Two non-lawyers now run one of the legal industry's most established staffing firms, and their outsider perspective may be exactly what makes them so valuable to the GCs they serve. Jessica sits down with Trista Engel, CEO, and Jessica Markowitz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Paragon Legal. Together they trace how two business partners without legal backgrounds built Paragon into a national flexible legal talent company, and what that outsider vantage point taught them about what GCs actually need to succeed.
Meet the expert
Trista Engel
CEO, and Jessica Markowitz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Paragon Legal
Two non-lawyers now run one of the legal industry's most established staffing firms, and their outsider perspective may be exactly what makes them so valuable to the GCs they serve.
Key takeaways
01
Buying and scaling Paragon without a legal background
02
Reaching Paragon Legal's 20th anniversary this year
03
Learning the business before making any changes
04
Growing the corporate team from four to nearly thirty
05
Pre-partnership planning, sharing performance reviews, and trust
06
Why "it's a business decision" frustrates the C-suite
07
Jessica Markowitz's Seven Deadly Sins of Legal
08
Hiring signals: coachability, grit, and internal locus of control
09
Closing hot takes on AI, budget shifts, and what CEOs want from GCs
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