Thomas Ryan, Managing Partner, K&L Gates LLP

In an interview with Invest:, Thomas Ryan, managing partner of K&L Gates LLP, highlighted how new technological tools expand the firm’s list of expertise while retaining top talent and clients. “We create a place for professional growth and an opportunity to make your career your own,” said Ryan.

What have been some recent milestones for K&L Gates in Pittsburgh?

A significant achievement is being an early adopter for integrating AI across multiple disciplines. We have a firmwide AI industry working group that rolls out tests for new products, works with our clients, and finds ways to continue integrating and pushing our practices forward.

What advantages does being in Pittsburgh bring for your operations?

Pittsburgh provides a unique advantage for a couple of reasons. It is one of the most competitive legal markets in the country. A lot of people outside of the legal industry don’t appreciate the competitiveness, which drives innovation and raises the quality of service for clients. We have positioned ourselves well with excellent legal services for relative price points below primary markets like New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. 

The other reason is Pittsburgh serves as a gateway to the world for our clients. We are able to tap into subject matter leaders in practically every area of the law and meaningful geography around the world. Our full-service, globally integrated legal network starting in Pittsburgh has aligned us as closely as possible to clients with a global footprint.

Which industry sector sees increasing demand for your services?

One of the priorities over the last several years has been shifting from geographical management to practice group management, with the capability of deploying the best resources across the platform for any client. We are also reconfiguring and aligning ourselves in six key industries, including industrial manufacturing, which is historic in Pittsburgh. Our lawyers have deep experience with manufacturers of all sizes, encompassing issues like mergers and acquisitions, regulatory, litigation, employment benefits and any manufacturing-related areas.

The firm is also committed to the technology scene, having close alignment with innovations coming out of AI Avenue. This tech hub in Pittsburgh is the result of tremendous work from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, where tech giants like Google and Amazon have put down their roots. We represent everyone in that spectrum, from helping early-stage startups to get off the ground and change the world with their innovation, all the way to some of the largest members of the tech sector. We are working with them around the world, including here in Pittsburgh.

How has your firm helped clients navigate recent economic challenges?

The world is changing and evolving in real time, and we receive great responses for working with our clients daily. Our work spans multiple disciplines from regulatory and international mergers and acquisitions to government engagement and more. K&L Gates blends all those disciplines together into a fully integrated team, providing one-stop legal solutions for clients.

As an example, we recently held a three-hour continuing legal education session in the office, called ‘Trump, Trade, and Tariffs.’ Colleagues from Washington, D.C., and other offices who focus on international trade were brought in, layered with a number of our policy advisers from Pittsburgh. Some of the biggest names in Pittsburgh were in attendance because everyone’s trying to figure this out together.

How are you innovating the firm with AI development?

Change is coming and you can’t ignore it, or risk being left behind. Failing to recognize the changes or appreciate the delivery of legal services through AI would be a disservice. We took a disciplined and regimented approach to internal development and integration of AI from the very beginning, forming an internal global AI task force across multiple disciplines with a detailed plan to identify, test and diligence any internal or external tool. We have developed and/or adopted several tools supporting our practices and the other departments across the firm. Among them, we were an early adopter of Thomson Reuters’ CoCounsel AI-powered legal assistant, and our firm remains a member of Thomson Reuters’ Luminary Program.  We have taken a diligent and holistic approach to governing our internal use of AI tools, including mandatory training and client consent. Finding ways to improve our services has been a product of open dialogue with our clients. A lot of peer firms may not be willing to have those conversations, while we talk to our clients and find out their comfort level. It is an ongoing dialogue: reach out, pick up the phone, and talk to them.

Since we started our summer associate class for law students, part of our professional development includes AI training, leveraging Westlaw and LexisNexis for legal research to gather concrete, efficient answers for the clients. We are training our lawyers how to incorporate these technological tools into their practice.

How do you attract and retain top talent? 

Lawyers are attracted to K&L Gates because we embrace the entrepreneurial spirit. From the moment they arrive, we train lawyers to build their own practice. We tell our youngest lawyers to treat the senior associates as their clients, the same way partners would treat their clients. It’s important not to sit at the desk and wait for the phone to ring; knock on the partners’ or senior associates’ doors and ask what they’re working on and how to help. That is how to learn those skills and build those relationships. Lawyers with that kind of personality who want to take control of their own destiny thrive in our environment. We create a place for professional growth and an opportunity to develop your career.

We’re also a curious bunch, applying collaboration and innovation. We look for ways to find better and more efficient solutions for our clients, whether through technology or otherwise. We like to get together and work in teams, making sure we have the best individuals talking to each other and looking at problems from every angle, to provide the best solution for the client.

What are your top priorities moving forward?

We are in growth mode. We continue to see increasing demand for the lawyers in this office. 

The numbers for “imports and exports” of legal work between offices are exploding, so the integration continues to grow. Some priorities include building the corporate practice group, expanding in private equity, mergers, and acquisitions, and growing complementary practice areas, such as tax, benefits, employment, regulatory, and healthcare. 

How is the firm investing in Pittsburgh?

We recently renewed a long-term lease at K&L Gates Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. We want to demonstrate our commitment, as well as investment, to this market, and our desire to grow here. The Pittsburgh office truly is a critical nerve center for a 24-hour international operation, with 150 lawyers and 400 allied professionals. You can get the highest quality global allied professionals here, and they are some of the most sincere and hardworking people. The backbone of our firm is driven from this office.