Business RadioX ®

  • Home
  • Business RadioX ® Communities
    • Southeast
      • Alabama
        • Birmingham
      • Florida
        • Orlando
        • Pensacola
        • South Florida
        • Tampa
        • Tallahassee
      • Georgia
        • Atlanta
        • Cherokee
        • Forsyth
        • Greater Perimeter
        • Gwinnett
        • North Fulton
        • North Georgia
        • Northeast Georgia
        • Rome
        • Savannah
      • Louisiana
        • New Orleans
      • North Carolina
        • Charlotte
        • Raleigh
      • Tennessee
        • Chattanooga
        • Nashville
      • Virginia
        • Richmond
    • South Central
      • Arkansas
        • Northwest Arkansas
    • Midwest
      • Illinois
        • Chicago
      • Michigan
        • Detroit
      • Minnesota
        • Minneapolis St. Paul
      • Missouri
        • St. Louis
      • Ohio
        • Cleveland
        • Columbus
        • Dayton
    • Southwest
      • Arizona
        • Phoenix
        • Tucson
        • Valley
      • Texas
        • Austin
        • Dallas
        • Houston
    • West
      • California
        • Bay Area
        • LA
        • Pasadena
      • Colorado
        • Denver
      • Hawaii
        • Oahu
  • FAQs
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Our Audience
    • Why It Works
    • What People Are Saying
    • BRX in the News
  • Resources
    • BRX Pro Tips
    • B2B Marketing: The 4Rs
    • High Velocity Selling Habits
    • Why Most B2B Media Strategies Fail
    • 9 Reasons To Sponsor A Business RadioX ® Show
  • Partner With Us
  • Veteran Business RadioX ®

The Intersection of Law and Business: Strategies for Effective IP Protection

November 11, 2025 by Jacob Lapera

High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
The Intersection of Law and Business: Strategies for Effective IP Protection
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

In this episode of High Velocity Radio, Lee Kantor interviews Daniel Scola, managing partner of Hoffman and Baron, an intellectual property law firm. Daniel discusses the importance of protecting patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets for entrepreneurs across various industries. He emphasizes that effective IP attorneys must understand clients’ businesses and future goals, blending legal expertise with business development skills. Daniel also shares his client-focused approach to building trust and relationships, highlighting the need for lawyers to embrace both legal and entrepreneurial roles. The episode offers valuable insights into the intersection of IP law and business growth.

Daniel A. Scola, Jr. is the managing partner of Hoffmann & Baron, LLP, and also manages the chemical, pharmaceutical/biochemical and medical device practice group in the New Jersey office. He has extensive experience in polymers, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.

He specializes in building IP portfolios and designing strategies to protect and enhance company value. He also practices extensively in Post Grant Proceedings at the USPTO and has argued Post Grant Proceedings at the appellate level, before the CAFC. Previously, he was Counsel, patents, and trademarks as well as Assistant Corporate Secretary at The Warner-Lambert Co. and Intellectual Property Attorney at Loctite Corporation.

Prior to earning his law degree, Scola was a chemist with particular experience in material science including polymers, adhesives, and biodegradable approaches to material engineering. He was a scientist at the Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies.

Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Importance of intellectual property (IP) law for entrepreneurs and businesses
  • Role of Hoffman and Baron in protecting various IP assets (patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets)
  • Significance of IP protection across different industries, including technology and healthcare
  • Intersection of IP law and business development strategies
  • Necessity for attorneys to understand clients’ businesses and future plans for effective IP protection
  • Daniel Scola’s approach to business development focused on client needs and trust-building
  • Challenges faced by lawyers in developing client relationships and business skills
  • The need for law schools to teach business development and client relationship skills
  • Emphasis on personal connections and communication in client interactions
  • The importance of generosity and a service-first mentality in business development

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have the managing partner of Hoffman and Baron, Daniel Scola. Welcome.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah. Thank you. Lee. Glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Hoffman and Baron. How you serving folks?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Well, Hoffman and Baron is an intellectual property law firm, so we are exclusively devoted to protecting people’s ideas, basically. So that that entitles includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and those sorts of things. And those are real assets that are involved in so many people’s businesses, so many products, so many processes. And people don’t realize how often the intellectual property comes, uh, comes their way. It’s it’s involved in almost everything.

Lee Kantor: Now, how important is it for an entrepreneur? I would imagine it’s different depending on your industry. But if you’re an entrepreneur, like, say, even in the legal field that you are in. How important is it to properly protect your intellectual property?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah, it’s it’s extremely important because if you think about what, uh, you know, really gives us the basis for, for really being an entrepreneur, it’s it’s your ideas, right? And it’s, it’s your ability to take your ideas and translate them into either workable, meaningful commercial assets. And that could be, you know, in the form of products you sell or a service that you sell. And and that’s what, you know, that’s how you, you actually develop, uh, the economy. So it’s very important. And investors like to know when they give money to startups, for example, or to even large, you know, loans to large companies. They want to know their money is somehow backed by some sort of an asset. Now, in, you know, there’s real property assets like your house, and then there’s the intangible assets, which are the intellectual property assets. So your ideas then get protected in a form which gives you patent rights or trademark rights. And those things can be sold just like you sell a car or just like you sell a house. And investors love to know that there is something that’s securing their interest.

Lee Kantor: Now, if you’re, uh, that makes sense. Like if you’re in a technology firm or in healthcare or you’ve invented something, I can understand protecting it. But if you’re an entrepreneur and in, um, maybe a trusted advisor and your service or your work is not a thing or is tangible. Is it a good move to protect like every everything that you’ve done in that aspect? Is that even possible? Because things can change, like next week, it may not be as relevant and we’ve changed it a bit. So now do I have to protect that? Like when when does it end for those folks?

Daniel Scola Jr.: It’s a really good question. I mean there there are things that some industries, uh, change so fast that you have to look at. Well, does it make sense if this is not going to be around in in the next six months, what should I do? Because it’s all about, you know, having a monopoly on that particular idea. Or it could be something like involved in a trademark, which, you know, you can change your product um, many times, but have the same trademark. So let’s say you have a Nike makes a thousand different shoes and they have different models and so forth. But the Nike name stays the same. So it it goes over across their all their, their shoe line, their clothing lines. So that sort of thing, you know, that’s something where if they didn’t protect that name, that name is more valuable than, than anything else they have. So that’s an example or the copyright stuff, you know, uh, let’s say you, you have a very particular process of doing something or you’re training and so forth and so on. There are training materials and you want to copyright those training materials because those aren’t going to change. Maybe the way you explain it might change, or maybe the way you interact, um, you know, might change, but the, the actual, um, you know, training materials themselves won’t. Um, so these are things that, you know, if you’re if things are going to change all the time, then probably you have to look at a different mechanism. And maybe you keep maybe you keep some things, uh, trade secret. Um, but the chances are you’re better off trying to get some protection somewhere. Um, and that’s why you need an intellectual property adviser to say you don’t need it here or that’s already known. Um, and you can’t protect things that are already known. Obviously, it’s got to be something that that is, uh, you’re bringing to the table. That’s that’s new.

Lee Kantor: So now, in your role in the firm, are you primarily doing the work of helping people protect their intellectual property, or do you also help in maybe growing the business and, um, you know, business development kind of things?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Well, they’re kind of intertwined, uh, intertwined rather. Um, and the reason I say that is if you’re really going to do well and give a, you know, your clients a full service on intellectual property, I think you have to know, uh, four things. You have to know something about their business, because if you’re going to say, I’m going to protect you, you know, the the ideas of your business that you’re coming up with, you know, either the new trademarks or the new new copyrighted stuff that you’re doing or the new inventions. You have to know how that fits in with your business. So that kind of is really related to the business development, and you need to know what is your future plan. Like where’s your company going? Because I want to make sure that I capture in intellectual property some of the future if I can, so I can get a monopoly around a piece of that as well. It’s not just the present thing. Let’s let’s look, you know, is this going to be 5 or 10 years down the line? Can I capture some of that here? Yeah. So I do think it, it, uh, it relates not just to the present, but also business development.

Lee Kantor: Now, you recently were, uh, featured in a book, uh, titled Be That Lawyer 101 Top Rainmaker Secrets to Growing a Successful Law Practice. Can you talk about how that came about and why it was important for you to be a contributor?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah, I mean, I there’s a this author, Steve Fretzin, who’s, who’s also a lawyer. Is he, he really specializes in, um, you know, training, uh, lawyers how to deal with getting new clients and business and what our clients really looking for and what he liked about, um, my approach. And that’s why he he contacted me, was that my approach to business development in the IP space is I’m not really keen on the pitch, you know, like pitching something to a client with, with cookie cutter answers. And this is bragging about, you know, how how good our firm is and credentials. I’m not that’s not my, you know, my main, um, focus when I’m looking to I don’t give it much weight when I’m looking to to business development. What I look for is I find out what client’s needs are. And so as that’s part of what he wrote about in it’s called Beyond the Pitch. Is the section of the book that that he, um, he interviewed me for, and then he, he put in his book, um, you find out what clients need, and then you, you give them something for free. If you, you know, if you offer some ways that you’ve solved similar problems to other people, you know, to other clients, you have, uh, oftentimes that resonates really well with, with potential new clients. And you can build up credibility by, you know, giving something first. You get a long term relationship, hopefully out of it. Um, so it’s not about making the deal in the first place and, you know, telling you about how great you are. It’s about saying, what are your needs? And I have some thoughts about, you know, those kinds of needs or, you know, I’ve addressed these needs and other clients. It’s very interesting. You know, maybe you could try an approach like this. And then the client says, oh, gosh, uh, do you do you think you could do that for me? And that that’s a very good approach. And it builds trust long term because that’s what you’re really looking for right.

Lee Kantor: Now in, in the in the legal world, if you’re an attorney, are you responsible for kind of generating your own clients or is that something somebody else on the firm does? And then all you do is kind of the law part.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Well, that’s an interesting, uh, question actually, because it depends on on the model of the firm. Um, you know, some law firms have business development, you know, people that are attorneys. That’s all they do is business development. But, uh, that’s not my approach. Uh, I think every attorney has to view themselves. That’s in it’s in an IP firm. At least in my firm, they have to view themselves as a, a little cog in a separate a separate little business person, and they have to do what the bigger firm also does. And that is you have to build relationships with clients and bring in work. Now the issue is whether you are good enough with clients, with people to do that. Some people are are not as good because we all have to be scientists. In my area, they’re both scientists, and you have to have a law degree. And the combination of science and law, sometimes it doesn’t make the most, uh, you know, congenial type of combination. And some people are not comfortable, you know, if you’re used to being in a laboratory all the time, maybe that’s because you would prefer to be there than than out meeting people. And like, being the sales force, there is a sales component to representing yourself, you know, as a member of the firm that you got to sell yourself in addition to the firm a little bit, but you do it not by talking about how great you are, you are, but that’s a responsibility every attorney has. They must they must develop business if they’re going to be in it long term. Otherwise they could work for a corporation. Don’t be in private practice.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that something that’s taught in law school, like do do people who are going to be a lawyer understand that a portion of their day has to be spent in growing a business? Because like you said, it’s you’re you’re an entrepreneur, in essence, just as part of a bigger entity.

Daniel Scola Jr.: You’re you’re correct. It’s not it’s not taught in law school. Um, I often thought about teaching or pitching, not pitching. That’s a I don’t like the word pitch. And I just told you why I don’t pitch, but I suggesting to to, uh, law school, uh, and letting me teach a course which actually talks about, uh, that, that business development aspect. And it’s really not about how much law you do or how much science, which in my area you have to know both. It’s it’s about being able to understand people and what is their readiness level to hear certain things. You the assumption is you know enough about science and law, otherwise you wouldn’t be in this area. That’s that’s a basic assumption. Sometimes it’s wrong, but usually that’s what people look for. And then they want to know, well, do I do I does this person connect with me well? Do they communicate well? Do they understand my needs? Are they going to be responsive? The human connection? They don’t teach that in law school. In fact, you know, most of it is. Well, you know, if you want to have you’re going to have an adversary. And this is how you approach an adversary. Well, clients are not adversaries. And so they really don’t teach how to go about attracting clients. It’s a it’s a problem. I don’t know any law schools that do it. Maybe there are some because obviously there’s lots of curriculums out there. But um, I don’t know any.

Lee Kantor: So what advice would you give a young lawyer, um, who is kind of buying what you’re selling in terms of I have to treat this as I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a business owner, and I have to at some point go out and, um, identify, persuade, uh, another business person to, you know, use our firm. Like, what are some of the do’s and don’ts or some of the, the things they should be thinking about as they, you know, put on their rainmaker hat?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah. They it’s a it’s a good question that that everyone, every one going into law should have an answer for. And I would suggest that, you know, because of the current, uh, sort of trend to not get personal connections as much and you do more things over text and you do less phone work, you do less in-person person meetings. It’s all email. I would suggest, you know, going the other way, going back to trying to get a human connection, get get a short time meeting, get a lunch with someone, don’t even talk about work, create a relationship, go to meetings, you know, go meet people as much as you can. You know, ask someone to lunch. Do something other than just electronically communicate with them. Because now you’re in in the whole mass of noise, everything. You know. How many emails do we get a day? You know, you can’t even look at them all sometimes. So if you’re just relying on the typical text and email communication, I don’t think it’s going to work. Your chances are greatly decreased. Make a phone call, you know, go out and meet somebody. Establish the relationship, the human relationship, because people will only work really long term with people that they know and like and trust. So it’s about this keep getting an ecosystem of trusted people. Um, So, so so get out there. You know, the news, the new people, you know, the real brand new associates.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Li they they have a it’s tough because they come in and they trying to learn about what it is they’re supposed to do, you know, on the legal end. And so they okay, so they know some science and they know some law. But we all know that you know nothing until you’ve practiced and made mistakes and get a, you know, you’re really an apprentice. You have someone mentoring it. And so you think, well, I don’t know enough to go out and attract clients. Why would they come to me? I don’t have the experience. And I tell them, yeah, but you you have a personality. You have, uh, you know, you present. Well, you have someone, something you can say about, you know, whatever it is you might have in common. So create the relationship because eventually you’re going to have the experience and people are going to say, oh, I know you. I’ve met you a number of times. Oh, I like you. It’s. You know, it doesn’t matter how much, you know when you create a relationship. It’s that’s why you’re doing it. You’re not. You’re not out there pitching. Hey, we’re a great firm. I’m a great lawyer. Hire me. You know that’s not the way to do it. And that’s what I tell them. Get out of your comfort zone.

Lee Kantor: Is that kind of a tough wedding for some of these folks? Because in their head, they thought the law was one thing. And now you’re telling them I’m also a salesperson, and I don’t know if I thought I was buying that when I got this degree.

Daniel Scola Jr.: You know, it’s so true. And you and probably 50 to 60% of the people that go into this area, into the legal area, fit into that category of not being comfortable. But, you know, as you know, sales is is, you know, you have to be truthful and you have to be honest and you have to, you know, be able to connect. But I think if you’re going to be good in business, you need those things anyway. I mean, there’s plenty of room for people who are sitting and just doing the work. You need people like that. But if you’re going to be an entrepreneur and you’re going to build a business, you’re not going to be in that category.

Lee Kantor: And would those people be less likely to, like, make partner? Is that some of the qualities that a partner has is they are able to generate clients?

Daniel Scola Jr.: No question about it. Absolutely. Now there are partners and there they’re really called working partners. They’re not they’re not partners who are client getters or, you know, they’re they’re not really entrepreneur related. They’re not rainmakers. There’s a place for them as well. But they have they have less leverage in usually in the businesses because without your book of business is really the key and the and the leverage you have um, in any law firm And, you know, I’m looking for some partners right now and there’s plenty of guys that would like to come, but they don’t have any business. They want me to feed them work, and I would. I won’t do that. I want them to come with business and we’ll help them develop the business. So yeah, you’re right, you have less. I say that to any lawyer. It doesn’t matter not just the IP lawyer, but your your client relationships and your book of business. And the reason people come is because of you. That’s all your leverage is in a law firm.

Lee Kantor: So it’s the totality of what you know, along with who you’re connected with, what relationships, how strong those relationships are. They, you know, are they going to follow you to this new law firm if you make a move like all those things are part of the algorithm you’re using when you’re looking for kind of the next hire over there.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Absolutely. Yeah. That’s it. You got it.

Lee Kantor: And that seemed I mean, again, I, would imagine young people out there that are in law school are thinking, well, I’m learning the law. This is hard. There’s a lot to learn. I’m going to be great at this. And they think their job is going to end there, but it’s really not. That’s just kind of table stakes, it sounds like.

Daniel Scola Jr.: It’s absolutely true. And I think the more people understand this, the easier it will be to make a decision. Do I go into this or not? Uh, you know, I mean, you don’t have to be entrepreneurial to be in law. You can go into, uh, you know, be be one of the working attorneys and you can still make a good living, or you can go inside to a corporation where they really don’t care if you develop business. But honestly, that human component is, is is important even in corporations, because there you’ve got a whole layer of political aspects and you know who who at what level is willing to trust which lawyer and that sort of thing. And if they don’t know you, you know, that’s not a great thing. They have to know that you’re not only good at what you do, but you’re going to make it easy. You’re not going to say something ridiculous at a very important meeting with investors, for example. You know, they have to trust that you understand. You can read the room, that you’re good with people. And I’m not saying that you’re just a gladhand person, you know, like, oh, you’re a great personality, but you’re you’re you’re intelligent about, uh, you know, your communications with people and you’re respectful and you’re, you know, you you don’t just, you know, want to show that you’re the smartest guy in the room all the time.

Daniel Scola Jr.: That that that will not. That’s I can tell you, a lot of lawyers, um, in a lot I have it even more so when I have a lot of clients who are who are in the medical profession. Uh, at some sometimes you put a couple of, um, you know, letters after people’s names, like a PhD or an MD or a JD or whatever it is. And all of a sudden they they’re talking, they get really, uh, a little bit, you know, arrogant about the way they express things, and that’s a turnoff to most people. Um, so you have to have some sort of understanding. It’s so much people relate. It’s amazing. And maybe, maybe I’m underselling all the other stuff a little bit, but I’m I’m really not trying to. You have to be a competent, uh, both in the law and the science to do what I do. But if you’re going to be really good, you have to be good with the people.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you mind sharing kind of. When you had that aha moment that, hey, I am good with people, I can do this, I can generate revenue for my firm. Did something happen that gave you the confidence, or at least the insight that, hey, this is something I can do and I’m I can figure this out?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah. I mean, I moved around a lot when I was a kid. My my father changed jobs even in the same, uh, state, you know, a number of times. So I went to six, you know, primary schools, for example. And most people would say, oh, gosh, that’s that’s terrible. You know, and this was back when, you know, in the days when they didn’t really have standardized education. So every every time you move to a school, they were you either had the courses already or you or the you had no idea, no background for the courses you’re about to take. So it was a challenge that. But but I one thing I did learn is I learned that there were so many diverse cultures and different types of people, and I, I, I learned that I was reasonably good at, you know, understanding the differences and the similarities in people and getting along really well with them. And so that just carried through to high school and to college. And then when I actually, you know, after law school, when I actually got a job, um, it, it effectively turned into a way that I could negotiate out of situations easily because I could read what was bothering somebody or the type of a type of person that what his concerns might be Or, you know, I look, you know, body language is big. You know, facial expressions is big way they say things is big. What they say is, is important. But also, you know, just somehow this intangible how you connect.

Daniel Scola Jr.: So that’s when I realized how important it was to, you know, even people would have issues between themselves in a, in a single, you know, company. Because I came from in a corporate environment and I, I left corporations to go to, to into private practice, which is not a normal thing. Normally you’re in private practice, you learn something, you’re kind of like Luke Skywalker. You’ve got 3 or 4 years. You really don’t know enough to to to really practice on your own, but you’re not sure you’re going to make partners. So you go inside a corporation where it’s nice and it’s a lot easier. And, you know, people feed you work. And so that’s that’s how you do it. But but you’ve got to get you’ve got to know that to get along with people. And I learned that from just moving around and then being put in in situations in a company where I realized that some of the lawyers were not liked. And the reason was, is they were arrogant, or they didn’t care about the needs of the marketing people or the business people. And when you paid attention to them and, you know, I’m not saying like you, you, uh, you did everything they wanted to because you have to be honest about recommending real legal solutions and telling them there’s risks and why they can’t exactly do what you’re doing, but find a pathway. They could do it. Be positive. That’s how I learned it, basically. That’s why I thought it was key.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share that maybe illustrates what it looks like when you sell somebody something that you meet somebody, you build a relationship, you find out their need and you they’re able to kind of help them get through whatever challenge that they had. Is there something you can share? That was a memorable time you did that and helped another, either a company or a person get the protection they needed.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah, I mean, I can give you I’m trying to think of a the best one I can give you a number of those. Um, where there was a, there was a company that was looking to change, uh, intellectual property attorneys. They, they weren’t getting any traction with the attorney they had, and they really didn’t know. How about, you know, how to go about picking another attorney? Um, but someone recommended they they talk to me. And so during the conversation, I mean, I obviously did some homework, uh, about who the company was and what they did and who I was going to be speaking to and so forth. So that’s important to, to get that background because that, you know, you need to know something in order to have a good conversation. And he, you know, this this gentleman who was in charge, uh, of the hiring, he also was a scientist. He wasn’t a lawyer, but he was a scientist. And he was a pretty, pretty well respected guy in the industry. And I said to him, so what, you know, what is the issue that you’re having? Uh, you know, why are you looking to change attorneys? And he said, well, we’ve we’ve been trying to get patents in this one area for a long time, and we just can’t seem to do it. Now, there’s a lot of reasons that could happen. You know, it may not be the attorney’s fault, but I said to him, well, um, you know, sometimes it’s not the attorney’s fault.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Sometimes there’s other things. And he and I went through all the other things that could, could happen. But I said to him, when I’m faced with something that’s very difficult at, at, let’s say, getting a patent through, here’s the approach I take. And then he says, okay, that’s that’s interesting. I said, perhaps you can suggest that your attorney, your current attorney look and take that kind of approach. And he said, well, how did you come up with that? And I said, because I looked online, which. Which it’s available. And I looked at what your attorney did and I said, it’s not categorically wrong what he did, but he wasn’t focusing on the right aspect of your invention that I saw that the examiner was focusing on. And that’s also reading between the lines there. Again, it’s a little bit of a people thing. What is he really getting at? What is this? What is the real issue that this patent examiner was having and that that attorney did not get it. He missed it. And that’s why they weren’t getting anything through. So I said to him, I’d be happy to do this for you. And I would take a little different approach. Now, I could not give him the full answer, because why would he hire me if I didn’t give him the full answer? But I gave him enough so he understood that the pathway was a better pathway.

Lee Kantor: Right? You were. You were showing you were hearing him, and then you were explaining it to him using an example of his own making and just saying that here’s a I would go a different path. And obviously you still can’t guarantee that it’ll get through. I mean, you just approaching it a different way and then that person either resonates or doesn’t resonate with your thinking.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Absolutely. And I also told him another thing. I said, you know, that if you have a relationship with the examiner and the examiner trusts you, that he’s going to take things differently than if he doesn’t know you and you’re spewing all kinds of arguments. And he’s like, well, I don’t really know if I believe that, but I call up the examiner or I have a zoom call with the examiner. So I know the examiner’s not not all of them, because there’s several thousand at the patent office, for example. Several thousand. The same thing happens, you know, with with other aspects of IP, you know, and so you, you talk to the examiner. You know, you find out what is. You know, the young people don’t like to do that. They’re, you know, they they would rather just say, well, I’ll send them an email. And I’m like, okay, how about you send them an email and I’ll make a phone call and we’ll see who gets further, you know, in the next, in the next week.

Lee Kantor: Right. And I think to your earlier point, I mean, doing the contrarian thing and investing in human to human relationship allows you to stand out and build that relationship. That’s strong enough. So they give you the benefit of the doubt. They’re not just dismissing you out of hand. They’re they’re they feel like they know and trust you, like you said earlier, that that’s important. And then you’re going to get that okay. Yeah. And then they’re going to lean in your direction more times than not. If you invest in the relationship as opposed to just being another, you know, um, application on a pile.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Absolutely. It’s, you know, I refer to it as the ecosystem of trust. You build that.

Lee Kantor: But it’s it’s not intuitive for a lot of folks, especially, I would imagine, with the brain types that you’re dealing with in your firm and then you’re working with it. That’s not their go to move, is, hey, let me build a relationship. Human to human. Like they’re probably trying to get out of those kind of interactions using a digital method if possible.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah, it’s so true. And if you can, if you can do it, though, you will stand out in this area because that’s exactly right. Most of the, you know, a lot of scientists or a lot of people that are not, uh, comfortable putting themselves out there. Another thing which I’m thinking of imposing is, um, making new associates go to, um, you know, these lunch meetings where they, they make you get up in.

Lee Kantor: Oh, like Toastmasters.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Toastmasters type of thing. Um, you know, because I, you know, everybody’s in the same boat there and you realize that, you know, lots of people are a little nervous to speak in front of people and or meet new people. They don’t show it, but they are. And, you know, really, you know, you just, you know, everybody’s afraid of being judged. You know, it’s that’s a normal instinct, right? Normal thing. Um, but you have to get over that, um, and, and realize that, uh, it will stop progress if you, if you live in that kind of fear, just this won’t work.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I mean, in my opinion, when I a big mindset shift for me, um, when it came to sales occurred when I reframed selling to helping and I’m just trying to help the person. I’m not trying to sell them anything. And if I’m just trying to help them get the best outcome they desire. You know, it would be great if they picked me. But if they don’t, at least I help them. And then there’s no more pressure. There’s no more. Um, you know, I’m not self-conscious anymore. Now I’m just trying to help somebody, you know? That’s all.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Terrific. And that’s a that’s a great approach. That’s a great approach. It’s it’s a little it’s it’s very much, I think not a little. It’s a very much, uh, sort of embedded in what I’m saying as well.

Lee Kantor: Right. I think that’s at the heart of what you’re saying is that let me listen to them. Let me try to help them and you know it. If if I do a good job, a good portion of those people I’m trying to help are going to pick me and.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: You know, and then and you don’t feel icky about it. A lot of these especially young people think sales is a, you know, a four letter word that they don’t want any of that on them. They don’t want to be the kind of that used car salesman person.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah, it’s it’s funny, you know, as much as, you know, sales has this, you know, sort of that like negative shadow a little bit to some people. Same thing with attorneys. You know, you say, oh, those are the attorneys. Uh, you know, you give it to the attorneys that, you know, there’s always that, you know, subterfuge of, of negativity that, uh, that’s associated with it. But it’s it’s because there’s a few that spoil it. It’s not not really the most. Most of it is like that. Uh, yeah. So there’s so look so many aspects of doing any business or any entrepreneurship, um, that have to do with the people connection. I mean, I don’t see how you, you you do it otherwise. I mean.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, and I don’t think it’s it’s it’s law. It’s only law. It’s like every business person has to also have a sales hat if you want to be successful. I mean, you can’t just think you can be a cog in a machine in today’s day and age where they’re automating everything. You better stand out. And in a great way to stand out is if I can generate revenue for my company, I’m going to I’m not going to be the one that gets let go.

Daniel Scola Jr.: That’s it. And that’s it. And if you’re going to generate revenue, you got to put yourself out there. You got to take some risks. You got to be willing to hear, uh, thanks, but no thanks. Um, and then give something for nothing, you know, give something without any expectation of getting it back. You hope you do. But that’s not like you said. It’s helping somebody. It’s not. It’s not expecting.

Lee Kantor: And right. It’s serve first.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Great. I am.

Lee Kantor: Exactly right. Serve first and don’t pitch good. Those are good lessons.

Daniel Scola Jr.: No, it’s true, it’s absolutely true.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about your firm or what you’re up to, uh, get a hold of that book. What? What are the coordinates? What’s the website? What’s the best way to connect with you?

Daniel Scola Jr.: Well, the best way to connect with me is, um, you can use my personal website, which is my. It’s d at h b I p IP law.com. Or you can just go to, you know, put Google, Hoffman and Barron LLP and you’ll see we have three offices. We have one in, uh, new Jersey, one in, uh, Long Island and one down in Washington, D.C. and we specialize in, you know, protecting people’s ideas. So, you know, patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, uh, unfair competition. We do litigation and we do procurement, you know, like the patents getting patents and trademarks and copyrights for people and enforcing them and defending them. So yeah.

Lee Kantor: Well, Dan, thank you so much for sharing your story, doing such important work. And we appreciate you.

Daniel Scola Jr.: Yeah, appreciate being on Lee. Thank you very much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Tagged With: Daniel A. Scola, Hoffmann & Baron, Jr, LLP

Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2022: Louis Lessig, Brown & Connery, LLP

July 26, 2022 by John Ray

Brown & Connery
Minneapolis St. Paul Studio
Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2022: Louis Lessig, Brown & Connery, LLP
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

 

Brown & Connery

Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2022: Louis Lessig, Brown & Connery, LLP

Louis Lessig, a partner with Brown & Connery, LLP, joined Jamie Gassmann on Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2022. Louis is an employment attorney who got his start in HR. He and Jamie talked about his journey, his work, and hot topics in the HR space these days, including marijuana & ADA. He also shared highlights from his presentations on ADA and retention at SHRM and much more.

Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.

This show was originally broadcast live from the 2022 SHRM Annual Conference held at the New Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Louis Lessig, Partner, Brown & Connery, LLP

Louis Lessig, Partner, Brown & Connery, LLP

Louis Lessig is a partner with the firm of Brown & Connery, LLP.  His practice concentrates in labor and employment counseling, litigation, negotiations, and training.

Mr. Lessig represents clients in all types of employment matters, including but not limited to claims of discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment, wage and hour irregularities, and retaliation in state and federal courts as well as before administrative agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, U.S. Department of Labor, American Arbitration Association, New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.

In 2018, he received the Delaware Valley HR Consultant of the Year Award. In 2016 he was an Honoree for the SmartCEO Centers of Influence Awards.  In 2015, he received the SmartCEO ESQ Industry Practice Award – recognizing the region’s most trusted advisors. Since 2012, Mr. Lessig has been selected each year as a “Super Lawyer” in Labor and Employment law.  In 2010, Mr. Lessig was selected by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of the “Top 40 Attorneys Under 40” in New Jersey.  Mr. Lessig was also selected in 2010 as a Delaware Valley Human Resources Consultant of the Year Nominee.  Mr. Lessig is a nationally recognized speaker and publishes articles that have appeared in periodicals including Westlaw Journal Employment, Westlaw Journal Computer and Internet, the Family and Medical Leave Handbook, Employment Litigation Reporter, Corporate Risk Spectrum, HR Professional, The Tri-State and Labor and Employment Law Quarterly.  He was an adjunct professor at the Comey Institute for Industrial Relations at St. Joseph’s University.  Mr. Lessig was also a principal in the Pinnacle Employment Law Institute (PELI), which conducted training sessions and provided developmental assistance in employment relations.

After graduating from law school, he served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable M. Allan Vogelson, Presiding Civil Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey in Camden County.

In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Lessig currently serves on the Garden State Council – SHRM as the New Jersey State Director.  He is also immediate Past President of the Board for the National Speakers Association (NSA), Philadelphia chapter.  He is also a member of Tri-State HRMA where he is a Past President of the chapter and serves as Chair of the Legislative Committee. Mr. Lessig is past President of the Muhlenberg College Alumni Board.

Martindale-Hubbell “AV” Preeminent® Rating

LinkedIn 

Brown & Connery, LLP

Brown and Connery is one of South Jersey’s oldest and most well-regarded law firms.  In 1928, Horace G. Brown, a preeminent trial lawyer, and Thomas F. Connery, a distinguished litigator, founded the practice in Camden, New Jersey. The firm has continued to evolve to meet changing times, changing culture and changing client needs. Driven by the ideal of excellence, Brown and Connery is proud to have earned an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell*, its highest rating.

We take our work and our client’s needs seriously, and have built a reputation for quality legal services grounded in our founder’s tradition of thoroughness, hard work and integrity. Our talented attorneys and support staff are committed to our high standards, which means those who turn to our firm can count on us to maintain the highest ethical and intellectual standards when representing their needs.

The firm practices all across New Jersey with offices conveniently located in Westmont, Woodbury and Camden. Our Philadelphia office supports our practice in Pennsylvania.

Brown and Connery provides a wide range of legal services to its clients. These services can be seen listed and more fully described on this website among our Key Practices.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook

About Workplace MVP

Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.

Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann

Jamie Gassmann, Host, “Workplace MVP”

In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.

R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from SHRM 2022 at the New Orleans Convention Center, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in helping workplaces thrive during disruptive times. Now, here’s your host.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:19] Hey, everyone. You’re host, Jamie Gassmann here, and I’m coming to you from SHRM 2022 Exhibit Hall. And I’m in R3 Continuum, our sponsor’s booth. And joining me is Louis Lessig from Brown and Connery. Did I pronounce that all correctly?

Louis Lessig: [00:00:36] You absolutely did. Thank you.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:38] Awesome. Well, welcome to the show, Louis.

Louis Lessig: [00:00:40] I’m thrilled to be here. Thank you.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:41] Oh, we’re excited to have you on. I know we’ve been doing a lot of talking before getting on the actual microphone. So, give us a little background about your career journey into this space and coming into the kind of H.R. perspective. I know you’re not an H.R. person, but talk to me a little bit about how you got here.

Louis Lessig: [00:00:57] So, actually my undergrad is in H.R., and I was a student member of SHRM. We won’t say when, but when I got out –

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:05] Ten years ago?

Louis Lessig: [00:01:05] Sure. Absolutely. But when I was in my major, I was doing an internship at a hospital and the generalist turned to me and said, “Do you want to do benefits your whole life?” I’m sure no one listening to this does benefits. I said, “Actually, I absolutely do not.” And he said, “Well, then you know what you should do? You should go to law school.” So that’s what I did.

Louis Lessig: [00:01:29] And then, while I was in law school, I gravitated towards the labor and employment kind of work, got out and started – I clerked for a judge and then went to one firm, spent 11 months there, and then went to the firm I’m with now, doing employment labor. Simultaneously, I was also doing a – I had a training company where we were doing harassment sort of stuff, all on the side. So, I was doing both till 9/11 and the training stuff went south and I’ve been doing the whole employment labor stuff since.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:01] Wow! And you’re in a great spot here, lots of H.R. leaders. So, what are some of the hot topics you’re seeing with your clients right now in the labor and employment law arena?

Louis Lessig: [00:02:12] Well, it depends on what state you’re in.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:14] Oh, okay.

Louis Lessig: [00:02:15] Because the whole medical versus recreational marijuana component is fascinating. The truth is, because of everything around COVID, there’s been a lot of the reasonable accommodation components around the ADA and, of course, how we deal with leave and the desire or shifting desires, if you will, in terms of the workforce and how much do they want to come back to the workplace, do they not want to come back to the workplace? How do we make that happen? Because the law is always trying to catch up. And so, it’s been a bit more of a challenge than one might think. And, of course, everybody dumps all the stuff at H.R.’s feet, which makes sure that the billable hours just keep on rolling.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:57] I bet. Yeah. And I got to imagine with a lot of this remote work, people working from home, that’s got to be a whole new kind of caveat with some of the different like Work Comp rules. Like, if I slip in my own kitchen, is that Work Comp because I was on the clock? I mean, like, I’m just so curious and fascinated about that. Like, what are you seeing from that perspective with some of the changes in the work environment that employers are facing?

Louis Lessig: [00:03:22] Well, you can start as early as taking a look at things like how much real estate do they really need anymore? And then, from there, you move into like to your question. You probably don’t know this, but if you own your own home, the comprehensive insurance you currently have in your home already includes part-time Workers’ Comp generally speaking. You can get a rider if you want full comp coverage on top of your homeowners. Most people don’t know this. But when my kids were really young, had like the nanny working full time and I inquired about this, it was a $60 rider a year for full Worker’s Comp coverage.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:03] Wow!

Louis Lessig: [00:04:04] That’s 60 bucks I cut every year.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:06] Yeah. And that covers you as the worker because you’re inside the home.

Louis Lessig: [00:04:11] Correct.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:11] Interesting. Okay. Well, that’s a great lesson for our listeners to be hearing about it. I might have to call my insurance company. So, now I know you’re speaking at this year’s conference and it sounds like you’ve got a couple of different presentations. So, let’s start with you giving kind of the titles of the two, and then let’s dive into each of them and talk a little bit about each one of them.

Louis Lessig: [00:04:30] Sure. So, tomorrow I’ll be talking on “ Adventures in ADA, the Good, the Bad, and the Oh My’.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:38] I love that, oh my.

Louis Lessig: [00:04:40] Any time I’m dealing with the ADA, it’s always a function of you cannot make this up.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:47] Yeah.

Louis Lessig: [00:04:47] And your jaw would either hit the floor or you’re just going to start dying laughing. The other, on Wednesday morning, the intro to the president speaking actually. I will be talking on “Positive Conversations Using Employment Laws as a Retention Tactic”.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:05] Interesting. And I suppose that’s going to be a hot topic with all the labor and the great resignation or the great reshuffle, depending on who you ask. So, let’s dive into your ADA and the oh my. So, looking at that presentation, what are you hoping your attendees come out of that with like a top three takeaways that you want them to get from your presentation?

Louis Lessig: [00:05:27] So both presentations are hybrid. So, the cool part is I’ve designed them to engage both the virtual audience as well as the live audience. When we talk about the ADA, it’s really about having folks understand two things, the lay of the land in terms of some of the court decisions that have come out over the last year but then it’s also what’s in those decisions that are the true takeaways. Because I can tell stories till the cows come home, but it’s really what’s in it for me, right? That’s why everybody’s coming to a session.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:58] Yeah.

Louis Lessig: [00:05:59] And a lot of what you see in the ADA is employers end up tripping up because they don’t legitimately go through the interactive process, or they have a manager that says, “Oh, I’m sort of fed up with this person. They’ve got too many issues. I don’t want to play ball”. And it’s as if they want to buy litigation. So, the hope is that you understand the good in terms of good for employers, the bad in terms of did you really want to do that? And the oh my in terms of, seriously, this fact pattern just makes my skin crawl.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:06:32] Yeah.

Louis Lessig: [00:06:33] And, hopefully, what they take away from that is a level of empathy for the people that they work with.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:06:42] Yeah. I love that. And now, let’s look at your Wednesday presentation because I think that that, you know, anything you can do to try to increase retention for some of these organizations, it’s got to be huge, so talk to me a little bit about that one. What are the takeaways of that presentation?

Louis Lessig: [00:06:56] So, that presentation I’m very passionate about. I sort of view the ADA, it’s very nuts and bolts. This other one that’s on Wednesday is really taking the way in which everyone presumes as an employment lawyer I would approach things and flip it on it’s head.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:07:14] Interesting.

Louis Lessig: [00:07:15] And what I mean by that is this, most folks look at employment laws, ADA, FMLA, FLSA, it’s a bunch of acronyms and it’s all about this crazy thought process of compliance, like the most overused word in the H.R. space. That’s not what it’s about. It is a road map to help us, help our employees get what they need, have them understand, look, we’re here for one another. The better we do, the better we do. And really taking a look at those employment laws, appreciating what the parameters are and how you can better your business by sort of following the proverbial path rather than, “Oh, my God. What did we do wrong? I think we got to go run or cut a check.”

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:00] Oh, yeah. I love that. They’re going to be taking definitely some interesting points from that, something different hopefully than what they’ve probably thought of it before.

Louis Lessig: [00:08:09] Exactly.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:11] Amazing. So any other things you want to leave our audience with? You know, you got the microphone here, you know, your expertise in the employment law. What are your thoughts? What do you think that H.R. leaders need to be watching out for?

Louis Lessig: [00:08:25] I think they need to be very unique in their view of the world. We can’t look at -whether you have ten employees or 10,000 employees, we are truly at a point where the level of customization that we need to do in this space is in a way that no one has ever anticipated before. I’m not sure everybody’s really ready for. But that’s why the talk on the ADA makes so much sense right now because it is individualized and most organizations want to be able to say, “Here’s the cookie-cutter approach.” You know, you guys do some behavioral health stuff. And when you think about it, the challenge there is what each person needs is something different. And that’s where life gets hard. Because when you have issues, you try to figure out, well, how do I avoid it or how do I get past it? And if it’s individualized in nature, it can be more challenging. And I’m really here to tell everybody, take the time to figure it out. It’s better to spend a little bit up front to try and come up with those policies and the procedures that are going to allow you to engage with your employees rather than deal with them when they’re complaining and filing litigation.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:09:33] Yeah. It’s kind of like don’t take the one-size-fits-all approach.

Louis Lessig: [00:09:37] Exactly.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:09:38] Look for how you can tailor it. Great advice. Love that. Well, Louis, it’s been an absolute pleasure to have you on our show. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Louis Lessig: [00:09:46] It has been my honor. Thank you so much.

Outro: [00:09:53] Thank you for joining us on Workplace MVP. R3 Continuum is a proud sponsor of this show and is delighted to celebrate most valuable professionals who work diligently to secure safe workplaces where employees can thrive.

 

 

Tagged With: ada, Brown & Connery, employment law, Garden State Council – SHRM, Human Resources, Jamie Gassmann, LLP, Louis R. Lessig, New Orleans, R3 Continuum, retention, SHRM 2022, Workplace MVP

Fisher & Phillips’ Terri Stewart Talks Labor Law Plus Atlanta’s Best Connector Series Featuring Michael Blake With HA&W And Faye Vantreese With The Peachtree Financial Group

February 6, 2012 by Stone Payton

High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Fisher & Phillips' Terri Stewart Talks Labor Law Plus Atlanta's Best Connector Series Featuring Michael Blake With HA&W And Faye Vantreese With The Peachtree Financial Group
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

When Terri Stewart talks Labor Law, we listen — and so should you . . .

We opened today’s show with Stewart, and discovered that numerous local, state and federal laws create a complicated legal landscape for employers in the state of Georgia and elsewhere.

Terri Stewart is an attorney in the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips LLP.  She represents management in all areas of labor and employment law in state and federal courts as well as before state and federal agencies.

Her practice focuses on the defense of employment related lawsuits in trial and appellate courts, encompassing a variety of issues, including claims arising under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and related state claims such as trade secret infringement, restrictive covenants, breach of contract and tort actions.

Terri also frequently advises employers on reductions in force, drafts employment agreements, personnel policies, separation agreements and releases, and conducts onsite training on topics such as employment law compliance and avoidance of harassment claims.  Terri was listed in the 2011 edition of Georgia Super Lawyers – Rising Stars. For the honor, lawyers throughout the state are asked to nominate the best attorneys under 40. After nomination, researchers evaluate candidates based on peer-recognition, client-relationships and professional-achievement – only selecting the top 2.5%.

Terri was also chosen to be a member of the L.E.A.D. Atlanta Class of 2012.  L.E.A.D is an initiative of Leadership Atlanta designed to equip young professionals with key leadership skills and knowledge early in their professional and community service careers.

In 2011, Terri received the “40 under 40” Award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The award honors the top 40 business people in Atlanta under the age of 40. Terri was recently featured on Fox 5 Atlanta News regarding the legal impact of social media on employment law and on CBS Morning News for What Not to Wear in the Workplace.

 

In the next two segments of today’s program we featured two Atlanta’s Best Connectors nominees, Michael Blake and Faye Vantreese:

Michael Blake is Director of Valuation Services at Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP. Michael’s background includes transactional roles in investment banking and venture capital. He has fifteen years of valuation experience including transaction support, intellectual property appraisals, fair value accounting, litigation, and valuations for securities-related engagements. He also has five years of experience in managing and performing assignments on stock option and warrant valuation, hedging instrument valuation, purchase price allocation and goodwill and long-lived asset impairment testing.

Michael’s valuation experience includes information technology, medical devices, healthcare drug development, restaurants, computer hardware, electronic entertainment, telecommunications, broadcasting, alternative energy, publishing, business services, e-commerce and Internet-driven services, aerospace, paper & timber, beverage, media, manufacturing, and private equity.

Michael received his Bachelor’s Degree, Cum Laude, in Economics and French from Franklin & Marshall College and his Masters of Business Administration Degree from Georgetown University. Michael is the co-founder and president of StartupLounge.com, an online podcast and forum resource for entrepreneurs and private company investors. He was a Nominee Finalist for the 2009 Turknett Foundation Leadership Character Award and a Nominee Finalist for the 2009 TechAmerica Spirit of Endeavor Award. Michael was named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2009 Up and Comers List for the top 40 executives under the age of 40. Michael’s professional and academic affiliations include:

  • Chartered Financial Analyst Institute
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Atlanta CFA Society
  • Georgia Tech/Emory TI:GER Advisory Board
  • American Finance Association
  • Institute of Business Appraisers
  • American Society of Appraisers
  • Ukrainian-American Chamber of Commerce

Click here to read Michael’s personal blog, UNBLAKEABLE.

 

Seven years ago Faye Vantreese moved to Atlanta and knew about 5 people.

“I moved into the Financial services industry which is all about connecting with people, getting your message out there and helping families and businesses reach their financial goals. I figured out pretty quickly I needed to start connecting with a lot of people pretty quickly if I was going to survive in a very competitive market. I started by asking who were the most connected people locally in my area, reached out to them and asked what their were doing. It was the smartest thing I could have done. ”

Check Out Faye’s Public LinkedIn Profile Here

Learn more about her firm, The Peachtree Financial Group Here

 

 

 

 

Tagged With: Faye Vantreese, Fisher & Phillips, HA&W, Habif, Labor Law, LLP, Michael Blake, Peachtree Financial Group, Startup Lounge, Terri Stewart

Business RadioX ® Network


 

Our Most Recent Episode

CONNECT WITH US

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Our Mission

We help local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

Sponsor a Show

Build Relationships and Grow Your Business. Click here for more details.

Partner With Us

Discover More Here

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy

Connect with us

Want to keep up with the latest in pro-business news across the network? Follow us on social media for the latest stories!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Business RadioX® Headquarters
1000 Abernathy Rd. NE
Building 400, Suite L-10
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

© 2025 Business RadioX ® · Rainmaker Platform

BRXStudioCoversLA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of LA Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversDENVER

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Denver Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversPENSACOLA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Pensacola Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversBIRMINGHAM

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Birmingham Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversTALLAHASSEE

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Tallahassee Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversRALEIGH

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Raleigh Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversRICHMONDNoWhite

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Richmond Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversNASHVILLENoWhite

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Nashville Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversDETROIT

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Detroit Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversSTLOUIS

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of St. Louis Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversCOLUMBUS-small

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Columbus Business Radio

Coachthecoach-08-08

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Coach the Coach

BRXStudioCoversBAYAREA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Bay Area Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversCHICAGO

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Chicago Business Radio

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Atlanta Business Radio