#4 Fastest Growing Private Company: Shaheen & Gordon | shaheengordon.com
Three-Year Avg. Annual Growth: 44%
Founded: 1981
Rank on Private 100: 64
Headquarters: 353 Central Ave., Suite 200, Dover
President: Michael Noonan
Total Number of Employees: 140
Product/Service: Legal
Shaheen & Gordon has long been a presence in NH’s legal scene, providing a range of services from criminal defense to immigration and real estate to corporate law. The firm’s rapid growth over the past few years may come as a surprise to some, but not to President and Managing Partner Michael Noonan.
“There’s always these ‘overnight’ [successes] that happen that take ten years of planning,” Noonan says.
For Shaheen & Gordon hiring the right people and creating an engaging culture is at the crux of that planning. “It’s all based on the idea that it’s an interesting and fun place for lawyers to practice law, where creativity and purpose are married together in a way that is fun and productive,” Noonan says. “We hire people who are really, really serious about their work, but who don’t take themselves too seriously, so it’s a fun place to work.”
The quirky roots of the firm go back to its establishment in 1981. The motto has always been “It’s different here,” Noonan says, and he sticks to that. Noonan joined the firm fresh out of law school in 1990, when there were about 10 lawyers on staff. Today, the firm has about 65 attorneys and 140 staff.
Many of those lawyers are young, which keeps the company modern and youthful. “A lot of firms end up too top heavy,” Noonan says. “We have a great ball of energy with lawyers in their first 10 years of practice.”
New graduates have equal opportunity to take exciting cases, and the firm focuses on results rather than a traditional hierarchy. “The best ideas can come from the newest lawyer just off the assembly line,” Noonan says.
About 75% of the firm’s business is based in NH, but Shaheen & Gordon recently expanded its reach. A partner with ties to Hawaii opened an office there, and the firm also has locations in Maine and Massachusetts. Recently, the business expanded its presence to offices in Keene and Lebanon, and there are plans to continue growth in those regions, according to Noonan.
As business within and outside the Granite State continues to grow, Noonan aims to stay true to his firm’s values: “Clients first, take the work seriously, and don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
