FAYETTEVILLE — A new law firm is aiming to tap into the potential of the region’s small, emerging companies. “We really think that this area is headed where they’re headed,” attorney Douglas Gorman says of the region’s startups. “The more we can nurture them and make them our focus the better.” Gorman and his partner, […]
FAYETTEVILLE — A new law firm is aiming to tap into the potential of the region’s small, emerging companies.
“We really think that this area is headed where they’re headed,” attorney Douglas Gorman says of the region’s startups. “The more we can nurture them and make them our focus the better.”
Gorman and his partner, Timothy Crisafulli, launched their firm, Fayetteville–based Crisafulli Gorman, PC in September. They previously worked together at Syracuse–based Hancock Estabrook, LLP.
And while the partners hope to be seen as friendly to small and emerging companies, they also say their practice will pursue work with larger, established companies, nonprofits, and individuals. The entire market seems poised for growth, Crisafulli says.
“The greater Syracuse region is not at a time of stagnation,” he says. “We realized that this is really a tremendous market to be served. We wanted to position ourselves to be able to serve it well.”
Crisafulli Gorman’s practice areas include trusts, estates, and elder law; tax law; corporate, finance, and commercial law; and business succession and exit planning.
Both partners grew up in Central New York — Gorman in Minoa and Crisafulli in Oswego. They both attended Le Moyne College and ended up teaching for some time before attending law school at Syracuse University, where they met on the first day.
Gorman practiced in Delaware for a while after graduating, but eventually landed at Hancock Estabrook with Crisafulli. They worked there together for five years, often on joint projects involving business succession planning, Crisafulli says.
Gorman brought a concentration in business law to those efforts while Crisafulli brought tax and estate planning and administration knowledge.
The two eventually felt a pull to serve clients on their own terms and using their own model, Gorman says.
That model includes an increasing use of technology to deliver legal services in response to the demands of younger clients, Crisafulli says.
“It seems as if what they are seeking in legal services, as they were raised on technology, may be a little different than what earlier, older consumers of legal services were seeking,” he says. “We’re able to reach them free of geographic constraints.”
As a small, two-man shop, Crisafulli Gorman can focus on providing cost-effective services as well. That will come in handy when working with smaller companies, Gorman notes.
“They’re young, they’re not especially well capitalized,” he says. “They need a cost-effective solution.”
In addition to business succession, the partners also cross practice areas in work with nonprofits. Gorman frequently works with organizations on governance issues while Crisafulli helps them attain and keep tax-exempt status.
The partners also bring joint expertise in estate planning and asset administration, Gorman says. Gorman’s other expertise includes corporate finance, commercial transactions, divestitures, mergers, and acquisitions.
Crisafulli’s additional experience includes asset preservation, trusts and estates, and tax law.
