Georgiana Trandafir, Managing Partner at Trandafir Attorneys at Law, discusses authentic leadership, sustainability, and the balance between performance and values in the legal field.
Georgiana Trandafir is a lawyer and Managing Partner at Trandafir Attorneys at Law. For the past 19 years, she has practiced law within the most competitive professional environments in Romania. She laid the foundation for her professional training and later gained specific experience within top-tier Romanian law firms, successfully assisting both Romanian and foreign clients in numerous landmark projects. She is an excellent litigator, with experience spanning multiple industries and areas of law. Georgiana is one of the strong voices defending vulnerable people and a remarkable ambassador in the fight against domestic violence.
Fractional Insider: How was your transition from a traditional legal career to that of a Managing Partner?
Georgiana Trandafir: Good afternoon, and allow me to thank you for this interview. Initially, the transition from a lawyer focused solely on legal work to a Managing Partner was abrupt and challenging. From only having to worry about the quality of legal services, I suddenly had to integrate everything related to managing a law firm, including the stress of cash flow, client portfolio development, marketing, talent acquisition, and so on.
Fractional Insider: Later, I learned to manage them together, like in a symbiosis that defines and motivates me.
Georgiana Trandafir: Today, both sides are part of my life because I cannot live without traditional law, without the adrenaline of the courtroom, without the joy of a long-awaited solution, and the satisfaction that the chosen strategy was the winning one. Of course, I learned how to organize my time—long-term sustainability is essential.
Fractional Insider: What motivated you to establish Trandafir Attorneys at Law?
Georgiana Trandafir: After many years in large firms, I felt that I could do more and do things differently. I needed an environment that could contain me and one that I could contain. Once I accepted this paradigm shift, all the other changes came naturally. The beginning was hard—I would be lying if I said it was easy. There were many sleepless nights, some at the office, others spent worrying about things I had never faced as a senior lawyer. In fact, I hadn’t even imagined them until I was confronted with them directly, frontally, and abruptly. What I can say now, after 11 years, is that it was worth it because I aligned myself with my true purpose.
Fractional Insider: What are the main qualities you consider essential for a leader in the legal field?
Georgiana Trandafir: That’s a very good question. To be human. That is the main quality. And when I say human, I mean a set of intrinsic characteristics such as honor, empathy, integrity, honesty, clearly defined values, and consistency in adhering to them.
Of course, a leader in our field must have vision, clarity, open leadership, and enjoy the respect of their collaborators without needing to demand or, worse, impose it. They should be a support for those in the organization and a professional who takes responsibility for the act of lawyering. The leader inspires confidence that the organization will stand strong and ensures that it does.
Fractional Insider: What are the main differences between being a litigator and leading an entire organization?
Georgiana Trandafir: The litigator is the one who knows they speak the truth and conveys this message to the judge. The lawyer-manager is the one who listens to the truth from their people and then gives direction.
There are major differences, but many overlapping areas as well. They can only coexist together—that is our destiny as lawyers. The skills developed through litigation apply equally within the organization, such as active listening, persuasion, and time management efficiency. Both the litigator and the manager develop a resilience to stress and an adaptability to novelty far above average.
Fractional Insider: How do you make strategic decisions—based on data, intuition, or consultation with your team?
Georgiana Trandafir: I admit, many times I rely on intuition. But I don’t exclude concrete data—after all, it is an objective criterion that no manager can ignore.
Consultations with the team are ongoing—we are a small team, we are friends, we eat together, we talk daily, and we help each other whenever needed. I try not to put the burden of decision-making on their shoulders, but I do ask for their opinion, often without telling them that the goal is to make a strategic decision. Without that pressure, the team provides authentic feedback with valuable insights I always take into account.
Fractional Insider: What does success mean to you—both for the firm and personally, as a Managing Partner?
Georgiana Trandafir: To define success, from my perspective, it means continuous adherence to the same values. I have chosen a path and I do not deviate from it. To not be forced to abandon my values and still survive in a colorful market means that I have achieved success.
It also means that my message has reached my target audience and that I don’t have to stand before a judge with a speech I don’t believe in.
Success means having a team I can rely on, one that functions very well even when I’m not there. My “kids,” as I call them, are very responsible and dedicated, and I am very proud of them.
From a personal perspective, success means that I am healthy, I laugh often and wholeheartedly, I have great friends, a child who surprises me daily with his maturity and gentleness, and I have time for sports, vacations, and reading. A day in which I read a book is a successful day.
Fractional Insider: How do you handle situations where there are differences of opinion between partners or team members?
Georgiana Trandafir: I admit, I’m lucky—rarely do I have to act as an arbitrator.
The atmosphere in our office is relaxed; we laugh a lot and work with joy. Often, we even see each other on weekends for lunch—just to finish our conversations.
If I had to manage situations involving differing opinions, I believe diplomacy is key. I don’t think anyone is 100% wrong, just as I don’t think you can be 100% right. If it’s a legal matter, everyone would express their opinion, and the decision would be made based on clear criteria: the law, jurisprudence, and doctrine.
If it’s a management issue, then I would have to “arbitrate,” and probably make the final decision myself. But it wouldn’t be easy.
Fractional Insider: How do you see the evolution of this career model in the coming years?
Georgiana Trandafir: In the legal field, the “fractional manager” concept emerged quite early—around the late 1990s or early 2000s. There are few organizations that need a full-time legal manager because they have standardized contracts and stable processes. In fact, I remember my first secondment in 2008, when I went to the client’s office two days a week, managing all legal aspects, attending negotiations, and participating in internal meetings concerning legal matters.
Along these lines, lawyers “invented” the monthly subscription model, with a fixed fee that includes a set number of hours per month—a legal manager handling multiple clients, and us too.
What I think will happen over the next ten years depends on how the economy evolves. If we have economic growth, obviously local businesses will grow as well, and they will need a “house lawyer,” as we say. As the organization grows, issues arise that the manager can no longer handle alone, and that’s when they seek legal advice. This ongoing legal advice makes the external lawyer become part of the management team and involved in decision-making.
Fractional Insider: What advice would you give to a senior professional considering becoming fractional?
Georgiana Trandafir: I can offer advice in my field of expertise, and that advice would be to be adaptable and creative in the solutions they propose. Each client has requests derived from their own activity, and rarely are things identical, even if they appear similar. A good lawyer understands the client’s industry, knows the team, and understands the organization’s internal workflows. The faster a problem is solved, the more appreciated they will be. If they avoid it, they become indispensable. Beyond the billable hours, we want our clients to have as few problems as possible so they can focus their energy on growth. And their growth is our growth too.
As a bonus, a fractional legal manager must be creative. Because out-of-the-box solutions are often the winning ones.
Through her experience and vision, Georgiana Trandafir proves that authentic leadership in law means finding balance between performance, ethics, and empathy.
