Leadership, Law, and Everything In Between

As Womble Bond Dickinson celebrates its 150th anniversary, Lori Patton sits down with Sarah Motley Stone, Charlotte Office Managing Partner, to reflect on more than two decades of growth, leadership, and service at the firm. 

Sarah shares her journey from a first-year summer associate who never expected to become a litigator to a respected leader helping shape the future of one of the firm's largest offices. The conversation explores the enduring impact of mentorship, the role of trust and integrity in firm culture, the realities of balancing career and family, and the lessons learned from stepping into leadership. 

Sarah also offers thoughtful perspectives on the future of the legal profession, the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence, and why embracing change while staying grounded in core values remains essential for long-term success.

Transcript

PODCAST INTRO (00:00)

Welcome to Womble Perspectives, where we explore a wide range of topics, from the latest legal updates to industry trends to the business of law. Our team of lawyers, professionals and occasional outside guests will take you through the most pressing issues facing businesses today and provide practical and actionable advice to help you navigate the ever-changing legal landscape. With a focus on innovation, collaboration and client service, we are committed to delivering exceptional value to our clients and to the communities we serve. And now our latest episode.

HOST (00:40)

Welcome to another episode of Womble Perspectives. This year marks the firm's one hundred fiftieth anniversary, and in commemoration, we’re periodically sitting down with some of our attorneys whose impact in law and in their communities helped make Womble what it is today, and who are also helping carry the firm's legacy into the future. 

In this episode, Lori Patton sits down with Sarah Motley Stone, Charlotte Office Managing Partner, for a conversation that covers more than two decades of professional growth, leadership, and service. 

Sarah shares insights on mentorship, firm culture, leadership, balancing personal and professional responsibilities, the future of the legal profession, and the importance of embracing change while staying grounded in core values.

And now, on to the episode with more of the story.

LORI PATTON (01:29)

I am here today with Sarah Motley Stone. Sarah is a partner in our Charlotte, North Carolina office, and it's my pleasure to talk with her today because we have quite literally known each other for more than twenty years, because we have both been here at Womble Bond Dickinson for twenty-plus years, which is something so special and wonderful to be able to say. 

So, Sarah, thank you for joining us today.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (02:03)

Thank you for having me, Lori.

LORI PATTON (02:04)

I'd like to start at the beginning of your memory of when you thought you may want to become a lawyer someday. Where did that start for you?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (02:17)

I'm not sure how I gained this understanding, but I remember at some point in college realizing that a law degree could open a lot of doors. I felt like as I looked around at people I was meeting through college and looking around in the community, it seemed as if with a law degree, people have this opportunity, they have this qualification, and there are so many different paths you can go down with it. 

I never thought at twenty-two that I would use it to become a litigation partner, but I knew it was a solid graduate degree that I could then use to figure out what did I want to be.

LORI PATTON (03:03)

When you reflect back on your time in law school, and very specifically when you had to go through that law student process of interviewing with law firms and making a decision about where you'd like to go, what comes to mind about the experience of interviewing and then beginning work at Womble? What is your initial “Why Womble”?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (03:27)

So, I had the privilege to start at Womble the summer after my 1L year. Spent a full twelve weeks here, came in with this idea, again, not having any lawyers in my family, kind of going to law school because I was going to go figure it out. Only really knowing what litigation and trial lawyers did from sort of what you see in TV and movies and saying to myself, "Well, I'm not going to litigate." 

So, I came in and spent that first summer really just learning and exploring and working with associates and partners from all of our practice groups. And wouldn't you know, by the end of it, I realized I wanted to litigate. 

And what stood out to me the most was the, the energy the litigators had, the high level of professionalism and precision with which they presented themselves when speaking, when writing, when interacting with clients and the court. 

And very quickly decided that if I was going to return to Charlotte, I didn't want to litigate any place else but Womble, because there was such an amazing group of, of partners and associates here that I wanted to learn from, I wanted to work with.

LORI PATTON (04:59)

Sarah, every firm has culture, and every firm hopes to espouse into words what their culture feels like. What does it look like? How do you know it when you see it? 

 When you reflect on the culture of Womble, both at the very beginning, where you experienced as a law student and the culture that you experience today, what are some of the words that come to mind that have been consistent in your experience of Womble culture?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (05:31)

Integrity, trust, to tie into one of our core values, respect for the individual. The knowledge that all the lawyers here provide excellent client service, and we realize we need to do so collectively and do so in a way that requires us to be honest and forthright with one another. 

Whether it's, "I disagree with the strategy you're taking here, and let's talk it out." Whether it's, "I need a little bit of help. There's something going on, and I have too many things hitting me at once." Or whether it's just knowing that the people you work with every day, 'cause as clichéd as it is, and we all say it, we spend a whole lot of time with these people. 

Even now in the, in the days of, of being able to work remotely some, we still spend a lot of time with our, with our colleagues. And just genuinely being with people that you enjoy spending time with and that you find interesting, and you want to help them, and in turn, they want to help you.

LORI PATTON (06:37)

I think about this in terms of the uniqueness of a law firm having core values and the fact that from my beginning, twenty-three years ago, the core values were talked about. 

Integrity, number one, and, and I remember the discussion that some people thought, "Do we really have to say integrity is a core value? Isn't that just assumed?" And others who said, "Maybe it isn't, or maybe it's not assumed to be so critical at the outset that you say our number one core value is integrity." 

So, the integrity and the feeling that no matter what happens, we want you to be honest, and we want you to come to us. The first moment that you do that thing that might have been wrong or might have created an issue, come to us. And the us was what created the culture. 
 
 

Not to mention when we think about the respect for the individual, when we think about that excellence focus with the client. To me, it helps to give us a structure of how our actions need to be consistent, and those are the actions on the personal side and the professional side. I'm wondering if that resonates with you.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (07:43)

It absolutely does, and I think the longer I have been here, and as I transitioned into some management positions and similar, having those core values as a place to go back to when you're faced with that tough decision. 

What do we do in this challenging, client conflict situation? Or what do we do as we're thinking about policy revisions that are going to impact our employees? 

Having those core values to kind of go back and rest on has been really powerful to me. And I think in no short way what we've seen recently with some of the challenges to diversity initiatives and so forth, I mean, we were doing that. We were living this idea of respect for the individual long before it became a talking point on either side. 

And that has stayed with me, and I think it's been a really good North Star using those core values.

LORI PATTON (08:43)
I think that's such an important point. We as humans need those frameworks or the, North Star, as you said, to go back, whether it's personally in our own value system that helps direct our decision-making or professionally. 

So, I think that's such a wonderful, consistent benchmark that Womble has, no matter how large we grow, that has been a North Star for a lot of people professionally. 

When you reflect on the period of time when you were an associate, so many things are happening in an associate's life. Not only getting used to the true practice of law, which is very different from law school, but beginning to form these professional networks. Thinking about the external professional life that needs to be built, as well as the internal professional practice life, what are some of the most clear memories you have around your associate growth experience at Womble?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (09:46)
As I think back to being an associate, it was this, this trust that was placed in me by my colleagues and this expectation I need to go out and do things. 

The firm wants you to get involved. The firm will support what you want to get involved. And the firm wants you to build those relationships and be able to stand on your own in front of a group of decision-makers. And I very much felt supported in doing that. 

I remember very early on as an associate we were advisors, basically outside general counsel to a client, and I got brought along into the team and folded in pretty quickly to the extent that I think during probably my second year, I was, I was covering a board meeting while my partner had a conflict. And one of our senior partners was there, and he was on standby if I ran into something, but, but they trusted me to go. And by getting that trust, I was able start working very deeply with that client, with their executive leadership team and really kind of grow those skills that you need to be able to, to transition into partnership. 

And I think it was because my partners trusted me to go out there and, and encouraged me to take these roles on and to, you know, phone home, come back to the ranch when I have questions.

LORI PATTON (11:17) 

I'm also wondering about that next transition as you moved into the partnership, and at Womble, of course, we have a two-tier partnership, so an opportunity to really move through various stages that prepare you for the partnership mindset. 

How would you describe what you believe the expectations were of you and still are as a partner in terms of not just the business and client component, but also the partnering skill piece? What do you see that Womble expects of partners at all levels?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (11:57) 

To become a partner, whether back when I first became a partner or, today, there are objective metrics you have to hit in terms of financials, performance, hours, things like that. 

You have to show that you're, you know, doing the reps, as, as people like to say. But there's also always been an expectation that you're not only able to do the work, but you're able to engage with the clients, build the relationships. And as part of that and, and what you alluded to, Lori, is that you're also able help to run the business of the partnership. Figure out how you're going to coordinate and collaborate with all of your co-owners, all of your other partners as we're each seeking to build different types of practices, as well as having that realization and understanding that you need to mentor. You need to help support our professional staff and give the tough feedback when you have to give the tough feedback and give the uplifting supportive feedback when you have that to give, and understand sort of how this is both a workplace and a platform. 

So, I, I really do think that this firm did a good job of instilling in me at an early age that, to be a partner and to become a partner is never just going to be, "Well, I've been here a certain number of years, therefore I'm a partner," or, "I've hit certain dollar an hour metrics, therefore I'm a partner." But, “I really am becoming an owner of this business and all the things that go along with it,” and, recognizing that sometimes that means, making decisions that may not benefit me personally, but may benefit the greater good. Sometimes making decisions that require some hard thought, thinking outside yourself. 

But that's something that I was very proud that the firm saw that in me and wanted to kind of welcome me into those conversations.

LORI PATTON (13:52)
More recently, you have become a formalized leader. I say that because you have a leadership title. You are the office managing partner for our Charlotte office. 

What has the experience of being an office managing partner taught you about balancing those balls or wearing those hats of practicing law, business development, the business of the practice, then managing people, then leading people, creating a vision, the external and internal vision creation? 

What has that been like for you? Take us through the trajectory from the call to say, "Hey, Sarah, we'd like for you to be the office managing partner," and then what this experience has been like for you.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (14:44) 

So, true story. That call happened. And I said, "Thank you very much. No, you don't. Okay, fine, I'll think about it." I came back a couple days later with my little bulleted list of all the reasons why you don't want me to do this. And here I am.

LORI PATTON (15:00)

Yeah, what I hear in that is first of all, you took the offer seriously, and you have been here at the firm for significant period of time with roots, as well as this wonderful career, this pathway ahead of you, and you're offered the leadership role, which causes you to pause and analyze and really assess it. 

Was there any imposter syndrome for you as they asked you to take on this role?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (15:27) 

One hundred percent. I mean, I, I thought about the, the managing partners who came before me and my initial reaction was, “I'm not in that place in my career yet. I am not ready.”

When I think about the three managing partners I had grown up under, I wasn't them. I wasn't anything like them. It felt to me premature, and that I'm still building my practice and getting my name out there, and all of those things you do when you're just sort of getting to 20 years into practice. 

And I go back and forth on the idea of imposter syndrome. Because I use the term and then I read articles about how we shouldn't use the term, but, but I think it's real, and I don't know if it's gendered or not, and I see different analyses. But what I finally realized was you get to a point in your career where you accept that you don't know everything, and you don't know all the answers, and that's okay because most of the people around you don't either. 

As I stepped into this role and, think back over my career, and it's, happened a couple other times where I realized, oh, wait, we're all just figuring this out. There's a story I tell to litigation associates when we're talking about legal writing. I was, junior, junior lawyer, maybe a year or two in, and somehow, I had the unenviable task of managing the edits that were coming in on this very significant brief involving three of our very significant, very senior litigation partners. And this was back in the day where we all hand wrote our edits. 

And so, they'd come to my desk with a stack of handwritten edits, and partner A would say, "Do this," and partner B would say, "Do that," and partner C would say, "Do that." And I'd try to figure out how to balance them out. 

And then, like, two days went by, and I got edits again from partner A. And I'm looking at the sentence, and I'm thinking, "I'm having some déjà vu," because, like, I've seen this edit, but we changed it. And so, I went to the stack on my desk, 'cause I'd kept all the edits stacked up, and I pulled out his version two versions ago, and we're, we were going back to the way it was. And that stuck with me from a writing perspective, right? 

As a litigator, you know, we pride ourselves so much on writing and voice and how we're going to approach things. That jumped out at me in terms of there's no one right way. On any given day any of these brilliant partners who I'm working with, they could change their mind. And they could like the sentence this way one day and a different way the next, and that's okay. 

So, as I'm struggling to write and to find my voice, it's okay if I don't feel perfect all the time. And it's okay if I feel like I need to self-edit and go back, because we're all just figuring out. This isn't mathematics. There's not a finite answer to a lot of what we do. It's an art.

LORI PATTON (18:24)

I love that, Sarah. I think it is too. And, and another mentor, I think for you and me comes to mind there in Charlotte, Jim Cooley, who I remember sharing with me early in my career that, you know, there are so many different types of lawyers and so many different personalities among the lawyers. And specifically, when we think about litigators - I'm a recovering litigator, you are still a litigator - each litigator has his or her own personality and what they bring. 

And so not every client needs the bulldog litigator. Not every client needs the sit back and, and sit with it litigator. There are so many different types for different situations and different clients. So really being authentically who you are and as you said, bringing your best to the situation at hand each day. 

And our best looks different, and the perspective we may have on day one could be different from day six, and that's going to come out in the work too. So, when I think about this, this profession that we've joined and the fact that we literally say the practice of law. We don't say the conquering of law, we don't say the perfecting or mastering. We say the practice because it's such an iterative process. 

I wonder if that practice of law has also translated into the way that you lead. So in, in this office managing partner role, in the face of such fast changes in our legal industry, and with a role like yours that is so outward facing as a brand ambassador, as well as someone who is recruiting and attracting people to the firm and to the Charlotte office, tell me a little bit about that practice that you are engaged in as you look externally in the Charlotte market, in your conversations and interactions, whether it's with your office managing partner hat or most recently your leadership in the local Mecklenburg County Bar.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (20:29) 

I think carrying the idea of the practice of law, we lawyers typically do not go to law school having completed management training, business training. And so, we're, often learning those skills as we go. Just like as we're practicing law, we're evolving to new statutes, new court decisions, new clients, new and creative client problems. 

And so, I do find myself kind of tapping into some of the same skills I use litigating and when trying to provide client service in the management, in the external role that I play. I don't know how they view that in the business world, but it, it's what works for me in the legal world. 

I do a fair number of class actions and cases that involve large amounts of data and, and analytics that need to take place. And I'm probably infamous for, for saying to our amazing paralegal, "Let's just do a sample and see what happens. Let's just try. Let's just take a little small sample and run it through, and let's, let's see what we learn." 

And so I've tried to apply that as I'm thinking about the office, as we're thinking about internal initiatives to, you know, support collegiality or as we're thinking about external client-facing, what do we want to try? Let's not commit ourselves that we're going to do, 12 of these in a year. Let's do a couple and see what happens, and learn from it, and use that iterative process to pull it forward. Because what you know today and what outcome you get today, it may not look the same six months down the road because all the other factors around you are changing. 

And then the one place I'll say that I think I've deviated somewhat and my practice approach, where with lawyers, we like to have some confidence, we like to have citations, right? We like to feel like we have the authority behind us and that we're, you know, plotting out and we've thought through the pros and the cons, and weighed all the decisions and, right? That's, that's what my clients need me to assist with when facing dispute or other challenge. 

I deviate from that a bit in the management role. Sometimes we need to act, we need to think on our feet. And so, one of the words I've kind of thrown around as I'm talking to my colleagues and thinking about expanding relationships, let's be a little audacious. It's not comfortable. Lawyers don't like being audacious. Let's think a little big and just see what happens. 

And so, that's been fun for me to sort of be able to step outside of, “I need to weigh all the pros and cons and think through all the iterations of what could go wrong or right,” and instead like, “What if they do say yes? What if this does work out?” And that's not a place as a litigator I usually live. So, it's been good to be able to kind of pivot from that perspective a bit.

LORI PATTON (23:11) 

Sarah, the other thing that strikes me about you is that you are a really quality and, really just a terrific example of someone is a practicing lawyer, who has achieved leadership, and also has a very full personal life. You are married, you are a mom, you are a daughter. You have significant family ties. 

Talk to me a little bit about how you have managed that. Really what I envision is all the plates that have to be tossed in the air and trying not to drop a plate. We also know today that, whereas this might have been unique for women, today we see more and more men also really engaging even more in their personal and professional lives in terms of the two being combined. 

Talk a bit about the lessons that you've learned and the things that have helped you to successfully toss those plates and keep the plates from dropping.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (24:16) 

That's where we go back to the idea of practice and iteration. And I think I've joined the group of thinkers that I think are starting to shy away from this idea of work-life balance, right? 'Cause we think of balance, right? You think of everything sort of in, in harmony and equilibrium and I, I don't think that's reality. 

And I think about this a lot and I've made pivots, and I've said yes to things, and I've said no to things. And it was uncomfortable, particularly saying no to things because I realized I needed to find a better way to to spin the plates, right? 

On any given day, you know which balls are glass and which balls will bounce, and they're not always the same balls, right? But at any given moment, you kind of have to think about all the balls you're juggling and say, "Okay, well, that one's the tennis ball today, so if it bounces, it's fine, but tomorrow that one might be the glass one, so I really need to catch it.” And so, I really do try to think of it in those terms. 

There are times where I absolutely have to be the lawyer. You know, a, a couple of weeks ago, my poor husband, he was sick, and I was like, "I have to be in court tomorrow in Raleigh." Like, "I'm really sorry. I'm getting on the train. Godspeed to ya." 

And he was fine. The dogs were fine, and my child was fine, and like I said thank you. And then there are other times where I know I have to be a mom. And I try to be honest about that with people. 

I feel like in my 20-ish years of practicing, and I think a lot of this was one of the good things to come out of COVID, I feel like people are much more transparent now about what's going on in their life, right? 'Cause we all had that window into each other's lives while we were all stuck at home in 2020. And whatever the chaos was, you kind of couldn't hide it with sort of the professional face that we usually tried to present. 

And so kind of coming out of that, I try to be really transparent with people like, "I can't be at this, and I can't be at this because I need to be here for my daughter," or whatever it may be. And so I talk about it, and I hope that by talking about it, I signal to the others I work with who are also in the same stage or in the same stage with younger kids, whether they're moms or dads, that we all have to figure it out. And to me, that's part of that being there for each other and being transparent and acting with integrity.

LORI PATTON (26:48) 

I agree with you in terms of the work-life balance term. And of course, we're lawyers, so words matter. I think they matter even if you're not a lawyer. But we pay particular attention to the weight of words. 

And I have also found that as I look at each day or each week, it is more of an energy and time management effort to your glass ball, tennis ball analogy. I look at it and say, “What does today require of me?” Is today 90% work? Maybe tomorrow is 50% work. Maybe tomorrow is 90% family, depending upon what's happening, and that this idea of a balance really is it's a misnomer. Because I think it can drive people crazy thinking, “Why can't I achieve balance?” Well, I don't know that anybody can. 

And we have even more coming at us these days with AI and social media and all of the things that we're doing. So, I agree and I think it's an important message for young lawyers and for people really in that 25 to 55-year-old range because you're in the thick of it. You're in the heat of the practice of all of it, of life, of family, of personal endeavors of the career. 

So, thinking about all that you have already achieved, you're not done, of course. What are some of the things that are exciting as you think about the future of your own practice and the future with Womble as you continue in leadership and in partnership?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (28:21) 

I am not done. I have hopefully another couple of decades ahead of me. And as I look ahead, I'm so excited about the trajectory of the Charlotte office right now. We have an amazing group of lawyers who are connected and engaged, and I can't wait to see what we all do together over the next ten, fifteen, twenty years. I'm really excited about that 'cause this is a, this is a dynamic market. There's so much growth and change happening here in Charlotte that I'm excited to see how we're able to keep at that level of change and growth and depth and all those important things. 

I am, I believe, halfway through my term as managing partner of the office and so I’m thinking about what I do next and what I want the next, five to eight years of my career to look like. I also have a daughter who's going to be entering middle school, and so that plays into what I, when I think about what I want to do and where I want to be over sort of the short term. And then she goes to college. And let me tell you, Lori, if there's one thing I have seen is women at this firm end up having this, like, renaissance in their career when their children go to college. It is uncanny. 

I remember going to a litigation meeting probably, more than 10 years ago, and we had a a breakfast, you know, open seating, and I ended up sitting down at this table. It had an open seat, and I recognized a few people. And I looked around and it was like six of the women partners who, at that point, were probably all right around 50 or a little above. And I was like, "Oh, this is a powerhouse group of people." And then it, it just kind of hit me and reflected on me. And so, like, that's in my future I hope, I think, but there's also, like, there's a lot of time between now and then. 

Those are things that I think about and that I weigh, and I've been doing a lot externally the past few years between my managing partner role as well as my bar service and work with some other nonprofits. And as I think about, again, there's only so many hours in the day. I think about, “What does it look like when I, when I sort of roll off this very external-facing managing partner position?” 

I think that next sort of chapter is going to be really kind of leaning in on some of the professional work in terms of speaking, writing, things like that. Continuing to practice then trying to preserve some of that additional time to be a mom before college, 'cause I know it's going to go really fast,

LORI PATTON (30:54) 

It does go fast, and I can also confirm for you that that renaissance that can happen in life and in career for those of us who have a career path, I think it can help for a as a launching pad when the nest is empty or as someone, I heard someone say recently, "When you have an open nest." I like that because I am experiencing that the birds come home periodically, so the nest is open for landing. 

But it opens up this energy that you might have been spending on children and children's activities, and now that energy can be put in other places, and that's exciting. I love that, that that's a conversation now because for so many people, we talk our entire lives about this process of school and then family, and very few people talk about these pinnacle moments in life where then there's this whole other renaissance, to use your word. So, I think it's exciting for us to talk about it and for us to lead by example when we get to those places. 

It also makes me think about the rate of change. You grew up in Charlotte and are still there. What are some of the really big picture changes that you think about if you consider the before, growing up as a young child in Charlotte, and the now? What are the, the big things that come to mind?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (32:13) 

I'll take this in two different ways. The first will be sort of the short term. I don't even need to go back to, to being a child. I can go back to being a summer associate. 

We were a two bank town. We're now a five, six bank town,. Plus significant manufacturing, plus healthcare, plus... I mean, the reports we see of businesses either relocating or opening an East Coast hub Here in Charlotte, even just in the past 12, 18 months, there's so much opportunity here and I love that for the city. And I love seeing the energy and the support and the community coming together to want to continue to grow. 

The one thing that's been the same is when I think about growing up here, and you think about, like, all the kids in your neighborhood, all of our grandparents lived somewhere else. We were all from somewhere else, and we'd all come and moved to Charlotte with our families as young children. When I look at my daughter and most of her friend group, it's the same thing. 

So, this idea that this city has been a city welcoming newcomers to come and raise families and send them to school and have good jobs and build careers and get involved in the community for over 40 years, that's just exciting to me. And that, opportunity and willingness to keep evolving and changing has always, has always really attracted me and has kept me here.

LORI PATTON (33:37) 

When I think about the changes in the AI landscape and technology and how that's impacting all of us, I think it's just interesting to ask people, what are you thinking about it? How do you feel about it? I think those are two different questions. 

And what are you doing to dive right in? Talk a little bit about what you are doing. How do you feel about AI? What are you thinking about it? How are you managing this AI thing?

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (34:07) 

We just hosted a dinner with a couple of our partners and some clients to just sort of have an informal roundtable discussion about what we're all seeing in our businesses about AI, and the use, and the risks, and the governance issues, and the financial impact. So, incredibly timely 'cause I've spent a lot of time thinking about this lately. 

I think, you know, we're at a place the generative AI and the generative tools that we need to be embracing them, and embracing them in smart ways, not sending every email that's been rewritten to be the AI slop, as they like to say. But think about where can this add some value? Where can this improve things or just open a little bit of space in my life? 

Great use case example. You know, when you're looking in Outlook like, "Where is that email? So and so sent me an email about this," and you're, like, trying to search for it and you can't find it. You go to Copilot and you're like, “Copilot, find me the email from this person about this.” And it does, right? Like, that's like a real value add in my life sometimes.

LORI PATTON (35:19) 

Because things are moving so quickly.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (35:21) 

Because things are moving so quickly and you remember it, and you think it was from like 12 months ago, but you know you still have it because you're a pack rat and save your emails. And you wanna refer back to it. 

So, things like that are great. So, I'm absolutely dabbling in, in the generative, right? I mean, it's there. It, it runs...you know, we have Harvey, it can run right beside me when I'm in Word and it, you know, I've even done things like I've written a sentence and I've put a blank in there 'cause I just can't think of the word I want to use, and I'll say like, “What, what, what word am I missing?” And it gives you a bunch of different options. 

So, you know, we're, we're doing that, we're using that trying to figure out the best use cases. The firm's done a great job of setting us up with an incredibly secure walled off ecosystem where we know we're able preserve client confidentiality and all those types of things, but still have access to the tools we want to use. 

Where I haven't been able to go yet because I just haven't had the time to really kind of carve out and think about it is when you get into sort of the, what things can I build that will just sort of like, like run in the background or do things? And what do those use cases look like in litigation? Because all of our cases are different. And so, is it building something bespoke for each case depending on what type of data or claims you're sorting through? I haven't figured that out yet but I know enough to know that that's also the piece it seems like our clients, they're at the same sort precipice of “we need to cross this next bridge. What does it look like? And what are the risks?”

Because that's where I think, when you start thinking about, like, the AI talking to AI and coding around itself, where do the machines actually take over? Like that, that's the piece where it gets a little too sci-fi for me and I just want to go back to Copilot and find the email in my inbox.

LORI PATTON (37:08) 

Right. I also notice that in this age of everyone talking about AI, thinking AI can do everything, solve everything, I find that we are still running into people who want to use it as a crutch. 

For example, seeing young lawyers or young students, law students in interviews where it is clear that they might have something on that is taking in the question that's being asked and an answer is popping up, and that person is reading something. And we hear the sound of AI, and we can see their eyes following it. And that breaks my heart because we know that that begins to take away the humanity. And I'm convinced that there's always going to be a place for our humanity. 

And the critical thing is that we're still going to need human beings with the human horsepower to have judgment, to have the ability to think critically, to ask the questions, to refine the machine. 

So, it's my hope that we will practice that and espouse that for all of our human horsepower to understand the value that they bring around wisdom and judgment and critical thinking as we use this technology.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (38:20) 

I, I agree. The litigation team I work with, we've sort of adopted a perspective that It's a tool we should use but we should be doing the first draft. We need to be the ones, you know, outlining the thinking about what the key arguments need to be in a brief. 

You know, use it where it adds value and use it as a tool. So much of what we do is not easily replicable and oftentimes, you know, complex cases of first impression or that have really unique facts around them for our clients, and we can’t just wash, rinse, and repeat like the AI wants to. You know, let's do the first draft, and then let's use it to help refine.

LORI PATTON (38:58) 

Right. Sarah, it has been so much fun to reflect on your career path and where you are today and what the future holds. So, thank you for being one of those unique individuals who has spent her professional career in alignment with the growth of our firm, and still here and moving forward into the future.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (39:24) 

Always a pleasure to chat with you. This, this has been a little bit more formalized of a chat than we usually have, but it's been an absolute pleasure. 

And you know, I tell people all the time, I’ve been here my whole career. I care deeply about this firm and its people because I see what it's been able to do for me and what it's been able to do for so many in terms of opportunity from our professional staff through, through our partners. 

And so, to be on this, great journey of growth and expansion and chasing after the next big thing has really just a pleasure.

LORI PATTON (39:55) 

Well, I have been blessed to be here since the beginning of your career and to see you grow through all of these different stages. And as I have said to many others, remembering back to the time when you helped to throw a baby shower for me, and my child is now twenty years old. 

So, I love having those types of long-term connections. What a gift to watch the firm, watch people, even my own career growth in this organization. So, it's, it's a really fun, cool life.

SARAH MOTLEY STONE (40:24) 

And I'm, I'm thankful every day.

LORI PATTON (40:26)

Absolutely.

OUTRO (40:27)

Thank you for listening to Womble Perspectives. If you want to learn more about the topics discussed in this episode, please visit the show notes where you can find links to related resources mentioned today. The show notes also have more information about our attorneys who provided today's insights, including ways to reach out to them. Don't forget to subscribe via your podcast player of choice so that you never miss an episode. Thank you again for listening.