Columbia Law Alum And Former Managing Partner Richard Hsu On Podcasting, Purpose, And Picking A Law Firm

Insights and career advice from Richard Hsu, who recently left his partnership to become a legal recruiter.

Richard Hsu

Richard Hsu

“I’m not a business man / I’m a business, man!” Jay-Z

Earlier this week, Richard Hsu announced his last day as a practicing attorney at Shearman & Sterling LLP and first day as a legal recruiter at Major, Lindsey & Africa.

At Shearman, Hsu was the Global Head of the IP Transactions practice, Co-Chair of the Privacy and Data Protection practice, and Co-Head of the Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) Industry practice. Prior to Shearman, Hsu was the former Managing Partner at Townsend LLP (n/k/a Kilpatrick Townshend & Stockton LLP) and an attorney at King & Spaulding LLP, among several other notable legal gigs.

Prior to attending Columbia Law School, Hsu graduated from Caltech and spent several years as an engineer at Oracle. As an introverted high-school student, Hsu felt somewhat awkward and was a bit of a loner. But he felt like he was able to develop his EQ over time by being continually curious about others and taking advantage of the opportunities to mentor colleagues in his various management positions throughout his career.

Nowadays, many of us are familiar with Hsu as the gregarious host of HsuUntied, one of the most popular podcasts in the legal industry.

A friend helped him come up with the name of his podcast, based on its casual conversation with attorneys (and now other special guests) about side hobbies and other non-work activities. Richard’s name is pronounced like “shoe.” Thus, the “shoe untied” reference was a natural fit for the unbuttoned, casual conversation with his guests. His logo is a drawing by his daughter of an untied bowtie, a look he often sports.

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Hsu may now be a Managing Director of the Partner Placement Group at MLA, but he still plans to continue hosting his entertaining podcast.

Needless to say, it is quite rare for a current global head of a practice group and former managing partner of a law firm to exit his or her traditional role and join the recruiting end of the table. This certainly piqued my interest, and I hope my chat with Hsu engages your curiosity as well.

Without further ado, here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation:

Renwei Chung (RC): What attracted you to the law and how did you choose Columbia Law School?

Richard Hsu (RH): I studied engineering in college, so the last thing on my mind was to be a lawyer; but after working as a software programmer at Oracle, someone said, “You should be an intellectual property lawyer.” I think I barely knew what a patent was at the time.

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I chose Columbia because I had lived my whole life in California so I wanted to live on East Coast, and what better place than New York City at a great school like Columbia?

RC: You are based in Silicon Valley. What do you enjoy most about Silicon Valley and the Bay Area in general?

RH: Short answer—the weather.  Longer answer—everyone always talks about how the Bay Area is the hub of innovation and technology; but since I grew up here, I just think of it as home.

RC: Many know you as the host of HsuUntied, a prolific podcast featuring attorneys and other special guests. Some of your recent interviews include such notable names as Mark Cuban, Guy Kawasaki, Salle Yoo, Paula Boggs, Steve Wozniak, and our very own David Lat. What motivated you to begin podcasting, and what have you learned from it?

RH: I started the podcast because I wanted to interview some lawyers I knew who had very interesting hobbies; but over time, it has organically expanded to include many entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, authors, and other celebrities.

RC: You have hosted well over 100 podcast episodes since May 2014. And now it’s almost the halfway point of 2017.  What three people would you love to have on HsuUntied before the end of the year?

RH: Tony Robbins (whom I’m waiting to schedule), Charlie Munger (because not many people know that he was actually a student at Caltech), and William Shatner.

RC: As a former managing partner, global head of an intellectual property group, and co-chair of several other legal practices, what do you believe are some of the toughest aspects of leadership and management positions?

RH: The toughest part about leadership and management is to get people to feel like they’re part of a team and working towards some common goal or purpose.  Without that, it’s just a bunch of individuals sharing common resources.

RC: What advice do you have for law partners who are contemplating switching law firms?

RH: It’s important to bounce ideas off someone else who understands your situation, whether it’s a friend, colleague or a recruiter, in order to get an outside perspective.  My advice to many attorneys that I have counseled in the past is: “You should stay where you are – you are in a good place.”

RC: What advice do you have for recent law school graduates and young attorneys for choosing a law firm?

RH: Choose a law firm where you think you will have a good mentor because a good mentor is absolutely critical to having a successful career.  My advice on how to choose a good mentor is to look for someone who they themselves had a good mentor.  Someone who had a good mentor is much more likely to be a good mentor themselves.

RC: It was great chatting with you. Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

RH: I’ve had a fantastic legal career and have met some very talented and interesting lawyers.  I am really looking forward to meeting many more and helping those I know in their careers.  Thank you for the opportunity to share my story.

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Richard Hsu for sharing his story with our audience. We wish him continued success in his career.

If you have a minute, be sure to check out Richard Hsu’s podcast, HsuUntied, and follow him on Twitter @HsuTubeEsq.

Why I left a Biglaw Partnership to Become a Legal Recruiter [LinkedIn]


Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at renwei@footnote4.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn.