Elizabeth H. Noe has a big job.

Last month, she became the leader of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker's firmwide corporate department, a move which puts her in charge of the equivalent of a large law firm. She's now responsible for about 400 lawyers in offices around the globe and the 10 practice areas in which they work, including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and restructuring.

She'll also be at the forefront of strategic planning for her department, which sits squarely within a legal industry segment that, at firms nationwide, was hard hit by the faltering economy and strangled credit markets.

Despite the business community's woes last year, Noe, 45, said she sees ways for the corporate department to grow.

“There's certainly an opportunity, given our global reach, to take advantage of what's happening in Asia, where capital markets are much more active than they are in the U.S. right now,” she said.

She said she'll also be looking for ways to strengthen relationships with U.S.-based clients interested in expanding around the world, and to promote the work of the department's various practice areas, which include investment management, fund formation, private equity and project finance.

In addition, Noe will work on administrative matters such as the partners' retreat; interviewing potential lateral partners; the associate evaluation process; and reporting on partner performance to the committee that allocates the units that determine partner compensation.

Paul Hastings' firmwide chairman and managing partner, Seth M. Zachary and Greg Nitzkowski, respectively, appointed Noe to the post when the prior corporate department chairman, Los Angeles partner Robert A. Miller Jr., wanted to return to full-time law practice.

Noe, who spent five years serving as Miller's vice-chairwoman, said her predecessor usually spent as much as 1,000 hours a year managing the group.

“I will continue to maintain a full practice. I'm absolutely not cutting back on that,” she said. She explained that she'll be able to do that because practice group chairs are taking on more responsibility. “It's really a more collaborative position than a solo position,” she said.

The move makes Noe one of five department heads in the 18-office firm, and the only one based in Atlanta.

Her practice centers on securities, M&A, corporate finance and corporate governance, with deals in the past year that included a $225 million private offering for Yonkers Racing Corp.