Atlanta litigator brings DoorDash insight to company defense

“Kim was an outstanding attorney even before she left us,” said Dion Cominos, the managing partner and chairman at Gordon Rees. “I think her skill set was enhanced even further by being on the other side in terms of understanding, probably more directly, how an outside firm can be of value to in-house counsel.”

A revelation of learning business operations from the inside was the importance of moving “with all haste” to resolve issues as quickly as possible, Sheridan said, adding she’s more focused on thinking creatively while following the often slower pace of litigation set by courts.

“Internally, and from a client perspective, they’re much less concerned with the day-to-day deadlines than they are with trying to address the problem as a whole,” Sheridan said.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

“It’s keeping in mind the court deadlines and the things that naturally move a matter forward, but also at all times thinking about potential resolutions and outcomes that serve the best interest of the client early and often,” she added.

At Gordon Rees, one of the largest law firms in the United States, Sheridan is one of about 30 lawyers based in Atlanta and more than 1,800 nationwide. She’s back in her former role as a partner and said she’s excited about the firm’s growth since it became the first to have offices and attorneys in all 50 states seven years ago.

“We really combine the strength of a large national firm with the local knowledge of in-state attorneys,” Sheridan said. “So what that allows me to do is to tell my clients that I can not only help you in Georgia, I can make sure that your needs are met wherever they arise across the country.”

As outside counsel with several law firms in Atlanta, Sheridan has represented a variety of businesses throughout her career. Before first joining Gordon Rees as an associate in 2013, she spent four years at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and several more at Kitchens Kelley Gaynes.

With DoorDash, headquartered in San Francisco, her work was predominantly focused in the South and Southeast. She said she guided outside counsel and created “a unified voice on behalf of the company in terms of how we dealt with insurance litigation matters.”

Sheridan said she was one of four in-house lawyers on the company’s insurance litigation team when she joined in March 2023 and helped the team more than double in size. She said DoorDash had about 80 lawyers across the country when she left last month. The company didn’t respond to an inquiry about its headcount on Thursday.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

While the in-house experience was positive, eye-opening and valuable, it offered less time in court, Sheridan said, adding that a return to friends and the familiarity of Gordon Rees felt natural.

“I certainly missed handling the arguments, being in the courtroom and being the one to not only help decide how we were going to argue a particular matter but to see it through all the way to the end,” she said.

The daughter of two lawyers, Sheridan grew up in Valdosta and pursued a double major in political science and Spanish at the University of Georgia before graduating from its law school in 2006. She said she always wanted to be a litigator and to understand how businesses work from the inside.

Handling insurance cases for a fast-growing company like DoorDash was just as busy as being outside counsel, Sheridan said.

“It’s made me more attuned to client service,” she said. “Having seen the issues that trouble in-house counsel, I feel like I’m now in a better position to address those things, hopefully even proactively, as outside counsel.”