Experienced Lawyers

Hunt is what’s known in the O’Melveny community as a “boomerang”: a lawyer who leaves the firm to pursue other endeavors and eventually returns. After spending his 1L summer at O’Melveny’s Washington, DC office as an SEO Law Fellow, Hunt came back first as a summer associate, then again as a first-year. Although he intended to remain at O’Melveny indefinitely, a move to Dallas—where the firm did not yet have an office—threw a wrench in his plans.

Hunt joined another firm’s Dallas office, developing his litigation practice while keeping in touch with his old O’Melveny colleagues. Five years later, in 2021, he got the call: O’Melveny was entering the Dallas market. “The decision to help open the Dallas office was easy,” he said. “I knew O’Melveny was where I really belonged.”

The excitement of Hunt’s return to the firm, now as counsel, was amplified by the prospect of charting new territory. He was among the first dozen lawyers hired, which lent the office a unique character. “It was the best of both worlds. The atmosphere was nimble and entrepreneurial, much like a startup, but we also had access to all the resources of a top international law firm.”

By then an experienced lawyer with nearly a decade of practice under his belt, Hunt occupied a novel position of his own: role model. He took his cues from his time at O’Melveny’s Washington, DC office, which is known for its collegial, collaborative culture. “In DC, we had this amazing balance of smart, successful lawyers who are incredibly personable,” he said. “That’s the energy I wanted to mirror as a leader and a mentor in Dallas.”

The Dallas office has since quadrupled in size—and remains poised to continue its swift growth trajectory. Hunt has been hard at work organizing regular events to strengthen office relationships, such as a monthly happy hour, fantasy football tournament, and Halloween trick or treat for families. He is also spearheading the development of employee networks for diverse members of the office. “The more I can do to bring us all together, the happier I’ll be,” he said. “I want my colleagues to be as enthusiastic as I am about going to work every day

The Mid-Level Leadership Academy—part of O’Melveny’s suite of customized training academies—brings the firm’s midlevels together to attend seminars, workshops, and panels that cover a range of topics, from people management and effective communication to “a day in the life” of firm counsel and partners. “I learned a lot about how to manage smaller teams and take the lead in meetings,” Tongco said. “They’re not skills you ever consciously think about developing, but they’re actually vital to your success as a workplace leader.”

The retreat also illuminated the power of human connection—and its potential to drive future growth. A self-described “people person,” Tongco leapt at the chance to socialize with colleagues she’d only ever met over email or Zoom. “It was such a fun experience that will hopefully open up a lot of opportunities,” she said. “Now I can follow up with other lawyers who participated and say, ‘Let’s find a project to work on together.’”

Since her promotion to counsel, Tongco has seen the lasting effects of the academy’s tutelage. “I wasn’t sure what my contributions would look like in a managerial role,” she explained. “But the retreat helped me get comfortable delegating so I can focus on providing strategic recommendations.”

Because counsel are looped into top-level strategy discussions as well as the nuts and bolts of case management, they are uniquely qualified to provide both upward and downward feedback. Tongco takes this responsibility seriously. “I can alert partners when a certain approach is not working for associates and suggest alternatives. That ensures we’re operating efficiently and training our people in the best way possible,” she said. “It’s also a great opportunity to take what I’ve learned throughout my career and at the leadership academy and use it to manage—and mentor—my teams. I want to pass on everything I know to my junior colleagues.”

In 2017, Rodriguez signed up for O’Melveny’s Associate Exchange Program, which sent him to Solórzano, Carvajal, González, y Pérez-Correa, S.C., a leading law firm in Mexico City, for a three-month stint. There, he handled a variety of international arbitration and commercial litigation matters for Latin American companies as well as US companies with cross-border operations. “It was an incredible experience,” he said. “I learned so much about the nuances of business development, client relations, and legal procedure in Mexico.”

Soon after Rodriguez returned to the Los Angeles office, he was assigned to a team representing a majority-owned subsidiary of the Mexican government in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit in federal court. Because O’Melveny had been hired to take over from another firm a week before the deadline to file the motion to dismiss, Rodriguez had to work quickly to get up to speed. “I came in with this specialized knowledge of Mexican law and the ability to communicate easily with my Spanish-speaking client, which proved critical when time was of the essence,” he said. “It made me realize how much value I can add through these particular tools in my toolkit.” The federal district court ultimately agreed with his team’s argument and dismissed the case, as did the Ninth Circuit.

In the years since, Rodriguez has amassed a substantial client roster of companies who do business in Latin America. He also engages with the broader Latinx community through his pro bono practice—which focuses primarily on immigration-related matters—and his civic contributions. Outside of O’Melveny, he serves as chair of the Board of Directors of Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, one of the largest and most prominent public interest law offices in California.

Previously, Rodriguez was the head of O’Melveny’s Latinx Attorneys employee network, where he strengthened community ties through informal social events as well as substantive networking with other Latinx lawyers across the country. “As a first-generation law student, I was active in several different affinity groups during law school, which were a great source of mentorship,” he said. “I was really happy to see that O’Melveny had similar programs in place when I joined the firm. On my first day, the head of the Latinx network gave me the lay of the land. Now that I’m a leader at the firm, I want to give younger Latinx lawyers the support they need to succeed, too. I’m very proud of my heritage, and I’m thankful that O’Melveny has allowed me to honor it in so many ways.”