Nicholas Wood: Pursuing Perfection to Achieve Excellence

“Working in big law isn’t for everyone, but I love it,” Wood says. “Regardless of the size of the deal, the resources that Snell & Wilmer provides is second to none. But the firm has always recognized that the practice of law is a people business and that’s one of the things I really love about it. I can’t imagine not being at Snell & Wilmer, especially considering the variety of experiences I encounter every day. Even though I just turned 75, I still get up every day, and I can’t wait to go to work.”

Wood begins each day at 5:30 A.M. with a workout at the gym followed by breakfast with his wife. His work day is a series of meetings with clients, architects, civil engineers and traffic engineers, landscape architects, outreach people, planning directors and members of planning departments. He also regularly meets with members of village planning committees, which are advisory groups, and part of the zoning process, as well as with planning commissioners, mayors, and council members. Nights during the week may include hearings, because most city council hearings, planning commission hearings, neighborhood meetings, and planning committees occur at night.

Wood is very inclusive when it comes to outreach to stakeholders, the people who own property right next door, or in close proximity, or have an interest in a given project. Wood and his team meet with them individually and at more formal neighborhood meetings, where they explain the project, the design, and everything from the development standards, which are building heights, building setbacks and parking ratios, as well as design standards, and architecture.

Regardless of the technical and legal side of things, for Wood it’s still a people business. They mostly listen to area residents’ thoughts and concerns and take their input. He uses that information in planning the project at hand. It’s not unusual for the client to make changes in design, and modifications to everything from building heights to building orientations based on such input.

It’s a very busy practice where he enjoys meeting people, even neighborhood groups who are in opposition in his cases. “My dad always told me that the first casualty of emotion is reason. You never let yourself become emotional or take things personally because when you have neighbors who are concerned about how your project may impact them, the experience can be very emotional for them. And it’s important for me, especially as the leader of the team, to be very respectful, treat them with courtesy and dignity and listen and respond to them in ways that lead to satisfactory outcomes.”