Michael Hurley, the managing partner at Cassin & Cassin, spoke to the New York Law Journal for our series on midsize firms. He said that the firm based compensation on merit rather than tenure and had no minimum for billable hours.

But, he acknowledged, there are some challenges to being a midsize firm in a city like New York.

“Retaining lawyers is always a challenge for law firms, particularly midsize law firms,” he said. “However, for those with the right mindset, Cassin can be the ideal place to start and grow as an associate, because our young attorneys are given great responsibility and access to clients early on in their careers.”

The conversation was part of a series on midsize law firms.

Q: How big is your firm, where is it located and what are its primary areas of practice and focus?

A: Founded in 1986, Cassin & Cassin is a law firm specializing in transactional commercial real estate, residential real estate and trusts and estates. Headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in Purchase, New York, and Dallas, our team is comprised of nearly 50 experienced attorneys and paralegals. We pride ourselves on offering the breadth of services and expertise you would find in the real estate practice of a national law firm but with the hands-on, personalized approach of a boutique.

Attorneys practicing in our commercial real estate group have experience in virtually every aspect of commercial real estate finance, including niche areas such as affordable housing, auto-dealer and government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) financings and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). We represent lending institutions, investment funds and small to medium-size companies in transactions that include financing, buying, selling, leasing and development. We also counsel individual private clients in need of residential real estate financing, estate planning and administration.

 Q:Please explain your firm's governance structure and compensation model.

A: Our firm is led by a five-member executive committee who are elected by the partners. Currently, the executive committee includes our founding partner and chairman, Joseph M. Cassin; myself as managing partner and three other senior partners. The executive committee meets at least monthly and is responsible for managing and governing the firm. In addition, each of our 11 practice groups is led by a practice chair(s) who is appointed by, and reports to, the executive committee. The practice chair oversees their respective group and is responsible for implementing and executing practice strategies. Furthermore, the partnership meets on a quarterly basis, and the managing partner conducts biannual town hall meetings for all employees to address the state of the firm.

At Cassin, our compensation system is based on merit, not tenure. Our philosophy is to reward positive results and overall success for all attorneys.

Q: What do you view as the two biggest opportunities for your firm, and what are the two biggest threats?

A: Given our size and focus on commercial real estate, we're able to work efficiently and cost-effectively, always with our clients' best interests at heart. Because of the volume and diversity of transactions that we've handled, we've codified processes that in turn save our clients time and billable hours. This enables us to provide the expertise of a larger firm at a significantly lower billing rate.

Another opportunity we see is the continued consolidation of law firms. As smaller firms are acquired by larger firms, we're able to continue to provide clients with cost-effective, top-quality service they've come to expect from us.

Retaining lawyers is always a challenge for law firms, particularly midsize law firms. However, for those with the right mindset, Cassin can be the ideal place to start and grow as an associate, because our young attorneys are given great responsibility and access to clients early on in their careers. We strive to find the right balance between handling big business and preserving a small-firm culture—something that we find unique to our firm.

Q: After the recession hit, the prevailing theory was that midsize firms would start to see more work come their way from large clients who could no longer justify paying Big Law rates. What has been your experience?

A: While we did see an uptick in work from our larger clients during/post recession, we were mindful that the economic situation created financial challenges for just about everyone and we worked with our clients, both large and small, to achieve the results they've come to expect of us. Since our inception, our billing rates have been lower than our competitors as we don't have the same overhead costs as larger firms. Those savings have always been passed on to our clients. Many of our clients are long term—they worked with us before the recession, and they still work with us today.

Q: Are your clients pushing for more alternative fee arrangements, and if so what types? Is your firm amenable to those requests

A: Alternative fee arrangements—such as flat-fee or discounted billing arrangements—have been part of our billing model for many years. In recent years, we've seen our larger institutional clients seeking alternative fee arrangements and we've embraced this.

Q: There is much debate around how law firms can foster the next generation of legal talent. What advantages and disadvantages do midsize firms have in attracting and retaining young lawyers, particularly millennials?

A: At Cassin, we instill a culture of care—care for our clients and care for our people. While providing quality legal services to our clients is our top priority, we try very hard to foster an atmosphere that is collegial, collaborative and team-oriented, in which we're all working toward the same goal. We recognize that our attorneys have lives outside of work; we offer a true work-life balance environment and don't have a minimum billable hours requirement. Overall, we strive to treat every member of our team with dignity and respect.

In addition, entrepreneurialism is a core component of Cassin's DNA. We believe that each attorney at the firm should have the autonomy to be the primary navigator of his or her career path. As such, our associates are exposed to sophisticated legal work right off the bat, working directly with our clients and partners. They're encouraged to be part of our business development initiatives, networking functions, client outings and other activities that may be typically off-limits to young attorneys at larger firms.

Our culture of care, entrepreneurialism model and size are very compelling to recruits and millennials, as we offer a positive, collegial environment for attorneys to thrive early on in their careers, as opposed to one that is territorial and prohibits growth.

Q: Does your firm employ any nonlawyer professionals in high-level positions (e.g. COO, business development officer, chief strategy officer, etc.)? If so, why is it advantageous to have a nonlawyer in that role? If not, have you considered hiring any?

A:  Since the firm's founding, we've had a strong administrative team of nonlawyers overseeing HR, finance and technology. These tenured professionals work closely with one another and report to our executive committee. Most recently, we've hired a director of marketing who is responsible for implementing and executing the firm's marketing, business development and communications strategies. Collectively, the broad experience and outside perspective these nonlawyer professionals bring to the firm is invaluable.

Q: What if any technology advancements have you made in your firm in recent years? What are the challenges in implementing tech changes?

A: Cassin is committed to technology investments that provide the security and stability necessary for our team to do its best work. We also understand that having up-to-date, cutting-edge technology is of great significance to our clients. In addition to our in-house technology resources, we work regularly with a team of IT advisers that counsels us on cutting-edge developments. We've spent a significant amount of time on strengthening our cybersecurity and disaster recovery infrastructure. As such, we regularly perform audits to assess our progress in this area and identify what, if anything, needs to be addressed.

 Q: What would you say is the most innovative thing your firm has done recently, whether it be internal operations, how you work with clients, etc.?

A: Our attorneys and staff continuously strive for excellence and deliver outstanding client service. In support of this, we believe it's instrumental to invest in every team member's professional development and have recently implemented the following programs: (a) one-on-one business development coaching to help support our attorneys in their career development, (b) monthly lunches whereby partners meet with attorneys outside their groups to help foster collaboration, and (c) an internal quarterly recognition program that rewards outstanding accomplishments, extraordinary contributions, and high-praise from team members and/or clients. Our programs are regularly evaluated by our executive committee and programs are added, or discontinued, based on internal feedback.

Q: Does your firm have a succession plan in place? If so, what challenges do you face in trying to execute that plan? If you don't currently have a plan, is it an issue your firm is thinking about?

A: At Cassin, we're always thinking about the future and who our future leaders may be. Earlier this year, our founding partner and chairman, Joseph M. Cassin, along with the firm's executive committee, appointed me as managing partner, a new role in the firm's leadership. While Joe is still very active in the firm and has no plans to retire anytime soon, the opportunity was right to begin to implement the firm's succession plan. I look forward to identifying and fostering the next generation of leaders at the firm, as this will always be one of our biggest priorities.