Five Questions: Virginia Fry

Virginia Fry, managing partner for the Springfield office of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, has been practicing law in Springfield since 1980, starting her career with Woolsey, Fisher, Whiteaker & McDonald. Her work is being recognized by the Best Lawyers in America book, which included her in its 2007 list; it’s the third time she’s been named for the honor.

Q: The number of attorneys in Springfield continues to grow – up nearly 20 percent in the last five years. Is the market getting too crowded?

A: That’s a tough question. It seems that whether or not the market is saturated is a function of the market. It’s the old demand and supply from economics. It’s all rolled together – professional services in general always trail the general economy a bit, because of the nature of what you do. There must be work here, because we keep attracting lawyers to the area.

Q: How has the local legal industry changed since you started?

A: I think the lawyers in Springfield, at least when I arrived, had a very good working relationship with each other. It seems like that’s not always the way things get done nowadays. There used to be more communication. People would pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, here’s the issue, what can we do?’ as opposed to now, where you may just get a notice that there’s a hearing set and there’s been no effort to work it out ahead of time. That situation has existed in other places for a long time, but in Springfield it seems like now there are more (times) that people run to the judge.

Q: You’ve worked in large firms for your entire career – what is the advantage of working in a large operation?

A: When I left Woolsey, I had to look at what my clients’ needs were. I had a number of clients who had a variety of issues. Coming to Blackwell has been such a benefit for my clients, because if I don’t know what the issue is, I can find somebody who will know what to do. There are some fine, fine small firms who do it, but it’s tougher when you have more institutional clients who have a variety of needs.

Q: The country recently commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington. How has the legal industry changed since that day?

A: There are a number of different laws that were enacted after Sept. 11 – in areas such as homeland security – and if you practice in those areas, there are lawyers who are greatly impacted, because there’s a whole new area of law that has to be learned.

I don’t think the war on terrorism is going to be won in a battle – it seems to me that it’s a process, and as long as that threat is there, I expect that our government will react, and that means there will be new laws and the need for lawyers to understand them. I think it’s about keeping up with the changes.

Q: What made you decide to go into law?

A: There was a friend of our family, who was very highly regarded in Mountain Grove where I grew up. It was Al Turner, who’s actually (Great Southern Bank Board Chairman) Bill Turner’s brother. He was the attorney in my hometown for many years, and he was so well respected that it had an impact on me. Also, because one of the few TV shows my mom would let us watch was Perry Mason, and I loved that.[[In-content Ad]]