Spotlight On: Jéan Wilson, Orlando Managing Shareholder and Chair, Atlanta Public Finance and Infrastructure Practices, Greenberg Traurig
August 2024 — In an interview with Invest:, Jéan Wilson, public finance and infrastructure shareholder of Greenberg Traurig, talked about significant strides the firm is taking to strengthen its community presence and brand identity in Orlando. As clients face ongoing economic changes, Greenberg Traurig remains agile, leveraging its comprehensive understanding of market dynamics to tailor bespoke solutions for clients.
What have been some highlights or achievements for Greenberg Traurig in the last year?
Within the last year our office has made strategic changes to the local leadership team by elevating Courtney Keller and Jonathan Perry to co-administrative shareholder as part of a proactive and deliberate transition plan. We have expanded our local capabilities by adding two new attorneys, Alicia Chiu, a labor and employment shareholder, and Frank Montes de Oca, a banking and finance associate. We have also added two marketing professionals, Donna Dyson and Anede Siffort. This has helped change the dynamics of how we are seen in the community, as well as how we execute the Greenberg Traurig Orlando office strategic plan. While many of our attorneys have been active in the community for more than 30 years, we have not always done a good job of presenting ourselves to the community as a full-service business law firm with a global reach. By adding fresh perspectives to the leadership team, expanding key areas of practices, and by increasing our local marketing initiatives, we have been able to elevate our local visibility and the impact we have on our clients and the community in which we live and serve.
What are some of the ways you engage in the local community?
Greenberg Traurig’s Orlando office has been in operation for nearly 30 years and over that time we have watched the community change quite a bit. Our goal is to give back as much as we receive from our community. Our lawyers understand and truly believe that we are not just a law firm, we are community partners. We engage with the key private and public organizations that are facilitating growth and participate as key contributors in fueling those economic engines. Our lawyers have gained a reputation as problem solvers and are continually called upon to help develop and execute on strategies to positively impact key issues facing our community such as affordable housing, workforce development, transportation, and other challenges. We strive to be part of the solution by helping our growing community leverage the limited resources available and help guide future investments.
How have you innovated company culture to retain talent?
As an office with nearly 40 lawyers, we focus on providing personalized service and understanding the needs of our clients so we can deliver legal services at a holistic level. We are looking to strategically recruit new attorneys, who are not only recognized in their field, but also bring a personal commitment to investing in our culture and our community; in turn, we provide them the freedom to grow and thrive within a framework. We have turned away people who do not fit our culture because we want to protect what we’ve built. We focus on the collegiality of the office and have built our team with folks that care about the community. By doing this we strive to help our lawyers find ways to leverage each other and our platform to make two plus two equal five.
How have ongoing economic changes impacted your business if at all?
We are forever looking at new developments in the marketplace because our practice areas cover the entire spectrum of issues facing businesses and governments. We must be intentionally proactive in understanding what the developments are and what those implications could be, not only for us, but for our clients. We try to stay ahead of the curve in that regard but are experiencing an ever-evolving challenge to keep up. We create bespoke solutions for our clients based on individual needs while pulling from regional, national, or global resources.
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What are some of the greatest opportunities of being in the Greater Orlando market?
One of the most exciting things I’ve seen is the level of investment coming into the community from outside the state and internationally. Beyond the tourism value of Central Florida, people are recognizing the level of intellectual resources available in the region. The growth of UCF has been a major boon, and the region is producing high caliber graduates who hopefully will choose to remain here in Central Florida. As a local employer, we want the young lawyers we are recruiting straight out of law school to understand that the scope of the business community and the diversity of the economy are equal to or better than many other major metropolitan areas in the country.
The message that I tell folks looking at Central Florida is that when you come to Orlando, you will find a business community as sophisticated as anywhere else in the country, plus you also have no state income tax and great weather. That is a tremendous value proposition. We are very bullish about what is happening in the Orlando community, but we need to continue working on transportation infrastructure and affordable housing and not leaving tourism related jobs behind. It’s an exciting time for both Orlando and Greenberg Traurig; we see the growth opportunities and intend to use our platform to help make sure we and the larger community take full advantage of those opportunities.
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