For the past 13 years, Alex Martinez has been the CEO of First Legal. Alex is incredibly proud of our core values, so he sat down with us to talk about how they have helped guide the company to where we are today!
Hey, Alex! Can you describe the Company Core Values to us in your own words?
Our core values are the pillars that guide us in all our decision making. They lead us in the way we communicate with our employees and in the way we work for our clients. There are obvious values like being polite, being considerate of people’s time, being friendly and available when someone needs you, and then there are the bigger things like exhibiting integrity and resourcefulness. I really believe that these values, both big and small, are the reasons we have been in business for so long.
You talk a lot about the First Legal Family. What does that mean to you?
First Legal really is a family. I have seen so many examples of that within our company – people stepping up to help each other, our employees working together to achieve really difficult things for our clients. It’s not just a word here, it’s also something that we live by day to day. We work as one unit, like a family does, and then sometimes we even fight like a family, haha. Whatever the circumstance, I’m really proud of the culture we have built in the company.
I like that. The idea that we work and fight like a family … haha … can you talk a little bit about the integrity piece? Because I think that’s so important.
Sure. Integrity basically means accountability. It’s being ethical in the decisions we make. The work we do is so important, there are big things at stake – people’s lives, their families’ lives. We must be 100% accountable for the work that we’re doing. We are in the people business and sometimes it can get very emotional, and sometimes people make mistakes. No matter what happens, we always own our mistakes and figure out a way to improve, to do better, and to be better for our clients.
What does it look like when an employee exhibits resourcefulness?
Ok, so this is a great segue because resourcefulness is hard to quantify, but it’s one of our best qualities. Just the other day I was having breakfast with Steve Kelly, one of our Network Service Coordinators, and he was telling me about a client that needed a package delivered to El Segundo. We were short on messengers, and it was a busy afternoon. Instead of telling the client that we were going to be late or that we couldn’t do the job, he hopped on his motorcycle and took it himself. I think that’s something that’s just part of who we are, and it is part of what we do. Our people are the MacGyver’s of this industry. Resourcefulness is really written in the DNA of this company that we find a way in the face of any challenge.
Riding a motorcycle in LA traffic?! That really is going above and beyond!
Exactly. We have a great team that we’ve put together – people that work together on a daily basis. But, at the end of the day, everyone does their part. Being a good team member means doing your part and understanding that there is a greater good. You are part of something that’s bigger than yourself, and everyone is a vital piece of the puzzle.
And it seems like trust really plays an important part. You trust your employees to do what needs to get done – like in Steve’s case.
Yes. We have to trust that we have hired the best people and we have to empower them to do their work. Our clients trust us, and we trust each other. As a result, we all feel like a team. And it’s not like we never make mistakes. When you’re performing thousands of jobs a day, you’re going to slip up every once in a while, but every day we get thousands of opportunities to be better and to improve our systems. I believe that our clients stay with us because they trust us to continue doing that.
Thanks Alex! That was fun. To anyone interested in joining the First Legal family, please visit our careers page.
