Lawyers are often tasked with leading individuals, businesses, and even governments, through challenging issues involving complex legal and ethical questions. But beyond taking charge and offering guidance, what makes someone a successful long-term leader? And why is it important that lawyers, and law students, hone these qualities as they step into the role of counseling people during some of the most difficult, or most triumphant, moments they may face? Our guests, three industry leaders, discussed key attributes that make an exceptional leader in any field.
A reception catered by Union Square Hospitality Group followed the discussion.
Watch A Conversation on Leadership, Love, and the Law here.
We hope you enjoy A Conversation on Leadership, Love, and the Law.
Danny Meyer
CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group
Danny Meyer is the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, The Modern, Maialino, Untitled, North End Grill, Marta, Porchlight, Union Square Events, and Hospitality Quotient, a learning and consulting business. Danny, his restaurants and chefs have earned an unprecedented 26 James Beard Awards, and in 2015, Danny was named to the TIME 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World. Danny’s first business book, Setting the Table (HarperCollins, 2006), a New York Times bestseller, examines the power of hospitality in restaurants, business and life. An active national leader in the fight against hunger, Danny serves on the board of Share Our Strength and has long supported hunger relief initiatives including City Harvest, God’s Love We Deliver, and the Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger. He is equally active in civic affairs, serving on the boards of NYC & Co, Union Square Partnership, and the Madison Square Park Conservancy.
Rocco Landesman
Broadway Producer
Rocco Landesman is President Emeritus of Jujamcyn Theaters, for which he served as president for almost 20 years. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the 10th chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, on appointment by President Obama.
A long-time Broadway theater producer, Landesman’s credits include Big River, Angels in America, and The Producers, among many others. In 1978, he co-founded the producing partnership Dodger Productions.
A native of St. Louis, Landesman studied at Colby College and the University of Wisconsin and earned a doctorate in dramatic literature at the Yale School of Drama, where he also taught as an assistant professor. In addition to theater, Landesman considers baseball, country music, and horse racing some of his greatest passions. He was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2013. He has served on numerous boards over the years, including the Municipal Arts Society, the Times Square Alliance, the Actor’s Fund, and the Educational Foundation of America.
Jordan Roth
President, Jujamcyn Theaters
As President of Jujamcyn Theaters, Jordan Roth oversees five Broadway theatres, whose current productions include the Tony Award-winning Best Musicals The Book of Mormon, Kinky Boots, Jersey Boys, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the new hit musical comedy Something Rotten! and the upcoming Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Jordan produced the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Best Play Clybourne Park, and his first show was the long-running The Donkey Show Off-Broadway.
Jordan is the Founder and CEO of Culturalist.com, where you can shape, share, and debate your opinions about anything and everything through Top 10 lists. He also founded Givenik.com where theatergoers can buy tickets and 5% of their ticket price goes to the charity of their choice. He appears frequently on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” writes a weekly column on Deadline Hollywood with Jeremy Gerard, and hosts an interview series at the 92nd Street Y, where recent guests have included Bono and the Edge, Daniel Radcliffe and Harry Connick, Jr. among others. He serves on the boards of The Broadway League, Broadway Cares, The Paley Center, The Times Square Alliance and Freedom to Marry.