Baretz+Brunelle | Podcast Interview With Guest Chase Simmons

In this episode of The Future Is Bright podcast, Howard Rosenberg, head of Talent Intelligence + Acquisitions at Baretz+Brunelle, and his co-host Chris Batz welcome Chase Simmons, chairman and CEO of Polsinelli. Polsinelli is one of the largest full-service U.S.-only firms in the country, with about 1,200 lawyers and leading practices across healthcare, real estate, mid-market corporate, and intellectual property. Chase has been at Polsinelli his entire career, starting as a summer associate. He led the firm’s real estate group before stepping into the chairman and CEO role eight years ago.

The discussion centers on Polsinelli’s strategic discipline. Chase explains why the firm has held to a U.S.-only footprint while peers built abroad. He describes how the early months of COVID forced his leadership team to define values in real time when no one knew how long the cash would last. The conversation also covers Polsinelli’s view on private equity ownership and how the firm is approaching AI. The episode closes with the advice he would give to anyone stepping into a chairman role today.

Episode Highlights

• Why a 1,200-Lawyer Firm Stays Entirely in the U.S.
  The case for staying U.S.-focused even as peers expanded abroad, and the running joke Chase shares about which market is supposedly the next big one.

• What COVID Revealed About Polsinelli’s Values
  When the future was unclear and cash runway was a real question, the partnership made an early decision about who would absorb the pain. Six years later that answer remains relevant.
  
  
• Telling Your Own Practice Group It’s Not a Growth Priority
  Most leaders avoid taking a growth area off the strategic map. A candid look at what discipline really means when it applies to the practice you came up in.
  
  
• Where Private Equity Fits and Where It Does Not
  The biggest insult inside Polsinelli is “pulling the ladder up behind you.” A direct take on why non-lawyer ownership runs against how the firm thinks about succession.
  
  
• Building AI Use Cases Before Picking the Tools
  An associate inside the firm built a deal product Polsinelli now licenses out. The reasoning behind starting with what lawyers needed instead of waiting on the incumbents to figure it out.

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About the Podcast:
On The Future Is Bright, Howard Rosenberg and Chris Batz engage with thought-provoking C-suite executives and leaders from corporations, professional service firms, and the global legal industry. Each episode uncovers insights on leadership, innovation, and the evolving dynamics of the modern professional landscape.

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