there, for example. It now has 50 lawyers. The same can be said about Dublin and Luxembourg, where we have opened offices within the last 18 months. Being a global firm with a local presence really streamlines the process for clients doing business around the globe and creates a lot of efficiencies. 

What are some challenges you are dealing with? 

Some challenges, like inflation, are unfortunately out of our hands.s. In 2023, high interest rates had a chilling effect on deals and corporate transactions because the cost of borrowing was so high that it made a lot of businesses park their capital on the sidelines.

How are you addressing the challenge of talent and labor constraints? 

It is always a competitive market for talent. We are fortunate in Boston to be among the most educated cities in the world, so there is no shortage of young talent. The challenge comes with retention. Housing plays a large role in that as the cost of living is so high. I am a member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, and this is an issue we’re really focused on because it impacts all of us. Recently, I saw a statistic that tracked the age groups of people leaving the city. We saw the heaviest attrition among people in that late-20s to mid-30s age range who want to be able to start their own families but can’t do so here because housing is so expensive. As a business community, we need to continue working with our local and state government to fix our affordable housing problem in order for us to retain our top talent and maintain a stable workforce. 

Here at K&L Gates, we have worked hard to make sure we foster an inclusive community. One of the biggest challenges is making our office a place where people want to come to rather than a mandated requirement. Along those lines, last year, we moved from our old office space to our new one at One Congress. We condensed our footprint and put an emphasis on better shared space and breakout rooms. There is a state-of-the-art gym here for all tenants to use and on the 11th floor there is an amazing outdoor space that overlooks the water. Those are some of the things that make our people want to come into the office. It’s a balancing act and something we constantly think about. We need to be in the office enough to make sure there is collaboration and culture but there is also a benefit to the flexibility of hybrid work. We think our approach to our new office space is the wave of the future for a lot of businesses because of hybrid work.

Another factor law firms have considered when thinking about retaining and promoting midlevel associates is childcare. For parents, there needs to be flexibility for picking up and dropping off from school and emergencies that require them to leave the office or work from home. We often see this having a disparate impact on our female colleagues. Flexibility is a great benefit to them and helps with job satisfaction and retention. 

How are you integrating new technologies into your services? 

As technology evolves, lawyers must evolve with it. One of the areas we are focused on is AI and using it to increase the service our clients are receiving. E-discovery, for example, is a focus area where we see a lot of value. There are also always new regulatory concerns with new tech and ethical requirements and so on. We’ve formed an artificial intelligence working group who are constantly monitoring these risks for our firm and our clients. 

What are your top priorities for the near term? 

We are focused on a number of things. One that we need to be mindful of is our market position, and making sure our headcount is calibrated to meet the needs of clients. That is not just by number but by specialty as well. When we see opportunities in different areas, we are quick to act because we see the benefit for us and our clients. We understand the support we can provide and the impact we can make.