O’Kelly E. McWilliams III
Partner – Holland & Knight LLP
Description of field of expertise
Mr. McWilliams advises clients on the human capital aspects of corporate transactional matters. He is experienced in providing legal counsel that impacts enterprise strategy/operations, corporate transactions, cost reduction, risk mitigation and corporate culture. Mr. McWilliams’ diverse experience working with CEOs, C-suite, boards and leadership teams across companies in the financial services, technology, food service, healthcare, private equity and startup sectors enables him to leverage a broad perspective and provide counsel that strengthens an organization’s legal structure and promotes enterprise efficiencies and growth potential. Mr. McWilliams has held a number of key leadership roles, including overseeing a $120 million information technology (IT) project as board chair and trustee for a $110 billion public pension plan, starting up and running a new multimillion-dollar law firm office, and investing in high-return on investment (ROI) technology applications to facilitate enterprise efficiencies/growth. Mr. McWilliams advises on high-level executive compensation negotiations, conducts compensation audits related to pay disparity issues, and collaborates with senior executives and boards to develop compensation metrics to align management with organizational environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?
Master the substantive and technical details of developing and drafting documents. Seek out opportunities to listen to client calls that outline the strategy and structure of deals and participate on calls with counsel to listen and learn negotiation approaches. Take a CLE or online class to learn and understand how to analyze financial statements. Invest time in learning how other practice areas fit in the overall deal to enhance your ability to identify red flag issues and mitigate risks and it relates to the same issues. Maintain and nurture all of your contacts through relevant information sharing.
Any additional information that the attorney would like to share (50-word count)
Attend, if possible, client Board meetings (executive leadership retreats or meetings) to better understand overall business strategies of your client. If unable to attend, review any minutes, press releases and other available information that provide non-legal insight to the client’s business goals and strategies.