We were lucky to catch up with Katherine Silverman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katherine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

I worked as a waitress at an all-day diner one summer during college. The restaurant was very well-run and had an excellent training program. New employees had to rotate through doing every job in the restaurant: prepping food, working the line, seating guests, etc. The restaurant was also very focused on customer service. Any time a guest complained about anything, we had to say, “I’m sorry. That’s my fault. I’ll fix it.” Even if it wasn’t your fault. It was difficult at first, but then I thought about it through the lens of the guest. The guest doesn’t want excuses, even if they’re valid. They want someone to own the mistake and fix it. I try to apply the same attitude to my work. When something goes wrong or someone on my team makes a mistake, I take ownership of the problem and suggest a solution. I’ve found this to be an invaluable lesson in client service.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Being an attorney was my backup plan. When I was in high school, I wrote for my school newspaper, so I thought I wanted to be a journalist. I attended Northwestern University where I studied broadcast journalism. As part of the program, I spent three months living in Topeka, Kansas working at a local television station. I produced the 5pm news and was a reporter on the weekends. It was a great way to try out the life of a broadcast journalist, and it helped me realize that I wanted to pursue a different path. I started law school in Fall 2008, right as the recession was hitting. Although I worked hard in law school and graduated at the top of my class, I didn’t have a job lined up after graduation. It took me several months to get my first job. I stayed at that firm for two years before transitioning to a boutique real estate firm. At my second firm, I learned all about the commercial real estate industry. I love the tangible aspect of real estate – driving by a development that I worked on always gives me a thrill. I’ve spent the last ten years helping real estate developers, owners, and investors navigate legal challenges involving development, investment, acquisition and disposition of real estate.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My first encounter with my current firm was as an adversary. I was working at a prior law firm representing commercial landlords. In two separate cases, I had sued clients of my current firm. One of the partners was working on both cases. She and I got along well during the litigation and we were able to negotiate settlements in both cases. After we settled the second case, she asked me out to lunch. She told me that she had really enjoyed working opposite me, but would love to work with me. She asked me to join the firm initially as an associate, but within a few years I worked my way up to equity partner.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Atlanta is a relatively small legal community for such a large city. We run into the same lawyers over and over again working on different cases. It’s easy to develop a bad reputation, especially in litigation. It’s much harder to develop and maintain a good reputation. Even when I’m fighting hard for my clients, I try to maintain a good relationship with my opposing counsel. It makes the practice of law so much more pleasant, and it has resulted in a great referral network for me. The Atlanta Bar Association used to have a program where they encouraged lawyers to take their adversary to lunch – to set aside the business of the case and focus on getting to know each other on a human level. I’ve tried to keep up with that practice, outside of the formal program, and have found it has been helpful in developing my reputation in the Atlanta legal market.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bfvlaw.com/attorney/katherine-m-silverman/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-silverman-46a42a7/