This week, the Strategic Wins Podcast ™ brings to you trailblazer and attorney extraordinaire, Bruce Anthony McMullen, the first Black person to ever become Managing Shareholder of the Memphis Office of the law firm Baker Donelson.

Indeed, Bruce has done remarkable things during his legal career!

In 2022, he orchestrated a strategic and covert operation to remove confederate monuments from Memphis Parks; and

Bruce is the only person in Memphis history to have ever served a four year term as the Chief Legal Officer for the City of Memphis while simultaneously maintaining his active legal practice at Baker Donelson!

So it comes as no surprise that Bruce is a past recipient of the Memphis Bar Association's Judge Jerome Turner Lawyer's Lawyer Award as well as the MLK Luminary Award, which recognizes attorneys who champion civil rights in Memphis.

Bruce is a minority powerbroker and was named to the Memphis Business Journal's Power 100 in 2022 and 2023. One of the ways he shares his wealth of knowledge and experience is by giving advice on how law firms can increase diversity in their partner ranks. Bruce advises law firms to “include diverse associates in high-profile engagements with institutional clients.” And to “include diverse associates at all levels of engagement, from the client strategy meetings to actual court involvement.”

Bruce strongly believes that "the practice of law is an apprenticeship occupation" and that "[t]o elevate to a successful partner, an associate must be developed, trained, and exposed."

Well said, Bruce. And thank you so much for your strategic thinking, community involvement, and dynamic leadership style! We are grateful to have you as a stellar example in the legal profession and we are so proud of your trailblazing work!