Adam Massaro meets with real estate partner Camille Bacon-Schulte to explore the legal challenges behind billion-dollar data center developments – from land acquisition and utilities to financing, leases, and risk mitigation. They also discuss the founding of Reed Smith’s Denver office, the importance of firm culture, and how to balance a demanding national practice with life outside the office. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to Disputes in Perspective, a Reed Smith podcast. This podcast series will discuss disputes-related trends, hot topics, and developments occurring in the global legal landscape, and hopefully provide you with some helpful insights and practical tips. If you have any questions about any of the episodes, please feel free to contact our speakers. Adam: Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Adam Massaro in the Denver office, and I have a special guest joining me. Camille, please introduce yourself. Camille: Hey, I'm Camille Bacon-Schulte, and I'm also a partner in the Denver office with Adam. Adam: And we are both founding partners at the Reed Smith office in Denver, and both had a chance to join early this year. Camille, how's it going so far? Camille: It's been going great. Yeah, it's a great group we put together in Denver. The rest of the firm has been really welcoming. It's been a really seamless transition. Adam: You were in private practice before this, right? Yeah. Camille: Yeah, I've only ever been in private practice. Adam: All right. And had you had a chance to form or found an office before this one? Camille: No. And actually, the fact that it was a, you know, found an office opportunity is really sort of what drew me in in the first place. I think that's really special. It's a, you know, a great opportunity you don't get very often. Adam: What is your practice area? Camille: Real estate. Really broad real estate. A little bit of everything. Adam: And within that, then, have you always done real estate or have you done any other type of corporate work as well? Camille: You know, I started in environmental, and it was just a little too litigious for me. It was a lot of fighting with the EPA, and that didn't sit right. And then I just sort of fell in love with real estate along the way. And I just love how collaborative it is. Adam: When you heard about an office being founded by Reed Smith, what were some of your expectations going into it? Camille: Well, it's an office founding, and it's the first time Reed Smith has been in Denver. So, you know, I think I had the same expectations that all of the rest of us partners had, which was that we really need to hit the ground running and make a name for ourselves in the community and sort of build up a presence and a reputation. So that was sort of the expectation of my role going in, just leading with the best foot forward and building the right teams for the right clients. Adam: Now, I know you've lived in some interesting spots over the years while still maintaining private practice. Camille: What are some of the spots that you've lived in over the years? I started practicing in San Diego, moved back to Denver briefly, and then spent five years working remotely from a little village in Alaska, right outside Glacier Bay National Park. Middle of nowhere. True Bush, Alaska. You've got a boat or fly in. We get all of our electricity from a waterfall. Um, so that was, that was interesting. Um, and, uh, you know, I've, I've closed deals running my wifi on a generator because we've had a power outage through the whole town. Uh, not that I've ever told anybody that, um, but it can be interesting, but it's, it's totally doable. I think remote work, um, in the real estate practice is, is it goes well together. Adam: You know, it's funny you say that I was just on vacation and we obviously did have some things for an expedited filing we had to do, we were en route from the mainland to an island. And so I was able to use Wi-Fi there. I got to the island. And then later on in the day, there was even a pocket where I found a little spot to get out a few things. So it's interesting to sort of see both finding those spots and being creative at the same time. But I think there's a way to balance too. It's just a matter of figuring it out as well. And if you're committed to, I think you can do it. Camille: Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's interesting, too, especially with sort of broader remote work, because I do think on some levels, you know, practice is tough. And it's especially if you've been in there over a decade, it definitely takes its toll. So I think some of the ability to maintain is to have that ability to be able to check out and be in those different spots. How have you used things outside of work to balance the obviously the ongoing stress that is work as well? Camille: Um, you mean like the dreaded work-life balance buzzword or just sort of like generally how you maintain an active practice in remote places? Adam: Well, I think on the latter point, uh, in remote places, obviously some people, there's a concern, right? That, you know, you have to be with your, with the people and the decision makers in person. So on that point, you know, what, how do you, how do you make it work? Or how you make sure that you instill trust so that people feel like you can be accessible in that environment. Camille: You know, I get in some ways where people are coming from when they have that concern, but in others, it doesn't resonate with me personally because my practice is so national. So even when I have practiced from an office and I have for about half of my career been in office. I wasn't often working with people physically in my office Even before the pandemic and before Zoom was so popular, you know, I was conference calling with people in, you know, Kansas City or, you know, Houston or somewhere in California. And so I was working across a lot of different offices within the same firm anyway. And so for my practice, at least, even if I'm physically in an office, I'm not usually working with someone who is, say, down the hall from me. So whether I'm in another office or I'm in Alaska or right now I'm in Steamboat Springs in Colorado, it's not really different. Maybe there's a greater distance between us, but we were never, you know, next door to each other. Um, and, and oftentimes our clients are really far away as well. You know, we'll have clients who are based out of New York and we're doing a portfolio acquisition, for example, of properties across the country. You know, even if I were physically in the Denver office, I wouldn't be, you know, face to face with that New York client on a day to day basis, um, anymore if I'm sitting there, if I'm sitting in Alaska. So to me, at least for my practice, I just have never felt like it's that different if I'm sitting in an office versus I'm somewhere remote because it's so national. But I will say I think that is a little bit different in our situation because we are starting an office and we're sort of building up our Denver firm culture. And so I do think right now it's more important to be in office at least a little bit just to get to know everybody and figure out, you know, how we can support each other's practices. So there is sort of that as well. But I'm definitely a proponent of remote work. Adam: And then on the flip side, obviously, work-life balance. You know, in my view, it's a lifestyle. It's hard to just turn it off in that respect. And also if you want to do complex work, you know, just get to turn it off. That's the upside of all the complex work is that complex problems don't just solve themselves between nine to five. But at the same time, that can be grueling, especially a decade in or longer. So what do you do to balance those two things? Because those two worlds don't seem like they can be reconciled all the time. Camille: Well, it's interesting. And I think that is one of the things that's harder when you're remote because your office is your home. And so you don't have that separation of going home at the end of the day. But also, a lot of my clients really expect me to be available to them, not 24-7 necessarily, but certainly if there's a question that comes up after hours. So, you know, whether I'm working from an office or working from home, I'm still checking my email, you know, after dinner. I think it's important, though, to set boundaries. Like people are going to respect your time as much as you respect your time. So I'm really careful to block off time to, you know, pick up my kids from school and have some time with them right afterwards and, you know, for dinners and bedtime and all of that. And I think you just have to really just be upfront with your colleagues and your clients that those times are family time and you're going to wear your mom hat during those hours. And if something requires your attention before the morning, you'll get back to it when you can. And just getting out. If you've got a break of 30 minutes and you know that your inbox is going to be silent, just get out. Take a walk. Don't be glued to your desk. But it's different for everybody and everybody's practice is different. So I think it's just important to find what works for you and just be really open with everybody so everyone has aligned expectations of when you're going to be available. Adam: We're in Colorado so what's your go-to winter sport. Camille: Um well I'm still on the fence between snowboarding and skiing. I've been doing both which is good and bad they're really different and I'm not getting as good as quickly as I might if I just stuck to one, um but uh yeah one of the two um. And I'm in Steamboat Springs and then Howelsen's right across the way and they do this great program where you can just go ski for free on your lunch break if you're local um which is great because I can just pop
