Bond, Schoeneck & King: 125 Years of Service

Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC is a law firm that has been very familiar to many Central New York residents for the last 125 years. George Hopkins Bond founded the firm in 1897 soon after graduating from Syracuse University College of Law at age 24. 

Born in Syracuse in 1873, George was locally educated and then attended Syracuse University. He was the captain of the football team for two years and football head coach for one season. George graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in philosophy in 1894. He was a member of the first full-time class at the two-year-old law college and received his law degree in 1897. 

George Bond partnered with Ernest Ingersoll White, who was three years older than George and received an undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1893. Two years later, White graduated from Columbia Law School and was admitted to the state bar. White came from a distinguished family. His brother, Horace White, was a New York State governor and his uncle, Andrew Dickson White, was president of Cornell University and an ambassador to Germany and Russia.

Edward Schoeneck joined Bond and White in 1908. He was the fifth of eight children. Schoeneck’s father, Henry, was a Civil War veteran and a blacksmith. As a boy, Schoeneck worked with his father and brothers at the family forge. Schoeneck was elected to the Onondaga County Board of Supervisors in 1901 at age 26. He graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law two years later. While studying the law, Schoeneck clerked for Ernest White. White and Bond partnered with Schoeneck once he was admitted to the bar in 1903. The law firm then became White, Bond and Schoeneck, and was located in the White Memorial Building on East Washington Street in Syracuse.

In addition to their law careers, George Bond and Edward Schoeneck also had political aspirations. Bond became Onondaga County district attorney in 1908. Schoeneck was elected Syracuse mayor in 1910 and then New York State lieutenant governor in 1915. When the U.S. entered World War I, Schoeneck served as a major of artillery at Camp Taylor in Kentucky. After the war, he did not return to political office. However, Schoeneck did serve for many years with the New York State Liquor Authority.

Meanwhile, White was quite active in business. Along with his legal career, he was also president of two local businesses: the Costswold Comfortable Company, a bedding business, and the Mack Miller Candle Company. White also was an enthusiastic horseman who owned horses and raced trotters in the U.S., Canada, and England. 

When Schoeneck was elected mayor of Syracuse in 1910, White announced that the firm of White, Bond & Schoeneck would dissolve. White also announced that he would partner with Harry Barber who had been his financial clerk for many years. Bond and Schoeneck, while serving as mayor and district attorney, respectively, formed a new partnership, known as Bond & Schoeneck. They opened a new office in Room 431 at the Union Building, located at 435-447 South Salina St. in Syracuse. Opened in 1909, the Union Building boasted the latest in modern conveniences for the time, including hot and cold water, a vacuum cleaner, and compressed air in every office. 

Clarence Roderick King was born in Auburn in August 1889. However, his father died before Clarence was born and his mother moved to Syracuse with her two young children, and found work there as a seamstress. King worked hard as a child, and after graduating from high school, he attended Syracuse University, graduating from the College of Law in 1912. He received his law degree while simultaneously working as a clerk at Syracuse Chilled Plow Company. King credited Carleton Chase, Syracuse banker and manufacturer, for assisting with his education. He also never forgot his mother’s sacrifice and frequently mentioned his devotion to her. 

King was admitted to the bar in 1913 and joined Bond & Schoeneck that year. He became a partner in the law firm in 1920, which was then renamed Bond, Schoeneck & King. Like his two business partners, King also had political aspirations. He served as the chairman of the Onondaga County Republican Committee, beginning in 1923, and then, the chairman of the executive committee of the Republican State Committee. King was widely respected by his Republican Party colleagues who regularly consulted him on policy issues. He wielded enormous power in local and state politics; his moniker was Onondaga’s Little Giant.

For the first 25 years, the Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm was just those three men. It was not until 1922 that the firm hired another lawyer, Edward L. Robertson. From that point forward, however, the business continually grew. By the end of 1927, the Bond firm employed 14 attorneys and support staff. 

To accommodate a growing legal and support staff, Bond, Schoeneck & King moved from the Union Building on South Salina Street to the 14th floor of the new State Tower Building, located at 109 South Warren St., soon after the building opened in 1927. The firm stayed at the State Tower Building until the early 1970s. 

In 1927, the law firm added Chester Rifenbary, described as an excellent trial lawyer similar to the three founding members. With Bond, Schoeneck, and King spending many hours fulfilling their political roles, Rifenbary also managed the inner workings of the office. 

Two years later, Howard Cannon, also hired in 1927, conducted most of the legal work to organize Lincoln National Bank & Trust Company of Syracuse, with oversight from Edward Schoeneck. Schoeneck and King developed the idea of starting a new bank in Syracuse and gathered a list of men who supported the idea, including Anthony Henninger (New Process Gear plant manager & Syracuse mayor), Leo Eagan (prominent real-estate developer), and Melvin King (renowned architect). Lincoln National Bank & Trust Company opened on Jan. 2, 1930 with capital of $2.1 million. From there, the bank grew rapidly and became one of Bond’s mainstay clients. In 1959, the bank changed its name to Lincoln National Bank & Trust of Central New York. Eight years later, the bank became a division of Lincoln First Group, and in 1984, it merged with Chase Manhattan Bank. 

At the height of the Great Depression, Bond, Schoeneck & King had more than 20 insurance-company clients, including Utica Mutual Insurance Company, first listed as a client in 1931. This company, now known as Utica Mutual Insurance Group, is still an important Bond client today. 

Clarence King’s devotion to hard work as both a gifted trial attorney and political luminary would prematurely kill him at the age of 47. Lingering kidney and heart ailments, exacerbated by his rigorous campaigning for Republican candidates during the 1936 elections, proved deadly. Shortly after the November elections, King was overcome by his weakened health and died on Dec. 30, 1936. He left behind his wife, Alberta, and his three-year-old daughter, Mary. He was fondly remembered by many, and he left an enormous void in the local and state Republican Party. 

Unfortunately, Chester Rifenbary also died in 1936, younger than Clarence King, at age 44. Rifenbary had suffered from heart issues for many years. 

George H. Bond, Jr. (George H. Bond’s son) and Charles A. Schoeneck (Edward Schoeneck’s nephew), joined the firm in 1936. Chester H. King, Jr. (no relation to Clarence R. King) also joined the following year. 

Bond, Schoeneck & King became embroiled in the Remington-Rand labor strike in 1936, at a time when labor unions and company management fought, sometimes literally, against each other over fair wages, labor practices, and workplace safety. The Remington-Rand strike occurred at typewriter plants in New York, Connecticut, and Ohio. In March 1934, Remington-Rand employees organized a labor union, but the company refused to recognize its legitimacy. That May, 6,400 workers struck in order to compel Remington-Rand officials to recognize the union and sign a collective-bargaining agreement. The company recognized the union that June and signed an agreement. However, company management often violated the agreement, angering union officials and workers. The workers struck again in July, set up picket lines, with both sides engaging in violence. In Ohio and Syracuse that July, striking workers threw homemade bombs at the typewriter plants, causing minor physical damage, but injuring a policeman. In August, Syracuse police fired upon striking workers at the Gifford Street plant, injuring two of them. A Remington-Rand attorney from Buffalo met with George Bond and other Bond attorneys to encourage the firm to apply for an injunction against the labor union’s strike in Syracuse. The firm applied for the injunction, arguing on behalf of Remington-Rand management that the striking workers had used violence during the strike. The judge, a former attorney with Bond, Schoeneck & King, issued the injunction against the Syracuse union, stating that the size of the picket line should be greatly decreased and prohibited violence at and near the plant. The union filed an appeal and hearings ensued before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a recently organized federal agency that enforces labor law as it relates to collective bargaining and fair labor practices. At the NLRB hearings, Remington-Rand was represented by Bond, Schoeneck & King; several labor unions were represented by a Joint Collective Board. The NLRB determined that Remington-Rand was guilty of unfair labor practices outlined in a 120-page document. The NLRB ordered Remington-Rand to reinstate the striking workers and recognize the labor union. After more than a year, striking workers approved an agreement with Remington-Rand Company and went back to work. Bond’s involvement in the strike injunction and the NLRB hearings strengthened the firm’s growing reputation in the field of labor law. Today, several labor-law categories remain a vital practice at Bond, Schoeneck & King.

During World War II, several Bond attorneys fulfilled their patriotic duty by serving in the military. Chester King, Jr. served as a captain with the 101st Anti-Tank Battalion in North Africa and Italy. Charles Schoeneck served as a lieutenant with the 37th Infantry Division in the Northern Solomon and Luzon campaigns and was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge with Bronze Star. George Bond, Jr. served as an Air Combat Intelligence Officer on staff of the Southwest Pacific Forces in Australia. Tracy Ferguson joined the Navy, was commissioned as a lieutenant, and served as a liaison officer with the ship-building commission of the War Labor Board. The law firm hired additional attorneys to fill the void left by those serving in the military. 

General Electric (GE) became a major home-front client during World War II. GE produced heavy defense equipment in Syracuse as part of the company’s $1 billion in federal government wartime contracts. George Bond, Sr. knew GE’s chairman of the board, Owen Young, and most likely these two men created the business relationship between GE and Bond. With Bond’s real estate and other legal assistance to GE, the company announced the development of Electronics Park in the Liverpool area in 1944. Groundbreaking occurred the following year, with the transmitter division opening there in 1947. 

After World War II, Bond partners elevated several other lawyers to partner status, establishing a total of eight partner attorneys, and provided them with a share of company-wide profits along with their own salaries. By 1949, the firm employed 18 attorneys working on the 13th and 14th floors of the State Tower Building. 

Bond, Schoeneck & King lost two of its founding members in the 1950s: Edward Schoeneck in 1951 at age 75, and George H. Bond, Sr. in 1954 at age 80.

During this decade, the Bond firm represented the milk cooperative, Dairylea, lobbying for legislation against oleo margarine. Bond also represented Greyhound Bus Company in its unsuccessful attempt to lobby New York State for double-decker buses. Unity Life and Accident Insurance Association, now known as Unity Mutual Life Insurance Company, was Bond’s third lobbying client in the 1950s. Bond lobbied on the insurance company’s behalf to convert its status from a fraternity benefit society to a mutual insurance company. The legislation passed and Unity converted to a mutual insurance company.

Bond’s labor relations legal work also began to expand under attorney Tracy Ferguson who had been with the firm since the 1930s. Labor strife in the 1950s caused strikes at General Electric and Allied Chemical Company, which purchased Solvay Process Company back in 1920s. Similar to the 1930s strikes, these strikes produced picket lines and some violence.

By mid-decade, 29 attorneys worked at the Bond law firm.

Bond, Schoeneck & King was beginning to experience fundamental changes by transforming from a local law firm into a full-service, regional, and ultimately, national law firm by 1960. The firm continued to add attorneys, and quarters became cramped at the State Tower Building, even as the firm occupied two additional floors. 

As a full-service law firm, Bond expanded its client list to include a wide variety of businesses, including Onondaga Pottery Company, A.E. Nettleton Company, Marsellus Casket Company, Syracuse University, and the Syracuse Newspapers. Up to this point in time, most of the attorneys had a local connection to Syracuse and Onondaga County. However, in the 1960s, the Bond firm started hiring attorneys who had no local connection to the area, and by the mid-decade, Bond had grown to 50 attorneys. 

The 1960s was a decade of great changes in American culture including clothing styles. At one of the partners’ meetings, the conservative male partners deliberated which clothing styles should be permitted in Bond’s office settings. The subject of women wearing pantsuits arose, and after considerable reflection, the partners decided to relax their dress code just a bit to allow women to wear pantsuits.

Bond, Schoeneck & King also represented the Oneida Nation of New York and Wisconsin in land claims brought against New York State during the 1960s and 1970s. The firm had never handled a Native American land claim, and this lawsuit was conceivably the most important legal case in Bond’s history. The land-claim case began in April 1965 with Oneida Nation member, Jake Thompson, introducing potential evidence via several treaties made between the Oneida Nation and New York State between 1780 and 1840. After Bond attorneys reviewed the treaties, they determined that the Oneida Nation was eligible to make land claims that comprised about 5 million to 6 million acres. However, prior court decisions in New York State had declared that no Native American nation or individuals could sue the state. 

Rather than sue New York State, Bond decided to sue Madison and Oneida Counties, the location of the disputed land. The original claim of 5 million to 6 million acres was pared down to 100,000 acres located within both counties. Bond made it clear to the Oneida Nation that it would not sue individual landowners. The case was introduced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in 1970. Both the U.S. and New York State opposed the Oneida Nation’s land claim. However, Bond lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and the court ruled that federal courts have jurisdiction over Native American land claims, thus, making the federal court in New York liable to hear the case. In 1975, a federal judge in Auburn sided with the Oneida Nation and declared that New York State had acquired the land without complying with the Nonintercourse Act that set the boundaries of Native American reservations. However, at this point, individual land owners were drawn into the land claim, so Bond decided to withdraw further involvement based upon its prior commitment to not sue individual land owners. The case continued throughout the 1980s, the 1990s, and into the 21st century. Then, on May 16, 2013, the Oneida Nation, New York State, Madison County, and Oneida County signed a historic agreement officially ending the land claim. The Oneida Nation was then granted exclusive gaming rights in 10 Central New York counties. The Nation agreed to contribute 25 percent of its slot machine net profits to New York State and the surrounding counties. 

Bond, Schoeneck & King opened its first satellite office in Albany in 1971. Albany made sense to the many attorneys who routinely traveled there for their own political responsibilities as well as to represent the interests of their high-profile clients. An office in Albany also attracted business from eastern New York state and the New England states. Bond opened its second and third satellite offices in Boca Raton and Naples, Florida in 1976.

After occupying several upper floors of the landmark State Tower Building, Bond moved to the new One Lincoln Center AT 110 West Fayette St. in downtown Syracuse, in 1973. Along with Bond, the new $20 million, 305,500 square foot building also included Lincoln Bank and E.W. Edwards Department Store. Bond’s main office remains at One Lincoln Center today and is considered one of the building’s anchor businesses, along with Bousquet Holstein PLLC and Grossman St. Amour CPAs, PLLC.

As the 1970s segued to the 1980s, Bond, Schoeneck & King, along with other sizable law firms in Syracuse, faced economic challenges in the midst of a stubborn recession. Vying for large clients, Bond found itself adhering to stricter financial business practices in order to compete with other large legal firms. The firm hired a law administrator in the 1970s, who performed the function of auditor, office manager, personnel chief, computer wizard, and comptroller, so Bond stayed economically solvent and competitive. In 1983, Bond employed 89 attorneys, and about 160 support staff, working both day and night shifts. 

In 1986, M. Catherine Richardson was the first woman elected to the firm’s membership. The 1977 graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Law specialized in the firm’s health-care practice and retired in 2003. She became the first female president of the Onondaga County Bar Association in 1987 and the second female president of the New York State Bar Association in 1996. She presided over the New York State Bar’s Foundation from 2009-2012, and served on the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association from 2003-2006. In recognition of her leadership in diversity and inclusion, the firm created the M. Catherine Richardson Clerkship Program to expand opportunities for students from historically excluded communities who desire experience in the legal profession. 

Bond, Schoeneck & King continued expanding into new communities in the 1980s and 90s, opening a satellite office in Oswego in 1988 and Overland Park, Kansas in 1991 to expand its legal business into the collegiate sports world. The firm’s new office opened within one mile of NCAA headquarters at the time, and hired Michael Glazier, a Kansas attorney who was more knowledgeable about sports law. This expansion was precipitated by the NCAA’s investigation into rules violations against Syracuse University’s men’s basketball program in 1990 and 1991. Today, Bond’s collegiate-sports practice group employs six attorneys in Kansas and provides legal counsel to more than 200 colleges and universities.

In the late 1990s, the Bond firm opened two more satellite offices in Buffalo and Saratoga Springs. As the 20th century became the 21st, Bond continued to expand into new geographic areas and legal practices. The firm is now present in several cities in New York state, as well as New Jersey, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Florida. The impetus for these geographic and business expansions was through mergers with or acquisitions of other law firms. Bond now employs 275 legal professionals, along with numerous support staff, with experience in 35 different legal practices. 

Bond, Schoeneck & King continues to celebrate its continuation and success as one of the largest law firms in the U.S. with its 125th anniversary in 2022. With 15 offices in five states, Bond will continue to impact the American legal system well into the 21st century.        

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Thomas Hunter is curator of collections at the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.