cbuzz: Bill Nolan, Barnes & Thornburg: A Vibrant Columbus Legal Market Scene

Bill Nolan is the Managing Partner of Barnes & Thornburg’s Columbus office, which he opened in 2009, and an employment lawyer for businesses and executives. His common touchpoint is “helping people win” – clients, teammates, and community partners. As an employer’s lawyer, he is passionate about working with businesses that recognize the value of prevention and compliance to design teams and processes to minimize liability, and to represent them vigorously but thoughtfully in the disputes that are an inevitable part of doing business. He is the current chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section.

As an office leader, he has been fortunate to lead a remarkable group of teammates to steady growth far exceeding the expectations for the office. While he is proud to work with many fine and collaborative lawyers, as Office Managing Partner he is most inspired by the office’s business support team and the many members of that team who have progressed to increasingly responsible positions at the firm and who set the collaborative energy of the office.

In the community, Bill’s mindset in recent years has led naturally to a heightened focus on inclusion and diversity efforts as several opportunities and partnerships came together, and in turn led to further such opportunities. He is past chair of the Columbus Bar Association’s Managing Partners’ Diversity Initiative, the co-inventor of the Gender Equity in the Legal Industry (GELI) program series in the Columbus and Cleveland legal communities, and the recipient of the 2019 Ohio Women’s Bar Association Sponsor Award and the 2017 Smart Women Awards Advocate for Advancement Award, both given to male allies of women in the workplace. He writes, speaks, and moderates panels on I&D issues regularly. He has come to appreciate that, while it is certainly not enough, it is important for “majority” leaders to show up and strives to set an example in that regard. He is always looking for new partnerships to contribute in some small way to helping all kinds of people win.

Among other community roles, he is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and a former two-term councilman and mayor of Powell, Ohio.

To learn more about Barnes & Thornburg LLP, visit https://btlaw.com/.

Tune in today as Bill sits down with cbuzz host Mikaela Hunt to discuss A Vibrant Columbus Legal Market Scene.

A note about cbuzz production: We are thrilled to be back recording episodes for our Central Ohio community. Stay tuned for new episodes, which will share the stories of some of our best and brightest Columbus Chamber members. Thank you to our listeners for their patience and understanding as we worked to establish a virtual recording setup. You can learn about Capital University here and learn more about cbuzz host Mikaela Hunt here.

Cbuzz is the Columbus Chamber of Commerce’s business-focused podcast and was named Best Business Podcast in 2019 by the Columbus Podcast Awards. The show is produced in partnership with Capital University and its students, and the show is hosted by Mikaela Hunt, brand journalist and storyteller.

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