Lisa Solbakken, co-founder and managing partner of Arkin Solbakken, has built a formidable reputation as a trusted adviser to elite legal professionals navigating high-stakes workplace exits.
Known on Wall Street as a “lioness,” Solbakken has carved out a distinctive niche serving Biglaw partners and other top-tier professionals plotting their next career moves.
Her journey to that position of influence began with an unusually candid exchange during a job interview in 2006, one that has since become something of a legal industry legend.
Solbakken, who was at the time an associate at Willkie Farr, was being recruited by Stanley Arkin, a famously combative white-collar litigator with a reputation for blunt, direct questioning.
During that meeting, Arkin posed a question that would have rattled most candidates, asking Solbakken plainly and directly: “Are you an asshole?”
Rather than deflect, soften the question, or offer a carefully managed response, Solbakken chose to lean into the moment with disarming honesty.
“I said, ‘I think I am, because I’m a lawyer, and all lawyers are assholes on some level,'” Solbakken recalled of her now-famous answer.
The response worked. Arkin offered her a position on the spot, and a professional partnership was born that would eventually lead to the founding of their shared firm.
The story, reported by Bloomberg Law, captures something of the culture that defines Arkin Solbakken, a firm built on directness, toughness, and a willingness to say what others might avoid.
Solbakken’s rise from Willkie Farr associate to co-founding partner and Wall Street fixture reflects a career defined by the same confidence she displayed in that 2006 interview room.
Her current role advising Biglaw partners and elite professionals on workplace exits places her at the centre of some of the most sensitive and consequential career decisions in the legal world.
The “lioness” nickname, as reported by Bloomberg Law, speaks to the combination of ferocity and strategic instinct that has made her a go-to figure among high-profile legal professionals seeking counsel.
Her story has resonated widely across the legal industry as an example of how authenticity, even when unconventional, can be a decisive professional asset.