Four attorneys at Forchelli, Curto, Crowe, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo & Cohn discuss keys to success

How did you get your start? I started my career by going to St. John University's Law School night program while working full time during the day. I was recommended by a professor to a large Long Island Law Firm for a summer position which evolved into a full-time position and where I began my career as an associate lawyer in corporate and commercial transactions. What was one of your most challenging projects? I represented a closely-held family run business in the sale of all of its assets to an international company for a purchase price in excess of $50 million. Certain financial representatives were urging the principals to invest the proceeds in a series of complicated off-shore trust and holding companies to minimize the tax impact of the transaction to the individual shareholders. After reviewing the mechanisms to accomplish this and the legal tax opinion which, purportedly approved the legality of these procedures, the clients were advised not to pursue this tax strategy as there were too many financial and legal risks involved. These procedures were, in later years, successfully challenged by the IRS. Why is it important to pay attention to the global economy with respect to the New York real estate market? 2009 will bring some harsh economic realities that the New York real estate market has not encountered for decades. The global recession has and will continue to impact negatively on the profitability and growth of commercial enterprises, both large and small and in virtually all industries. The global financial markets will continue to affect our financial institutions. The implications of this will be far reaching across the state and will impact everything from tax revenues to retail sales, travel, dining, the real estate market and more. We have already seen the downturn in the real estate market, both in commercial and residential sales and leasing and, recently in consumer transactions. What new sales and marketing strategies have you implemented to combat today's challenging economy? In this economic environment, it is as crucial as ever that we, as attorneys, are able to make our services relevant to our commercial clients; that we properly identify the client's objectives; efficiently deliver the legal services necessary to accomplish those objectives and, perhaps most importantly, provide those services economically. In 2009, the challenge to assist our commercial clients in meeting their goals and solving their problems will be greater than ever and the legal community as well as other professional service providers must be prepared to meet that challenge.