Bobbi Accord Noland

Partner, Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs, LLP

Biography:

For more than 27 years, Bobbi Acord Noland has been engaged in structuring, documenting, negotiating and closing secured loan transactions for financial institutions, including complex syndicated credit facilities.  Bobbi also has experience in structuring and closing international financial transactions involving both secured facilities and receivables purchase facilities. In connection with the representation of the firm’s lending clients, she also has been involved in various workouts and restructurings of financing transactions.

Bobbi is a Fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance Attorneys.  She also has been recognized as one of the foremost banking lawyers in Georgia by Chambers USA in Banking and Finance, a leading Banking practitioner by The Best Lawyers in America and one of Georgia’s “Top Rated Lawyers” by Martindale-Hubbell and ALM.  She has been selected as a Georgia Super Lawyer for more than a decade and in 2008 was named one of the top 50 Georgia Women Super Lawyers.

Bobbi has served as an adjunct professor at Emory University Law School in Atlanta.  In addition, Bobbi serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee and Compensation Committee.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

I think that it is important for young women to be intentional in their careers and to map out at an early age potential professional milestones, no matter how small or large.  Also, it is extremely valuable and rewarding to cultivate internal and external relationships with other professionals throughout your career.  The relationships that I developed, both within my firm and with clients and friends at financial institutions and other law firms as a young attorney, are some of my most valued relationships and continue to enrich my career on a professional and personal level. 

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career?

The practice of law in the commercial finance area is a marathon and not a sprint.  To excel in our area, we have to work at it every day.  The most important part of our practice is knowledge of the law. I would advise a young attorney to start their advanced learning in both finance and bankruptcy law at the very beginning of their career and continue to develop that knowledge on a consistent basis with disciplined reading and continuing legal education and by stepping out of their comfort zone as a young attorney to volunteer for challenging projects. 

Also, business development starts on the first day of your career with every interaction that you have with clients and the other parties to a finance transaction. Business development has become increasingly more important as the market changes and developing and constantly refining a business development plan with the assistance of mentors should reap positive results later.

What kind of role has mentoring and/or sponsorship played in your career?

 I have benefited from excellent mentoring at every stage of my career. I was given opportunities to interact with clients early in my career and to develop my legal knowledge at an accelerated pace.  My mentors not only introduced me to firm clients but also to their connections with other members of the bar and other professional colleagues.  They always have been great role models for excellence and quality in providing legal services and have shown me leadership skills that are based upon uncompromising ethics and morals.   But, more importantly, they invested in me as a person and not just as a professional colleague. As a result of the strong mentoring that I have experienced, I view it as my obligation and honor to continue to mentor younger professionals.

What do you think the industry could do to attract and retain the best and the brightest today?

For both men and women, I think that educating them not only on the fundamentals of our industry but also on the value and rewards of a career in the finance industry is important.  We should cultivate new talent by listening to them and continually improving and adapting what we do to make sure that it remains relevant and interesting. 

Also, for women, it is key to continue to promote women in leadership roles in the industry and also to think about ways to include younger women in our industry in panels and committees at both the national and local levels.  Senior mentors also can introduce women more directly into our professional and social interactions with both men and women so they see the relationships that we have developed and start developing their own network of friends and colleagues in our industry.