Law360
September.12.2013
Structured finance partner Leah Sanzari was recently profiled in Law360’s Rainmaker series. In her interview, she discussed the importance of cultivating relationships and delivering excellent client service. An excerpt from the interview is included below.
Q: How did you become a rainmaker?
A: A mixture of lots of hard work and a little bit of luck. From the very start of my career, I focused on developing relationships with clients and attorneys working on transactions across the table from me. Developing relationships came very naturally for me, so it gave me a great starting place. Many transactions involved very late nights and weekends, so there was time to bond with the team you were in the trenches with. I made a point of attending industry conferences and networking events. I learned about people and what they hoped to achieve, I looked for ways that I could help them, I kept in touch with people and developed friendships. It is these long-standing relationships which have opened many doors for me and have helped build and sustain my client base.
Post financial crisis, many of my clients moved to new investment banks or were looking for new positions due to downsizing and general market reduction. We had an incredible network of women, and I did not want us to lose our connections. A small group of us decided to meet on a monthly basis to stay connected and network. That small group turned into a network of over 125 industry women within two days. Each month, I planned monthly networking events for the group. At each event, different women attended and we created our own small industry group. This group has provided me and the other women with opportunities for introductions, new relationships, job opportunities, referrals and created a strong network of industry women to connect with on a regular basis.