On May 10, 2022, Bryan Rakes was featured in a Q&A with Law360 about his new role as co-chair of Venable’s Business Division. The following is an excerpt:
What kind of leader do you want to be?
Just because of what I do, and I think my personality, I'm more of a consensus builder-type leader than I am a "figure it out, and then dictate something." That said, we're managing different people and different practice groups who have different needs. While you want to be a consensus builder, each practice group is going to have specific needs that you're going to need to be responsive to.
I would describe [myself] as a facilitator trying to help the partners and the lawyers within the division grow their practices, build strength on strength, expand lateral recruiting, expand the practice groups, and just offering support in any way I can between the practice groups and the firm at large.
Ultimately, if decisions need to be made by the division chairs, [I try] to take in all the inputs that [we] have gathered and make the best decision for the firm, and for the lawyers and all the employees who work here.