2019 Ones to Watch: Raymond Castronovo, Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP

Name: Raymond Castronovo

Title: Associate

Company Name: Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP

Address: 333 Earle Ovington Blvd., Suite 1010, Uniondale, NY 11553

Real estate organizations: Nassau County Bar Association, Real Estate and Construction Law Committees 

What do you consider to be your greatest success in the past 12 months?
One of my greatest successes in the past 12 months is recovering nearly $1 million in assets located in a foreign jurisdiction in connection with a New York judgment. The judgment debtor was a foreign corporation that had formed many subsidiary and related entities to disguise its assets, which included real property, construction equipment and accounts (all of which were located outside of New York). Through creative collection efforts, which were vigorously contested by the judgment debtor, I obtained nearly 95% of the judgment amount for the client. 

?What advice can you offer to someone who is just getting started in your industry?
The advice that I would offer to someone getting started as a new attorney in construction and real estate law is to take notice of the successful seasoned attorneys and practitioners you interact with or come across in your practice (whether colleagues, adversaries or in publications). Read the briefs and papers they write and pay attention to how they conduct themselves, and try to emulate their practices that you feel make them stand out in the industry. 

Who or what do you attribute to your success?
I attribute my success to the group of lawyers I began my career with as a newly admitted associate. I was told by a law school professor that learning to practice law is like the game of golf. From the beginning, if a young attorney learns the correct techniques and practices to build upon, his or her legal skills and acumen will exponentially advance. I was fortunate to begin my career working with attorneys that were highly skilled and took tremendous pride in their work product, and securing the best results for their clients. I believe that the examples they set for me, and knowledge they shared, provided the foundational skills to develop into a successful attorney.