Sean Fogarty’s Leadership Vision Featured in Atlanta Business Chronicle, Daily Report, and Law360

Following the announcement that AGG Corporate & Finance partner Sean Fogarty would assume the role of the firm’s managing partner in 2024, three publications, including the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Daily Report, and Law360 Pulse, profiled Sean and his vision for the firm in the coming year and beyond.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

In an Atlanta Business Chronicle article published December 14, 2023, Sean discussed the firm’s continued ability to grow with the times as it relates to both headcount and operations.

“Things move really fast, and you have to be able to adapt,” he said. “What I like about the firm size we have is we can be nimble. We don’t have an organization that is like moving the Titanic.”

In maintaining this adaptability, Sean said he will remain committed to the firm’s culture and prioritizing what happiness looks like for each of AGG’s attorneys. That will include continuing the firm’s belief in work-life-balance.

In the profile, Sean also highlighted his vision related to emerging technologies, associate retention, and growth. Related to artificial intelligence, the firm has technology teams and focus groups looking at ways automation might be used to benefit client service.

On associate development, Sean said, “Every associate we hire is with an eye on them one day becoming a partner. That model is essential to who we are. Retaining the folks we have involves more than paying the highest wage rate.”

Finally, Sean added that, while mergers have been a dominant force in the legal industry, AGG is not interested in being acquired and is comfortable with its footprint. “As we expand, we’re doing it strategically. We’re not growing for growth’s sake.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Daily Report

The Daily Report featured Sean in a December 12, 2023, article highlighting AGG’s approach to industry trends and economic expectations for 2024.

Sean said he foresees that AGG is well-positioned to react to whatever it faces from the economy and legal industry in 2024, adding that the firm will make decisions on its own accord rather than following actions of other firms.

“We are our own organization that operates within the larger legal economy,” he said. “We’ll take all of it into account and figure out what’s best for us and our people.”

This stance of self-leadership relates to industry trends related to associate pay, geographic expansion, and practice area focuses. Along these lines, Sean said the firm will always look for ways to ensure attorneys are properly compensated and incentivized. Additionally, he added the firm is comfortable with its two-office footprint in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., but would “never say never” about adding new locations.

“It really is a people industry,” Sean said. “If we think that we can find the right people that will be additive to the organization in other jurisdictions, that will be the driver of considering a third office.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Law360 Pulse

Sean was profiled in Law360 Pulse on January 2, 2024, discussing his vision for growth at AGG in the new year.

“Certainly, continuing the growth trajectory is the ultimate top priority within the bounds of maintaining that culture and general sensibility,” Sean said, adding that the fast growth and new office in D.C. has made for exciting times at AGG. “We are really focusing our attention on continuing to identify the right people, personalities, and practices to add to our existing office footprint in Atlanta and especially D.C., where we’ve recently taken on additional office space to grow. We’ve made a number of great lateral partner additions during 2023 and have a pipeline of additional candidates that we’ve been talking with over the last couple of months, with the goal always finding those people who are trying to take their practice in a direction where this firm can be additive.”

Also making for exciting times are the opportunities for the firm to leverage and advise clients related to emerging developments like artificial intelligence, decisions between remote and in-office work, and navigating the more global issues presented by the economy and social unrest.

Sean concluded the Law360 profile discussing the impact that his former managing partner, Jonathan Eady, has had on the firm and his own career. “I had the benefit of cutting my teeth as a lawyer under Jonathan on some meaningful transactions in my first two years of practice,” Sean said. “So I’ve been both the beneficiary of his terms as managing partner, but also have been able to watch how he grew and evolved over those two decades from the very hungry and analytical successful partner to the leader of this organization.”

To read the full profile, please click here.