SYRACUSE — The Syracuse law firm Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein, P.C. and its health-care practice group have separated, and each group of attorneys has formed new law firms. But the separated firms also plan to continue their respective practices in the same building at 507 Plum St. in Franklin Square. The Scolaro firm […]
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SYRACUSE — The Syracuse law firm Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein, P.C. and its health-care practice group have separated, and each group of attorneys has formed new law firms.
But the separated firms also plan to continue their respective practices in the same building at 507 Plum St. in Franklin Square.
The Scolaro firm is changing its name to Scolaro, Fetter, Grizanti, McGough & King, P.C.
The 11 partners in the new Scolaro firm include the five in the firm’s name: Richard Scolaro, who is now retired, Jeffrey Fetter, Anthony Grizanti, Stewart McGough, and John King.
Fetter is serving as the firm’s president and CEO, King is the vice president and CFO, and Grizanti is the COO and secretary, according to Jeffrey Fetter, president and CEO of the new Scolaro firm.
Alan Burstein, who was among the partners in the original Scolaro firm, remains with the new firm as a partner. But he offered to have his name removed from the title of the firm to reflect the beginning of a new generation in the business, according to Fetter. Burstein also remains as chairman of the matrimonial department of the firm.
New York Assemblyman William Magnarelli (D–Syracuse) and Ron Mittleman are also among the 11 partners.
The new Scolaro firm has a total 33 employees, most of whom are full-time employees, says Fetter.
Health-care practice group starts new firm
The Scolaro firm’s former health-care practice group is forming its own law firm with the name Cohen Compagni Beckman Appler & Knoll, PLLC.
The partners in the new firm include Stephen Cohen, Michael Compagni, Marc Beckman, John Appler, and Andrew Knoll.
The new firm has eight lawyers who are leaving the Scolaro firm to form their new “boutique” firm, says Stephen Cohen, one of five partners in the new firm.
“We primarily do health-care work. We have clients from San Diego to Maine, from Florida to Oregon, and most of the places in between,” Cohen says.
The firm employs a total of 13 people, including the eight attorneys, one paralegal, and support-staff members, Cohen adds.
Word of the potential changes at the Scolaro law firm first surfaced in the middle of March.
In an article titled, “Scolaro firm warns staff of possible health-care practice exit” in the March 22, 2013 issue of The Central New York Business Journal, former president and CEO Barry Shulman said the firm had notified the staff on March 18 that the health-care practice might break off to join a downstate law firm.
Cohen, in a June 5 interview, confirmed that the health-care practice group had considered aligning itself with another “large, health-care firm” in the Long Island area.
“We chose not to do that, but instead to form our own firm” Cohen says.
At the same time, Shulman is also leaving the Scolaro firm to joining the Syracuse law firm of Gilberti Stinziano Heintz & Smith, P.C., according to Cohen.
The Scolaro firm also addressed the separation of its former health-care practice group.
“Our former health care department has established its own firm to service their clients’ special needs and we look forward to continuing to work with one another when our clients require services provided by the other,” according to a document the Scolaro firm provided The Business Journal, announcing its new name and structure.
Cohen says that forming a new law firm was a logical move. “We felt that because of the sub-specialty that was involved in our practice … it just made sense to be in a separate practice,” he says.
The attorneys in both firms believe that they can “better serve” their clients in this structure, Fetter says in an interview.
“What they do is so different from what we do … we’re going to continue together on the areas in which neither of us have our own expertise,” Fetter says.
The two firms have an agreement whereby they serve “of counsel” to each other, Fetter adds.
The firms started operating as separate entities at the start of this month and are signing separate leases with The Pioneer Companies for space on the third floor of their Plum Street building, Cohen says.
With the health-care group now practicing on its own, the new Scolaro firm’s practice areas include tax, business, employee benefits, trusts, and estate administration.
Its attorneys advise clients in areas that include the structure and operation or closely held and family businesses, according to the Scolaro firm’s announcement.
Scolaro lawyers also work with business owners in developing estate and business-succession plans, as well as helping clients in acquiring, selling or reorganizing their businesses, the firm said. The firm’s specialty areas also serve clients in matrimonial and family matters and business and estate litigation.
Scolaro, Fetter, Grizanti, McGough & King also has offices in Rochester and Stuart, Fla., according to its announcement.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com