In this episode of Lawyer Business Advantage, we have a conversation with Lindsey Mignano of Smith Shapourian Mignano about gender bias: what it is, how it’s impacting attorneys and how women can overcome gender bias to become rainmakers. Listen to powerful insights from this fierce female founder!
Alay Yajnik: [00:00:34] Welcome to Lawyer Business Advantage, your source for biz dev tips, wisdom and inspiration. I’m your host, Alay Yajnik. We’re unleashing your inner rainmaker in three, two, one.
Alay Yajnik: [00:00:49] It’s my pleasure to welcome to Lawyer Business Advantage Lindsey Mignano. Lindsay is a shareholder at Smith Shapourian Mignano in San Francisco. Lindsey, welcome to the show.
Lindsey Mignano: [00:01:02] Good. Thank you so much for the warm introduction. I appreciate it.
Alay Yajnik: [00:01:06] You are most welcome. And it was a delight to meet you at the Bar Association of San Francisco and to have known you for a few years. I’ve been really impressed with how you’ve marketed your firm and how your firm has grown. So congratulations on all your success.
Lindsey Mignano: [00:01:19] Thank you so much. Very flattering, I appreciate it coming from you.
Alay Yajnik: [00:01:24] Well, it’s well deserved. And you and I have known each other for quite a while, but our listeners probably don’t all know you just yet. So if you wouldn’t mind, just tell us a little bit about yourself and your practice in your law firm.
Lindsey Mignano: [00:01:38] Sure. Well, listener, my name is Lindsey. I am thirty five years old. I am an owner of a small four woman firm here in San Francisco that does a lot of corporate work for startups, technology companies and small businesses. I’m originally from Hawaii. I came here to go to school for college. I went to Stanford here in Palo Alto. And then followed up with Hastings here in San Francisco. So I’ve been a Bay Area girl for at least half my life now. I live and work here in San Francisco, specifically our offices in the South of Market area at Spear and Howard and I’m here in South Beach neighborhood with my husband and my two cats. Other than that, I graduated from law school in 2010 and practiced at a couple of firms before starting my own law firm in 2016 with my two law partners, one of whom I’ve known since 2007, who was my first very first friend in law school and the other who we collectively both met at our first job in 2011, I believe. So we’ve all known each other for a while and we just recently hired an associate with an M&A background, Sixth year from Covington.
Alay Yajnik: [00:02:57] Fantastic. That’s that’s great to hear, Lindsey, and congrats on hiring the associate. And that was something you were working towards for for a long time now.
Lindsey Mignano: [00:03:05] It was a long go. Yeah.
Alay Yajnik: [00:03:06] Yeah.
Lindsey Mignano: [00:03:06] Finding the right person takes a while.
Alay Yajnik: [00:03:08] It does. It does. And you and I have known each other for a few years. I can’t even remember where we met. Do you?
Lindsey Mignano: [00:03:19] I think we would have met at the Bar Association of San Francisco, so generally speaking. I spend a lot of time there. I’m on the Barristers Board of Directors and for the past four years, I’ve either chaired or vice chaired a few sections and executive committees for the Barristers. So I’m always there and I believe you are quite frequently networking with us as well and presenting at the Bar Association. So I think that’s kind of where we first got acquainted with each other, probably.
Alay Yajnik: [00:03:48] I know you’ve been really helpf...