DeWITT — The Virginia–based law firm of Hancock, Daniel & Johnson, P.C. has moved its CNY office to a bigger location in DeWitt and is opening an office in Saratoga Springs. The law firm — which is located north of Richmond, Virginia — markets itself as Hancock Daniel. It acquired Syracuse–based Centolella Green Law in […]
DeWITT — The Virginia–based law firm of Hancock, Daniel & Johnson, P.C. has moved its CNY office to a bigger location in DeWitt and is opening an office in Saratoga Springs.
The law firm — which is located north of Richmond, Virginia — markets itself as Hancock Daniel. It acquired Syracuse–based Centolella Green Law in early 2018.
The law firm focuses on legal matters pertaining to health care, business, and taxes.
It now operates in space at 5793 Widewaters Parkway. It previously was situated in a 1,500-square-foot office in the Hamilton White House at 307 S. Townsend St. in Syracuse. It also previously operated in a 1,500-square-foot office at 6832 E. Genesee St. in DeWitt.
With the new Widewaters Parkway office, Hancock Daniel has ceased operations in its Syracuse and previous DeWitt locations.
New DeWitt office
Those in the local office wanted more space than they were able to have at the East Genesee Street location, so the attorneys pursued other options, says Jason Centolella, director and attorney with Hancock Daniel.
“Given the parking and the easy access from [Interstates] 690 and 481 and people’s familiarity with the business park made a lot of sense for us,” he says.
It was late 2018 when the attorneys in the local office decided they needed to pursue additional space. They started operating in the new office on July 1 of this year.
“It was available. I liked the location. I liked the building,” Centolella says.
Centolella describes Jeff Foster, who he says manages the property, as a “good friend of mine.” Foster is the executive VP of brokerage at Summit Commercial Real Estate Group.
Hancock Daniel has six employees in the DeWitt office, including five attorneys.
More staff additions may happen in the future.
“Given the volume of our work, we could probably bring somebody else on as well,” Centolella says. “If the right candidate came along, we would.”
In addition, colleagues from Hancock Daniel who are normally based in Richmond, Virginia will work on client matters in the Central New York office “at least twice a month,” according to Centolella. For example, James Daniel, a senior partner and founder of the Hancock Daniel firm, spends time in the DeWitt location “two or three times a month,” he notes.
“Typically, I fly,” says Daniel “I travel a lot in my practice, so I’m often not coming from Richmond.”
Both Centolella and Daniel spoke to CNYBJ on Aug. 2 at the new DeWitt office.
Saratoga Springs office
Besides the new office in DeWitt, Hancock Daniel has also secured new space in Saratoga Springs. The firm plans to start using that location in October following a buildout of the space.
“We are doing more and more work in the Capital Region. Clients want us to have a presence out there,” Centolella says in explaining the purpose behind the new office.
The firm has been examining the Capital Region for a “long time,” he says, noting it’s where the New York State Department of Health operates.
“A lot of health care has regulatory issues that take you through the state capital, so it’s never bad to have a presence in that region,” Daniel adds.
A Hancock Daniel client in Saratoga Springs had some extra space and asked if the law firm wanted to use it. Centolella couldn’t disclose the name of the client that offered Hancock Daniel space, but notes the client is not part of the health-care sector.
Centolella declined to disclose how much the preparation work is costing the firm.
Hancock Daniel hopes to have permanent staffing in the Saratoga Springs office, but initially, lawyers in the Syracuse office will rotate through the Capital Region “as necessary,” along with other Hancock Daniel attorneys, according to Centolella.
As of Aug. 2, Hancock Daniel services 10 clients in the greater Albany area. The firm also has clients in the North Country and “a lot” of clients in Central New York, defined as the region between Syracuse and Utica and from the Canadian border to Binghamton.
Through the upstate New York region, Hancock Daniel has clients from Rochester to Albany and from the Canadian border to Binghamton, according to Centolella. He declined to name any of the firm’s clients.
The types of clients include hospitals, health systems, large and small medical groups, individual physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, and accountable-care organizations.