Editor’s Note: We asked the leaders of Shaheen & Gordon, one of the five fastest growing companies on the 2025 list of NH’s Top 100 Private Companies, to discuss how they maintained their company culture through rapid growth.
As one of NH’s largest law firms, we’re often asked, “How do you maintain your distinct corporate culture with such a big and widespread team?” We thought we’d have our CEO and COO answer that in stages.
Establishing a Culture and Letting it Grow
D. Michael Noonan: I first joined Shaheen & Gordon in 1990. At the time, there were two offices, one in Concord and one in Dover, and about 10 to 12 lawyers. Even then, the firm lived up to its “it’s different here” motto. The founders, Bill Shaheen and Steve Gordon, had very distinct personalities. The culture of each office reflected the people in it, and, together, that created Shaheen & Gordon. We took our work seriously, but not ourselves. That set the tone for what followed.
I became the firm’s managing director in 2007. At that time, we had grown to 14 lawyers across our two offices. We started looking to the future, considering what the firm would look like after our founders retired. We wanted to build a strong multi-practice firm comprised of some of the best legal practitioners in their respective fields, now and in the future. We wanted a firm of fantastic lawyers doing good work that would continue to grow.
In 2010, we saw an opportunity to work with a Manchester firm known as Stewart & Murphy, P.A. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, it had been one of the most well-known plaintiff injury firms in the state. By 2010, things had scaled down. We reached out, formed a partnership, and brought their two remaining attorneys on board. In time, that became our Manchester office, which has continued to grow and flourish.
Our guiding principle for all our growth was the same then as it is now, and as it will always be: When opportunities come along to join with talented people and increase our positive impact, we explore them. And if it makes sense, we do it.
Since then, we’ve continued to grow organically. We’ve brought in a lot of young lawyers and established offices in new locations, most recently in Keene, Lebanon, and Honolulu, Hawaii. We partner with firms that let us bring in new talent and reach new clients. Or we build an office 5,000 miles away because a couple of people have a vision and the will to make it happen.
We’re not out to be the biggest firm in the world; we’re just looking to find talented people, lawyers and non-lawyers, to take on the work that’s coming our way and do it right.
Building our infrastructure and hiring COO Joe Shoemaker in 2023 was a very important step in our ability to continue to manage our growth.
Staying Connected:
Joseph G. Shoemaker: In 2023, I joined Shaheen & Gordon as the director of operations. I didn’t know much about the firm when I first applied, but as a Concord native, I was certainly familiar with it. I heard they were growing, and I reached out. When I made it through the interviews and talked to the leadership team, things just felt right. When I started, we had 90 employees across five offices. Now, three years later, we have about 180 employees and recently opened our 10th office. The ride has been everything I could have hoped for.
I’m based in our Dover office, but I try to get to all our offices on a regular basis. I’m on the road quite a bit, but I think it’s important for our HR and operations teams to get out, see people, and make sure that everyone has what they need to do their best work. We dedicate extra time when people first join us or are transitioning from a different firm we acquired.
Connection and communication are the keys to maintaining a company culture across multiple offices. I say that you need to listen twice as much as you talk. That goes for leadership, of course, but it goes for employees, too. We have a Wellness Committee made up of representatives from every office that hosts regular celebrations and wellness events to bring people together and reduce the stress of the workday.
We send out firmwide introductions for every new staff member. They involve some fun questions that help new hires stick in the rest of the team’s minds and serve as conversation fodder. That, along with our internal monthly newsletter, can help people get to know each other.
A challenge of growing a big business is keeping everybody on the same page and building those connections. Technology makes it easier to build relationships across offices, and our summer event, holiday party, and annual retreat can really help people get to know and care about each other.
Let Your Employees be Themselves
D. Michael Noonan: Shaheen & Gordon has been called “the island of misfit toys for attorneys” by some of us because we bring in some quirky folks. But instead of trying to tamp down what makes each of them special, we encourage people to let their personality shine.
This helps give each office its distinct and local feel, but also engenders the “take the work seriously, not ourselves” attitude that has been part of our firm from the beginning. The different offices may have different vibes, but it’s all an extension of what the firm has always been.
How Differences Can Come Together
Joseph G. Shoemaker: With so many unique personalities, locations, and types of legal work, inclusion really helps people feel connected to the overarching firm mission.
Things at our firm are non-hierarchical. A good idea can come from anywhere, whether it’s a newly hired receptionist or the oldest partner in the firm. Ego has no place in good legal work, and it has no place in running a business.
This is especially evident through our community involvement. We all share the desire to do good in different capacities. It’s not just the larger, statewide organizations that we give back to; it’s the local charities and school sports.
Our marketing team works to gather input from all staff and put together a community engagement plan that reflects a little bit of everyone. That includes sponsorships, board positions, event attendance, donation drives, and our annual Month of Service, where people can really get out and get involved. This ties people into the culture on their terms.
D. Michael Noonan: Culture comes up at every meeting with our firm’s management team. Directly in some ways, but often indirectly. Maintaining a culture is about paying attention to it in everything you do. From hiring to communicating to addressing challenges and getting the work done.
First, you need to understand your culture and its roots, then you need everyone else to feel it. When you grow to include multiple offices across multiple regions, find the connective tissue. Think globally, then act locally.
D. Michael Noonan is CEO and managing director of Shaheen & Gordon, based in Dover, and Joseph G. Shoemaker is the firm’s COO. For more information, visit shaheengordon.com.
