Duane C. Quaini '67 may not fit Hollywood's version of a hard-driving head of a big-city law firm who inflicts terror and impossible hours on his young associates. Instead, he says, he's a big believer in the corporate culture of support.

"People have the tendency to see safety and ambition as being opposed to one another," he says. "I think that is absolutely, fundamentally wrong. Feeling safe gives me the platform to try ambitious things, to devote my energy to novel approaches, and to work hard." Quaini believes this approach is not only at the root of who he is, but also a defining characteristic of the firm.

With more than 600 lawyers in nine offices across the country, Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP is among the 35 largest law firms in the U.S. As chairman, Quaini oversees operations for the gargantuan firm, which, among other nationally known litigations, defended fast-food giant McDonalds in the infamous "hot coffee" cases.

Quaini, 58, has spent his career, including summers as a law school clerk, at the same firm. A California native and son of a dairy farmer, Quaini's basic values provided a solid foundation as he headed off to college, but he remembers that CMC underscored and strengthened his commitment to supporting and motivating his peers. At Stanford Law School, Quaini rose to editor of the Stanford Law Review. He started practicing two weeks after graduation, recognizing immediately that Sonnenschein was the right fit. "The ethos of the firm appealed greatly to me. I learned in economics classes at CMC that it was possible to combine a profit-making venture with a set of comfortable values-that's what this firm does. Even as a summer clerk, I felt like I was part of the place."

In the 27 years he practiced at Sonnenschein before taking the corner office in Sears Tower, he developed a reputation as a formidable consumer class action defender, representing household names like Allstate Insurance Company, Knoll Pharmaceutical Company, and Chrysler Corporation. He has been a member of the executive committee of the Stanford Law School Board of Visitors since 1995.

"I talk to my peers at other firms all the time, but rarely do we spend time talking about leadership issues," he says. "They are hesitant-they sound too squishy for lawyers. Instead, they talk about management issues."

The distinction between leading and managing is an important one to Quaini, who describes leadership as dependent upon character that simple management may lack. "The concept of leadership having its own style is dead-on," he says.

Quaini says he has found leading Sonnenschein to be more challenging and rewarding than anticipated. "The real job is leadership-transmitting a vision and courage for the future to your colleagues."

Easier said than done, particularly for someone with a legal, rather than business, background. Many managers espouse work/life balance and open- door policies, but when the economy falters and deadlines loom, those niceties get pushed aside. Quaini tries not to let that happen. Before he leaves the office every night, he writes five to 10 "grace notes." These little words of praise are sent to someone who has won a case, or presented his or her first oral argument, or had a baby.

Characteristically, Quaini doesn't use a sky-is-falling approach to motivate his co-workers, instead working from the perspective that, "Tomorrow is going to be better than today, and today was pretty good." He sees change as essential to his vision for the firm. Sonnenschein (which, appropriately, means "sunshine" in German), has hired a consulting firm to consider new ways of providing services and billing clients that would allow attorneys to have a competitive advantage in the crowded marketplace. Among the reorganizations Quaini is considering is structuring the firm around clients, rather than traditional practice areas such as real estate and insurance.

He considers the annual state of the firm address to partners and their spouses as "one of the single most important hours I spend every year." He uses that time to talk about his vision for the firm, and what the partners can do to help the company achieve those goals.

"Change management is a critical part of leadership in a law firm. Nobody likes to feel unanchored, and by definition, change strikes at our anchors," Quaini says. "My colleagues have been remarkably willing to engage in fundamental change if it is explained to them."

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Duane Quaini '67