"You can make yourself a force on any issue in the city," was how Jones Day's Steve Brogan set himself apart from Squire Sanders' Fred Nance at their rare face-off at the City Club Wednesday. "Do not wait for older leaders," Brogan exhorted his audience.

Nance told listeners interested in making a difference to get involved in such established groups as Bridge Builders and Leadership Cleveland. He said that the board of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, "went out of its way" to get younger people involved in the GCP governance.

Brogan's and Nance's appearance on the same podium was billed as a discussion of the future of Cleveland's legal profession. Brogan is the first Jones Day managing partner who is not resident in the firm's Cleveland office. He focused on the importance of providing superior client services. ''If we do a great job it will benefit our clients," he observed.

Jones Day, founded in Cleveland in 1893, is one of the globe's largest legal partnerships with offices in 28 cities. Squire Sanders also has an international practice. Both firms' leaders acknowledged that the legal professoin has become more competitive in recent years, because the practice is no longer local in nature. Brogan said that extending the rule of law to China creates great opportunities for U.S. based legal professional srvice firms.