Life, Law, and La Fonda’s: Megan Lindberg’s Unexpected Path to In-House Counsel

Megan Lindberg didn’t grow up dreaming of being a lawyer. In fact, if you’d told her in college that she’d be in-house counsel for HOLT Group, a company with a century-long legacy in heavy equipment, it would have seemed unlikely to her at the time. “I don’t know that I’d ever thought about being a lawyer,” she admits. But life unfolds in unexpected ways. After earning her law degree from Baylor, she found herself at Cox Smith, diving into labor and employment litigation with a team she grew to love.

And even through the passage of time, Megan’s connection never faded.

 

A CONSTANT ADVOCATE

It’s impossible to talk about Megan’s journey without mentioning Dan Stern. To call him a mentor would be accurate but perhaps incomplete. “Megan is way too humble,” Dan interjects at one point, clearly intent on ensuring credit is given where it’s due. “She has such a happy personality that you wouldn’t really see it, but what she went through was tough, and I’m proud of her—I’ve been proud of her and am still proud of her.”

Megan is quick to downplay things, and her voice has undeniable warmth when she talks about Dan and the rest of the team she worked with at Cox Smith. “If it’s any indicator, the day my divorce from my first husband was finalized, I was at the courthouse, and I called Dan, Ray Bissmeyer, and Mike Lennane, and we went straight to La Fonda on Main for drinks—and that was years after I left Cox Smith!”

That loyalty runs both ways. When Megan made the difficult decision to leave the firm, it wasn’t because she wanted to. “I loved the team. I really liked the work,” she says. But circumstances outside of the firm led her to be stretched too thin. “The energy it took to handle everything was sort of more than I could manage,” she reflects. So, she took a year off, then transitioned to an in-house role with a former client, where she stayed for eight years before landing at HOLT Group.

 

 

EARNING RESPECT THE HARD WAY

Dan remembers a moment that perfectly encapsulates Megan’s ability to win over even the toughest skeptics. “We had this client who was a bit dismissive of Megan, probably because of her gender.”

Megan is amused by the memory. “Oh, it gets even better,” she says. “That client? He ended up hiring me after I left Cox Smith. He thought I wasn’t being tough enough. At one point, he really let me have it, saying I was weak and that I needed to fight for him.”

She shakes her head with a smirk, “I was like, ‘It’s not even time to fight yet. We haven’t even appeared in the matter!’ But I sent one strongly worded email, and after that, he loved me.”

Even opposing counsel recognized what was happening. In response to Megan’s stern email, he quipped, “Me Tarzan, you Jane,” poking fun at the bias reflected in the client’s initial attitude. Megan still remembers that moment vividly. “I had that email printed out and on my wall for years.”

 

WHERE THE COUCH GOES

From firm-side and in-house experience, Megan has a clear perspective on what makes an outside attorney a trusted partner. “The biggest thing to understand is that in-house attorneys are not in the business of practicing law for the sake of law—we’re in the business of supporting the company’s goals,” she explains. “We’re here to provide legal guidance that helps the company move forward efficiently.”

That means knowing when to cut through the noise. “My first boss in-house told me, ‘When I call, I want to know where to place the couch in the house. I don’t want the building plans. Just tell me where the couch goes.’” Immediately, she understood. 

That pragmatism stayed with her and served her well, especially in a company as dynamic as HOLT. “We’re the largest CAT dealer in the United States, and our owners have close historical ties with Caterpillar—going back to the invention of the CAT tracks.”  With that legacy and a new generation of leadership focused on growth, Megan’s work constantly evolves. “I’ve gotten to do things way out of my comfort zone—M&A, all sorts of things,” she says. “It’s been fun, but I’m ready for a little lull,” she adds.

 

DEFINING SUCCESS ON HER OWN TERMS

As a labor and employment attorney, Megan has seen workplace biases up close. However, her personal experience is different from that of the broader narrative. “I don’t think I ever felt singled out because of my gender,” she says. “I never felt denied opportunities. If anything, I had people—Dan, Ray, Donna McElroy, Ray Cowley, Ben Foster—championing me.”

That’s not to say the journey was without challenges. “The hardest thing for me wasn’t bias—it was raising little kids with a full-time career, especially in litigation where you have so little control over your schedule,” she says. “But I don’t think that’s necessarily a women’s issue. That’s just life.”

Still, there’s something to be said for a workplace that actively supports its people. Megan speaks highly of her current company’s values-driven culture. “A lot of businesses have values, but I’ve never seen an organization use them like we do,” she says. “They were set 35 years ago and still guide every decision. (For example,) when COVID hit, the leadership team kept returning to one question: ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ And I think that’s what every business should be asking.”

 

STAYING CONNECTED, NO MATTER WHAT

Despite leaving the firm over a decade ago, Megan still feels like a Dykema alum. “For years, I thought when I left, I was just pretending to be at work,” she jokes. “Cox Smith was my real job.” 

So when she moved to HOLT Group, she never expected to run into a bizarre hurdle: “When they were running my background check, it came back saying Dykema had no record of me. Panicked, I called Lynn Ganschinietz and said, ‘Lynn, help!’ And she just said, ‘I got it. Have them call me.’” It was a small moment, but one that shows the sense of connection that remains between alums and the firm; just call us up, we’ve got you! 

As for Dan, he makes it clear that no amount of time or distance changes anything. “You can call me anytime, Megan,” he says. “If you ever have a problem, I’m there for you.”

And if that’s not the definition of what an alum network should be, what is?

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HOLT CAT sells, rents and services Caterpillar machines, engines and generator sets in a 118-county Texas territory spanning from the Red River to the Rio Grande.

This conversation is part of an ongoing series. If you’re a Dykema alum and have an interesting story, we want to hear from you. Please email alumni@dykema.com.