This piece originally appeared in the November 2024 edition of MortgagePoint magazine, online now.
The Five Star Institute is proud to welcome D.J. (David) Mulkay as the newest Director of the Legal League. Mulkay has over 20 years of experience with financial services law firms and mortgage banks. This latest role overseeing Five Star’s Legal League gives him the opportunity to leverage his experience on all sides of the industry to bring all parties together.
As Director, Mulkay will work to strengthen the reach of the League’s firms and associates through exposure, publications, networking, and training/education.
He grew up all around, but considers Texas his forever home. He is married with two little ones, Mckayla and Colt, and a puppy named Snacks. To welcome Mulkay to the team, MortgagePoint spoke with him briefly to learn more about his background and what he hopes to bring to the Legal League.
Q: What are the keys to driving growth for financial services firms in today’s market?
The key to driving business in today’s market is about responsiveness, timeliness, willingness to grow, and compliance. Furthermore, the firms that answer the call and have Managing Partners fully engrossed in client services have always led the way. It has become very costly to service a loan in today’s market, and the firms that can move a case in full compliance while remaining fast are garnering the most attention from servicers, who are always looking to cut costs—more so now than ever before. Lastly, as the consolidation of financial services firms increases, it is important to provide decision-makers the opportunity to utilize your firm for different practice areas and in different geographical footprints as well. It is a must to get your name out there and maintain a presence with a great reputation.
Q: You have talked about the importance of firms making themselves visible—could you expand on that and how it can make a crucial difference?
All too often I hear, “I didn’t know they were now practicing in that state,” or “I didn’t know that firm also handled those other practice areas.” As the firms in the industry have grown and people have shifted between different providers, the need for visibility and awareness has never been more necessary. Once a firm is preferred with most mortgage servicers, it is difficult to move away from that decision. However, if you are always available, known, and top of mind, it is easier for mortgage servicers of all sizes to maintain the continuity they have with their current network of law firms and service providers or make a quick switch if necessary (but with long-term thought in mind), further maintaining a current or even opening a new client to your firm.
Q: Tell me a bit about your past experiences with Legal League. What does the League do well? In what areas would you like to see it grow?
In the past, I have attended many Legal League events as a part of my time with JPMorgan Chase, as a representative of law firms, and as a service provider. Until recently, I did not understand the full picture, and my only idea was that the Legal League was a network of attorneys within the Five Star conglomerate that met occasionally and worked together in the industry. The League has been growing its network and its offerings, and since I have become ingrained, I could not be more excited. I was able to take the Servicer Certifications, sit in on the Servicer on-site training of over 80 FTEs at one of the country’s largest subservicers, I have attended several of the webinars, and have seen how the network has started to refer work to one another, which is all just amazing. The growth in the last two years has been incredibly exciting, and I am looking to accelerate this celebration even further. We want to provide even more opportunities to connect with the GSEs, the servicers, and the service providers through our four verticals and by starting some new initiatives as well.
Q: What are the primary headwinds facing firms now, and how can they work to surmount them?
The industry has been riddled with starts and stops, moratoriums both expected and not and ever-changing policy over the last 20+ years. Firms can best align themselves with this new world by utilizing technology to get faster, utilizing experience to get better, and partnering with each other to conquer the current valley we are in now. Time has shown that these ebbs and flows have and will continue to happen, but it is the firms that prepare for the future changes while in flight that have maintained amazing tenure in the industry.
The post Getting to Know: D.J. “David” Mulkay, Director of Legal League first appeared on The MortgagePoint.
