Mary K. Farrington-Lorch, Owner and Attorney at the Law Offices of Mary K. Farrington-Lorch “practicing law is close to an art form”

Operating your own business can be both empowering and overwhelming. Along with the countless responsibilities of managing and growing your company  come inherent risks. Certainly, business owners must ensure they comply with regional laws and regulations.

Beyond that, you need to mitigate the risks of your business. Decisions must be made every day. If you make the wrong one, your company may become vulnerable to expensive and nerve-wracking litigation.

Corporate and commercial lawyers are experts in company and business law. They understand the minute differences between legal entities and how to best utilize them for different purposes. They also assist companies in various transactions stemming from business operations.

Q. The genesis of the Law Office of Mary K. Farrington-Lorch—How it all started and why?

Mary K. Farrington-Lorch left larger firm practice in 2006, “which almost seems like a much different time in my life,” she says reminiscing. Focusing more on clients and less on law firm politics was a big part of her decision. Sometimes with the drive to excel in a firm environment one finds that the emphasis is not always on quality client representation but service of the firm. 

Mary found the emphasis placed on increasing billable hours, at large law firms, sometimes very concerning and difficult to attain. Listening to fellow members discuss how they attained the hours was sometimes laughable. After leaving a firm behind, she found that she could concentrate on client issues and concerns. Mary found that she could get to know her clients better and understand their needs when not tied to a strict set of billable hours. Therefore, she could focus more on what is best for the client and not what is best for the firm and her advancement within the structure. “A component of practicing law is understanding people, their personalities, and motivations. By taking time to do that, I think fosters avenues of better communication and understanding of the parameters for the desired outcome,” says Mary.

Also, in 2006, Mary’s children were quite young, and after finding herself having to make decisions for her career or sacrificing time with her children she felt the need for work/life balance. As she watched her friends leave the practice, she also wanted to find a way to get that balance and serve clients in a manner that matched her personality and challenged her thought process. “Overall, I was happier and I believe my clients were too and could tell the difference,” Mary concludes.

The focus of the law practice and client relationships

Mary’s practice focuses on creditor representation. “Trying to work on both sides of creditor/debtor relations can be difficult due to potential conflicts,” Mary says. Over time, she has found focusing her practice on creditors and related matters is the best fit for her and for the service her clients want and expect.

Listening to their needs and goals and then working with them to obtain a satisfactory result—is Mary’s mantra for her work. Sometimes obtaining that result requires a very unique and creative approach. Therefore, Mary keeps the clients’ objectives always at the forefront, listens to the clients, and supports them in the decisions they make concerning how they want their cases handled.

“Maintaining a good relationship with clients is key. One needs to be honest with their clients. One needs to listen to their clients. I like to get to know my clients, as much as they want to share,” says Mary when asked about her approach to client relationships. Even though the client may be a corporation or entity, it is comprised of people who have thoughts, feelings, and concerns. In her practice, Mary wants her clients to know that she will always have the client’s best interests at the core of what she is doing for them.

Art and its impact of law

“Practicing law is close to an art form. Well, I think that it combines many aspects which require a creative process. There are the elements of thought, design, structure, analysis, composition, and performance. This is art. This is where the practice of law and art coincide,” Mary emphatically says when asked about her love for art and law. Surely, the practice of law encompasses all of the elements which lead to a successful dramatic presentation, literary achievement or painting. Careful thought and planning and reworking and oftentimes opportunities to test and view the work before setting it free are commonplace to both art and the practice of law. Art is often collaborative. Law can be very much the same.

Art has contributed to Mary’s law practice as it helps her look at problems and issues from different perspectives to try and gain a better understanding. According to Mary, art, be it visual, performance, or written goes hand in hand with the practice of law as both are disciplines and both require creativity and thought.

Success and how to go about achieving it

When asked about the most important factor contributing to her success, Mary says “When it comes to individuals, the fact that I care for people. It is not always about how much money I will earn on a particular matter, but how best can I serve the client and obtain the outcomes they require.” With corporations and entities, where she works with individuals, listening, educating and obtaining the goals and objectives her law firm establishes for the task are the factors that contribute to her success.  

Take the time to listen. And communicate. Be responsive to your clients. Don’t wait for your client to ask you what is going on, but volunteer the information about their matter before they have to ask you. Keep your clients informed—these are Mary’s advice for lawyers at the beginning of their careers.

Helping solve problems for clients and building long-lasting relationships with them

Mary K. Farrington-Lorch is the Owner and Attorney at the Law Offices of Mary K. Farrington-Lorch, a boutique law firm with a focus on Creditor Representation in Bankruptcy, Contracts and Civil Litigation matters. Mary has had a wide variety of experience representing creditors from in-house counsel, to medium and small firms, until finally branching off to her own boutique practice. Mary earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Political Science with a minor in Music performance from the University Of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University Of North Dakota School Of Law. 

Mary has strong Midwestern roots and ethics. The daughter of a former North Dakota newspaper publisher and politician, she has always had a love of reading, writing, and the law. Mary has a strong passion for the arts and arts advocacy and is currently serving or has served on numerous nonprofit arts boards including The Phoenix Chorale, The Phoenix Boys Choir (both Grammy Award-winning organizations), Ballet Arizona, Theater Works (Peoria, AZ), and The National Society of Arts and Letters, Greater Arizona Chapter. 

“The best way to support my clients is to take the time to really listen to them.”