As leaders at Shearman & Sterling began to recognize the growing significance of financial technology—both for the Wall Street firm’s traditional banking clients and the startups it’s increasingly targeting—partner Donna Parisi organized a dinner where associates helped explain concepts like blockchain to senior lawyers.

New York-based Parisi, who heads the firm’s derivatives group and is also responsible for its financial institutions’ client base, recognized the value in merging the veterans’ legal expertise with the perspectives of the young attorneys.