Legally Bond
Legally Bond
A Special All Attorneys' Meeting Recap Episode
This special episode of Legally Bond is inspired by the recent 2024 Bond Attorneys' Meeting which brought together over 200 attorneys from across all of Bond's offices, Kim talks with Bond attorneys Colin Leonard, Amber Lawyer, Kevin Cope, Matthew Lamstein, Laura Purcell and Lou DiLorenzo as they share their thoughts on what makes Bond great.
Hello and welcome to Legally Bond, a podcast presented by the law firm Bond, Senec and King. I'm your host, Kim Wolf-Price. Today we're bringing you a special episode inspired by our recent All Attorneys meeting. That meeting brought together well over 200 attorneys across all Bond offices. The event focused on important topics, about building a stronger team together, moving forward. During his opening, Brian Butler, the chair of Bond's management committee, asked several lawyers at the firm to share their thoughts on what makes Bond great. I'm going to re-ask them those questions today as part of the podcast. But first, to set the stage for us, we're speaking with Colin Leonard. Colin is the office managing member for our Syracuse office. He practices labor law and he served as the planning committee chair for Bond's recent all attorneys meeting. Welcome back to the podcast, Colin Hi.
Speaker 2:Kim, it's good to be back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's good to see you. It's not like we spent a lot of time together the last few weeks.
Speaker 2:All good time.
Speaker 1:All good time? Yeah, absolutely All right. So I think I'd like to start out by asking you what was the overarching theme of the All Attorneys?
Speaker 2:meeting. So the theme was taking what is a great firm at Bond, Schoenick King, and trying to improve upon it. We all are very fortunate to have wonderful clients. We get the opportunity to work with a great staff and other members and other associates here at Bond, but we want to make sure we're improving upon who we are and what we can provide our clients and getting together to talk about those things kind of the big themes as well as the little things that each of us can do to perform better. That's kind of what our overarching theme was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it seemed like a lot of the topics. It was communication, making sure we have a shared language, teamwork, mentorship, with what you just said, that sort of eye towards the future, whether it was technology or otherwise, to make sure we're not stagnant and that we're always moving forward.
Speaker 2:Correct, correct. We have to be always thinking about how do we do what we do very well for our clients and just make sure we're excelling and doing it the best we can. And so things like understanding artificial intelligence, what that's bringing into our workplace, and being able to practice with it and expand upon it. Eventually, that's really helpful for all of our attorneys, whether you're a senior member or you're a very new associate. So just getting together, being in the same room, spending time with people in other offices, is just so vital to the life of the firm.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe you can expand on that a little bit. It seems, having just experienced it for the first time, it is really important to bring all the attorneys together, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is Kim, because we've become a bigger firm from when I started 20 years ago and, although we spend quite a bit of time interacting by video or by phone or in remote meetings, there's nothing like getting together in the same room and sharing personal experiences and understanding personalities. It's just incredibly important and really I think when you have that face-to-face conversation whether it's a one-on-one conversation or part of a group dialogue you understand more about what that person brings to the table, what their background is, what their specifics, you know where they excel in their practice areas, what they really like to do, and that just helps us serve our clients better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, I think it's. We say bring you know your whole self to it. You bring all your experience to your practice, everything that you've done before, and when you get to know that about each other, it's really important, definitely. So what is it you hope, as the chair, that everyone sort of took away from the meeting?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think a couple of things. I mean number one. I hope, as I said, you know, people have a better understanding of other attorneys at the firm and just where they practice what they practice what they're really good at, and just just get to know the people. I also hope they felt that they're part of the team. I mean, that was vitally important to Brian Butler's leadership here and I think you and I have talked about it as well is we believe at Bond that we are a team that serves our clients best when we're working together for the common goal and that's really the overall focus of this so that people go back to their offices whether it's Buffalo, syracuse, albany, et cetera. They know they may be sitting in that office, but they're part of the larger bond team.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I think that's great. Well, thank you, colin. I really wanted to make several next comments in here, but I haven't done it, since we're definitely cheering on our team right now, but I think Bond functions like the Nova Nix. Can I say that?
Speaker 2:Exactly, I love the Nova Nix. That's a great metaphor.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, it was a great intentional day. Thanks for your leadership and I know we'll keep building on it. Thank you, Kim. Next up we have Amber Lawyer. Amber is an associate who sits in Bond's Syracuse office. She is a frequent podcast guest. She's currently the deputy chair of the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Group here at the firm and she started with us as a summer associate and, as we say a lot here on the 15th floor of the Chase building, she was just moments away from becoming a litigator, but she was snatched away by our good friends in the business department. Welcome back to the podcast, Amber.
Speaker 4:Thanks for having me, kim. I joke now that I think that's going to be on my tombstone, if Brian has anything to say about it.
Speaker 1:I would guarantee that, at least when you someday have your retirement party, that will still be said yes, all right. Well, so at the all attorneys meeting, brian asked these questions, so I'm going to ask you the same one. You started at Bond as a summer law clerk and you began practicing in what was then an emerging practice area, which is cybersecurity and data privacy. So how did you take advantage of the opportunities presented to you and how were you supported by the firm?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I started at the firm in 2016 as a summer law clerk and was luckily invited back to join the the strategy for our clients, and from there the firm really let me specialize in cybersecurity and data privacy, and I was lucky enough to be supported by members at the firm that put me in front of clients very early in my career and taught me how to advise and how to think practically about what clients need in terms of privacy and cybersecurity.
Speaker 4:And then I got very lucky in that the landscape exploded and there were privacy laws all over the world and cybersecurity issues every single day, and since then we now have 12 states with privacy laws and it seems like a hacking every five minutes and because of that, I was able to learn and grow pretty quickly. The firm allowed me to specialize and take certifications and exams to become a privacy professional, and then I'm very thankful the firm put me in a leadership position, so I was able to take on my role as deputy chair of the practice group and to recruit other members of our team to come in to help train them, and I am very happy with how things have turned out so far.
Speaker 1:Well, so are we. I remember asking you back when I was teaching class to come in and talk about this, and you were like I'm not sure how I got here, but we're so glad that you did. Me too. Me too, thanks, amber, thanks Amber. Next up is Kevin Cope. Kevin is an associate and a litigator who sits in our Buffalo office. Kevin recently had a significant trial win and is called on by many lawyers throughout Bond to work on cases. So, kevin, your question, which is a repeat from the all attorneys meeting. You joined us after working as an associate at another firm in Buffalo. What has been your experience at Bond and how has the development of your skills and practice benefited from your move to Bond?
Speaker 5:Sure, thanks, kim.
Speaker 5:So, yeah, I came over from a boutique litigation firm where litigation was primarily what we did over there.
Speaker 5:So you know you're tasked with bringing in work based upon just purely litigation and by transferring over to Bond it's greatly expanded my opportunities and you know the streams from which I can get work.
Speaker 5:For example, I've expanded into doing non-compete and restricted covenant work with Brad Hoppe and because of that we've been able to keep track of this FPC issue that's been ongoing and kind of guide our clients accordingly.
Speaker 5:And in addition, I'm able to get and receive information and provide information to various different lines within the firm, including, you know, the business department, property department, intellectual property to both expand into those areas and learn from those areas in order to better form strategies and litigation and how to respond to the issues that I deal with on a daily basis. In addition, it's allowed me to continue in the commercial litigation aspect, which is what I come over to primarily work in, as well as continue some other lines of business that I used to work in at my older firm, including general defense litigation, municipal litigation and along those lines. So there's just such a wealth of knowledge from the firm that I'm able to pretty much deal with and receive the benefit of the vast knowledge of the firm, to both continuing the litigation aspects I currently do, as well as expanding into various other fields.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. I always say maybe because I am a litigator at Hurt. But litigators, we know the rules of practice and we can pick up whatever the business line is, whatever the industry is, learn it, figure it out and get to work.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's nice to be able to take the structure that we know and apply it to other fields.
Speaker 1:Terrific. Well, thanks so much. We're glad you're here with us at Bond, thank you. So next up is Matt Lamstein. Matt is a member of the firm. He sits in our Melville office down on Long Island in New York. He joined us in the combination with the Laser firm in 2022. He is a commercial real estate attorney and is a member of our property department. Hey, matt, welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you All right. So I take a step back, because the question was going to be you know, how has bond combination worked out for me personally and how do I think it's worked out firm wise? But I do want to take a step back because I think you need to understand where we came from and where Laser came from. And so Laser was a firm of started with, you know, five, six attorneys, developed to 30 attorneys and was around for a good 35 years and whatever there's all good firms, did great legal work, kept very good, sophisticated clients happy, but we were also a family, you know, and we're that way. So, when the three main people that were left as equity partners at Laser decided it was time to make a move, it was critical for us to go to a place that obviously had great lawyers, great clients, you know, good legal work, but also, from a collegial and culture perspective, was similar to what where we were coming from, and we're coming up to almost a couple of weeks now and two years, and I can say with good certainty that it's been a good move because of the culture and because of the people at Bond, and I'm also, though, the type that I get into the weeds. I don't want to just come out with platitudes but actually give examples of why I think that, and so I'll do the bond geography thing for me and what has happened.
Speaker 3:So I've had transactions with almost every single office, with numerous attorneys at bond and all great experiences. So I'll start in Buffalo. You know I was with Paul and Chip. We worked on a major transaction that took nine months to close in New Jersey Successful. It was great working with the two of them. I had an issue with one of my good multifamily clients down here who for the first time was in a major dispute, called Steve Sharkey. He put me in touch with Ed Herahan and Curtis Johnson. They jumped in. Fantastic result Very, very happy client.
Speaker 6:Curtis Johnson they jumped in.
Speaker 3:Fantastic result. Very, very happy client Syracuse. I've dealt with Paul. I've dealt with Phil, who allowed me to do work for my good old place where I went to college at Colgate. That was great, you know, that's my favorite undergrad, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3:Flip over to Albany, jen. We've done work for Jen's clients but at the same time I've been able to go to Jen when we've had tax issues, which was something we didn't have at Laser and it's great to have that source. Westchester, sarah, dealing with a couple of her clients and then flip over. We've even dealt with Kansas. Kyle has worked with Tara and I because we have a number of multifamily clients that have work and projects out there Missouri, kansas and when we need help he has helped us out. Garden City Barbara Maesto and John McKay helped me on a litigation, got a summary judgment motion that we won on, enabled me to have a client be able to sell their resort out east and I had mentioned before, took those clients to dinner. They literally cried at the dinner table on what we had produced for them and it was a long, very tortuous process but we got there and we had a great result. And then I finished off in the city which to me, has been the best of all circumstances For me individually.
Speaker 3:Part of the reason why I did this was I know that there weren't a lot of transactional attorneys, especially real estate attorneys, at Bond, so I knew I was going to fit into a place and it's worked out tremendously. I've done, you know, tons of work with dan. I've done work for lose clients and then I, you know, I bring up monica's clients at one of monica's clients in particular, which is the new school. You know cheap monica. When we did the combination first started me off with a small project went very, very well.
Speaker 3:I well, I suggested to Monica that we go to lunch with the clients we did and all I can say is it's translated into a tremendous amount of work. We're currently doing two major deals now in Manhattan and the hope and the goal is that we're going to get a lot more work from them. But we're getting to do it. You know sophisticated work with, by the way, clients who are good people, bright people, that we've also developed good personal relationships with me individually especially. I love that stuff. So it's been to me a success on so many levels, but especially on the work that I've gotten involved with both with Bond, and then coming back to the things that I do.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's a great answer and your enthusiasm, the way you talk about your colleagues everywhere. I think from the moment I met you two years ago at the member retreat, like I knew this was gonna work.
Speaker 3:And it has and it has right. And it's the people like you too, you know it's the people, because you know we do, we spend a lot of time doing what we do here. You know I do love what I do, but it's also it's being able to work with good people, good, bright people, and and this combination, both internally and externally, has resulted in that and I just hope that it it keeps going that path and we, we, keep growing it.
Speaker 1:That's great. Thanks so much, matt, and I hope you'll join us again soon. Okay, sounds good. Next up we have Laura Purcell. Laura is a member who sits in our Rochester office. She's part of our labor and employment practice, but she's also in the school law practice group. This is a really dynamic group and I think it was almost two months ago that Laura joined us after spending all or most of her career at another firm in Rochester. So, laura, what have been your impressions since you joined Bond? What do you think distinguishes us from other firms?
Speaker 6:Well, it has been just over two months and it really has been a great two months in terms of you know, when we first came, one of the things that Kevin Bernstein, when we were first talking about coming here, and then with Ed Horahan and Brian Butler, they said you will, and that has borne true for me and I know the rest of my colleagues who joined recently with a school law practice so right in the Rochester office itself, it has been a very welcoming place and attorneys have jumped in on things. School law group is extremely interactive. We have a main school law email where people throw stuff out all the time. We also have some sub email groups for very specific issues.
Speaker 6:But what is so nice about that is, no matter how long you've been practicing, you will never know everything. Or you just want to say here's what I've preliminarily advised a client. This is why I did so. Any thoughts and it's so. It's just a really great thing to have in a very dynamic group and there is always someone who will respond. So that has been a wonderful thing for us to join. And you know, we had a very nice school law team at our other firm, but moving into the team here just because of the size has been very nice, and so we're appreciating the deep bench for sure with that.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic and I really appreciate your thoughts. And right, you had a great, you had a great team, but you were able before. But the fact that this one, you know really right away, feels like it's the place to be.
Speaker 6:It really does. You know, I think our clients are already appreciating it. You know, in terms of we've had people from Rochester office but a lot of other offices jump in, I email or call they don't know who I am, but immediately have jumped in to help on things and have done a great job. And so I know for our clients I think that you know we reassured them about the transition over to bond and that we were doing this so we could better serve them, and I really believe that that's proven true. So that's been, that's been very nice.
Speaker 6:I think that, in terms of what else that I've noticed is that regional law firms like bond and like the firm that we joined from, are going through periods of transition now and really everybody's looking to make sure that they can stabilize for the future and be relevant into the future.
Speaker 6:And so what I feel Bond has done just from looking at it from the outside, but then also after being here a bit you've engaged in really smart strategic growth. Bond has really you stuck with your core areas and that's important to me that Bond hasn't lost its identity from the firm that it started out from to where it is now. But it's nice to see offices growing in central and western New York, where I think other firms are much more focused on downstate, and Bond is not leaving downstate behind. Obviously that's an important piece of the puzzle, but I think it is a smart strategy to be able to also grow all over New York State, because that's what a client base such as Bond has really needs in terms of the support from all areas and attorneys in all of those offices. So I appreciate that that it's not lost its identity while doing that. That's a tough thing when you are merging with different firms and bringing different attorneys in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very tough thing and I appreciate your insights and also that the school law group sort of adopts me once in a while I speak at the NYSASA conference again, so I get to learn a little bit more and work with you all. So I'm excited to keep working with you and those of you who came over, and thanks for your insights. Thanks so much I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:And our final guest today to talk about the all attorneys meeting is Lou DiLorenzo. Lou needs no introduction, including to our podcast audience, as he's been a guest on at least two episodes. He's a member of our Labor and Employment Department, managing member of our Westchester office and the co-managing member and one of the founders of our New York City office. Lou started his career with Bond in the Syracuse office and moved from the Syracuse office 20 years ago to start our New York Metro offices. So, lou, in August you'll be celebrating a bit over 40 years with the firm. With that history, will you please tell us two or three things that sort of make the firm great.
Speaker 7:Oh, thanks, kim. Yes, and actually I was even a summer associate before I started. So I'm going to come at this a little bit differently than maybe some other people. So I'm going to come at this a little bit differently than maybe some other people. Obviously, the firm has some great attributes in terms of its culture of, you know, collaboration and collegiality.
Speaker 7:I always like to say to people that we interview from other firms in New York City that I've never called someone and said I need help on this and have them say well, you know who's the client, what are the rates like? Do they pay their bills? It's always been to help each other, no matter what's going on with the client or what the issue is. It's helping somebody else in the firm. It doesn't matter what office you're in or what department you're in or what you do. So those kinds of things and you know great lawyers in terms of substantive knowledge and those things those things are all taken for granted. A lot of firms have some of those things, but there's been some different things in our firm that I think are fairly unique. One is when I came to the firm 48 years ago, there were three of us, three firms that are about the same size as ours. We all had about 50 lawyers and one of those firms is down to about 33 lawyers and another one is up to about 64. And we have close to 300 and offices all over the place.
Speaker 7:One of the reasons that happened over these 48 years was that our partners were willing to invest in the future. Several investment opportunities were brought to the partnership and it was novel. We started in the 90s doing this for the first time and people in the discussions that we had at those partners meetings there were people would mention this is going to cost a million dollars, it's going to cost two or three million dollars and I'll probably never see a return on this by the time my stint is done in the firm. But people were willing to forego their income in those years because the investment was believed to be good for the future of the firm. 20 years from now, 30 years from now, and that was impressive to me that people would sacrifice their own in real time economic value for long term investment that they would not see the results of. But it would be partners that were nameless, faceless at the time we were making the investment. So that's impressive to me and I watched that happen as compared to other firms.
Speaker 7:The other thing that I think about is when somebody asks me well, lou, why do you think your firm is so good? Well, I don't know if somebody who's never been anyplace else really has a basis for saying oh, I work at the best firm in the world, I work at the greatest law firm in New York State or the East Coast or whatever. I don't really have anything else to compare it to. I was a summer associate at Bunchen and King and then I came to work here and you know, my parents were Italian immigrants, so I didn't have any professional experience, even in our household to compare things to. But one of the things I've noticed is that over the years I've been involved firsthand with a number of merger discussions with either an entire firm or a majority of another firm, and those firms were very good firms.
Speaker 7:Maybe great firms had great lawyers. Started with a Flaherty Cohen firm when we opened our Buffalo office. The managing partner the newly elected managing partner of that firm and this is a firm that took a labor case to the Supreme Court. It was a fierce competitor of ours in upstate New York. It was a management labor firm called Flaherty Cohen, randazzo and Doran, and they had about nine lawyers, a labor boutique. They were 75 years old at the time and they agreed to merge with us their entire firm, and those were great lawyers. Like I said, they had a leading Supreme Court case that was decided five to four the Buffalo Forge case. They agreed, after 75 years of independence, to say you know what? We want to team up with these people. They're great lawyers, they're a great firm, they have a great culture that's similar to ours. We want to join them. So they left their ship and came to our ship.
Speaker 7:The same thing happened with a majority of the Rains and Pogerman people in Long Island when we moved downstate. The same thing happened with Benatar Bernstein and Isaac's firm. Both of these were labor boutiques. Benatar Bernstein took the New York telephone case to the Supreme Court before they joined us. They too were a 75-year-old firm. So was Raines Kogerman. The Keel Keel firm was a 35-year-old firm that had a tremendous higher education labor practice in New York City, across the street from us, and they used to send us their overflow work. And eventually we talked to them and they were fiercely independent. But they decided you know what? This was the firm we wanted to join, bernie Kennedy's firm joined us. The Laser firm in Long Island with I don't know 35 or 40 lawyers joined us. So what I'm saying, I guess. And the latest one in New York City is the Putney Twombly firm, which is a 150-year-old firm.
Speaker 1:Right, older than us.
Speaker 7:Three of its best years just before they joined us. None of these firms are firms that were on the decline or had lost a huge client or a rainmaker. These were all firms that were doing very well, but they decided you know what we think we can do even better if we combine with Von Schoening and King. They decided you know what we think we can do even better if we combine with Von Schoening and King. So maybe I haven't been anyplace else, but I've seen all these people that have come from successful avenues elsewhere to say, geez, you know what. We're going to leave what we've been doing successfully for all these years and join Von Schoening and King. I mean Putney, historically, is known throughout New York City even better than the bond name. They incorporated General Electric for Thomas Edison.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that.
Speaker 7:That's the kind of firm it is. So I look at those firms and say they obviously know something. They've been around in the world, they've been other places, they were on a different track and they joined our track. So to me, even though I may not have a great foundation for testifying to the greatness of Bonchun and King, I think these are terrific witnesses that gave up everything that they had which was successful to join our firm and they haven't left. So, kim, that's how I look at the place and that's how I think about how things have happened.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Lou, I look at the place and that's how I think about how things have happened. Thanks, so I think that's fantastic. I also love how you answered that like a lawyer, where you marshaled all your facts and did the research for us and brought that all in to make the case. That like even from inside, like maybe maybe you think we're biased, but here's some outside perspectives that really tell the story.
Speaker 7:I agree it reminds me of the Miracle on 34th Street, one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, where they were trying to prove whether he was really Santa Claus and the way they did it at the end was geez. The post office has recognized him as Santa Claus. They send the letters here and the greatness of Bonchana King is recognized by the external world of these firms that decided, you know what. This is a better place than the place we have, and we want to join them for the future.
Speaker 1:I think that's a fantastic way to think about it. Well, thank you so much, Lou.
Speaker 1:We really appreciate you joining us today, and thanks to all of our guests. I hope our listeners were able to learn a little bit more about Bond from the sampling of wonderful lawyers that we spoke with today. Thanks, lynn. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Legally Bond. If you're listening and have any questions for me, want to hear from someone at the firm or have a suggestion for a future topic, please email us at legallybond at bskcom. Also, don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to Legally Bond wherever podcasts are downloaded. Until our next talk, be well.
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