Whether the entrepreneur and one FTE or a suite of business leaders and hundreds of FTEs, is the mindset across all in sync? Do people understand their significance to the company or organization? Is there a people strategy? Is the people strategy effective? Are guardrails clear? I believe various factors exist requiring deep analysis. Determining what is relevant for each is critical to scaling the specific business in question. How do you approach long-term partnerships with clients, and what makes your relationship with them different from a more transactional legal service? Interestingly, we approach all relationships with the same intentionality. I view each as a valuable exchange, with value defined per relationship. We discussed strategy earlier; I focus on strategy at our firm. I track data, market activity, and competitive forces to continually uncover and capture our emergent strategy. Each partnership has the potential for long-term impact, directly or indirectly. We dedicate time to refining components of strategy execution to continuously zero in on our target partnerships and their cultivation. We refer to all our client relationships as client-partnerships to emphasize the importance of nurturing these connections in our competitive legal landscape. Differentiation is key to success in the legal field. However, to differentiate, one must understand their own strategy to avoid replicating competitors’ actions. The legal market is facing new competition from AI, online legal services, and nonlegal ownership, prompting incumbents to explore work that wasn’t previously considered. This reinforces the need for a sound strategy to ensure resources are effectively deployed to attain and maintain targeted partnerships. WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 21 About Stefan Thomas Stefan is a founding director at Thomas Ingram Law Group, affectionately called T I Law Group. Founded in 2016 alongside Attorney Ashley Ingram, T I Law Group is a Black-owned transactional legal services firm situated in Columbus, OH. A Columbus native, Stefan converges his roles as an attorney, business strategist, author, and singer-songwriter to advise C-suite executives, business and political leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, and personalities. Focusing on corporate structuring and business transactions, commercial real estate, education, and arts & entertainment, clients have described his support as “invaluable,” noting it is provided with “generous care and magnificent professionalism.” When describing the partnership with Stefan and T I Law Group, executives of multimillion-dollar enterprises share, “They always present options for me to choose from so that decisions are made in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner,” and “allow me to focus on the business.” Notable in 2023/2024, Stefan has supported corporate clients with acquiring commercial property throughout Ohio, assisted former OSU and NFL players with business ventures, protection, and expansion, and provided counsel on music licensing deals involving recording and platinum-status musical artists. Contact Stefan T. E. Thomas Attorney | Thomas Ingram Law Group 98 Hamilton Park, Columbus, Ohio 43203 Tel: 614.340.9570 | Email: iamstefan@tilawgroup.com www.tilawgroup.com
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