Building for Future Success
This is a great opportunity for me to share my thoughts about Cohen Seglias as I reflect upon 25 years of success and growth. First and foremost, when I joined the Firm as a 4th year associate in February of 1998, I can assure you that I never contemplated being here for 15 years or becoming the Firm’s Managing Partner. In the early days, I no doubt dreamed about becoming a partner but spent most of my time trying to keep up with Roy Cohen, Ed Seglias, George Pallas, and John Greenhall as they worked tirelessly to represent the Firm’s clients, to bring in new business, and add lawyers to the Firm. Clearly, their efforts were rewarded as we have grown into an established regional law firm with offices in 6 states, more than 1,000 clients, and close to 100 employees! My growth is directly related to the Firm’s culture which supports professional development.
As the Managing Partner, I am proud of our Firm and all that we have accomplished together. We have hardworking partners, associates, administrators, and staff, all of whom are dedicated to doing excellent work for our clients every day. I work with a wonderful group of managers who keep the Firm running so that each and every lawyer in the Firm can be successful and grow as a professional. In September of this year, Kathleen Garrity joined us as our new Executive Director and has already taken a significant leadership role within the Firm. We have big plans for the future and believe that Kathleen is going to be a key contributor as we go forward! It is a real honor to be the Managing Partner of Cohen Seglias in 2013 and beyond as we continue to meet new challenges.
Cohen Seglias has always been successful because of the relationships we have with our clients. We work every day to give our clients quality and timely service. This is more and more challenging as technology continues to increase the expectations for businesses of all types. We have been committed to investing in our IT systems for more than 10 years, which has allowed us to become more and more efficient as we move forward. We also continue to advance our regional growth, as was the case this year with the addition of our New York office. Our Federal and Construction Groups have taken us all over the country, as our well-developed expertise in these areas have opened new doors, and in the case of the Federal Practice Group even taken us to the Middle East.
In the coming years, we will all continue to see technology and social media become bigger and bigger parts of our business and personal lives. In many ways, this change has already been cemented in our lives, yet in many others, these advances have only begun to change the way we do business. It is certain that the rate of change is ever increasing as are our efforts to keep pace with these changing realities. As our next generation of lawyers moves forward with their careers, Cohen Seglias is committed to the continual improvement of our technology and the use of social media in business development. One example is our investment in e-discovery and electronic document review platform. This area of our business has grown rapidly in the last two years and is an important part of our future. Our IT department headed by Matt Payne has worked tirelessly to support this expanding part of our business.
So what lies ahead for the Firm? Where will we be 10 years from now? Obviously, these are difficult questions to answer, but all of our partners and this Managing Partner see a very bright future where everyone at the Firm is vested in the next 25 years of success! I know we will continue to focus on bringing business solutions to the challenges faced by our clients and staying current with technology. We will continue to build on the successful foundation Roy put in place at this Firm 25 years ago. We will expand our practice areas and the markets we serve. I am very excited to be a part of this next chapter of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC.