For instance, prior to Kolb and Kahn’s promotion, Foley Hoag’s executive committee met with associates twice a year. The new firm leaders doubled that. The managing partners also set up informal monthly breakfast meetings with groups of asso-ciates.
During one of of those breakfasts, associate Vivian Coates suggested to Kahn that the firm should start an associates committee that would collect anonymous questions and then ask firm leaders to answer them during the quarterly executive committee–associate meetings. “I’ve always been concerned about people who weren’t willing to speak up, and I wanted to make sure they would be heard,” says Coates, a fourth-year M&A -associate.
