Fiona Trevelyan Hornblower has a unique vantage point on the legal employment market. She’s a litigator who previously oversaw Bingham McCutchen’s national recruiting operation. And she has spent the past seven years helping law students find jobs as the assistant dean for career development at Boston University School of Law. Hornblower is now bringing that experience to the NALP Foundation—which conducts research on the legal industry—as its new president and chief executive officer. She shares her thoughts on the power of data to pave the way for change in the profession. She also discusses her goals for the NALP Foundation and what’s next for changing legal employment landscape. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What is the mission of the NALP Foundation and how is that different from NALP? NALP created the NALP Foundation in 1996 to really focus on research. NALP serves a critical role as a trade association for law schools and legal employers, focusing on career services, recruiting and professional development. They provide specific information about that, which I think is key and helpful. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality and delivery of legal services by ensuring that community and society at large have a reliable, objective and affordable source of information. The foundation’s focus is on identifying issues where we can either, independently or in concert with research partners, provide robust research and information to enable organizations in the legal profession to make tangible and informed moves that improve not only their own organization, but the profession as a whole.