Law firm combines youth, experience

THE LAWYERS at LaPlante Sowa Goldman brainstorm as a team to prepare for major cases. Above, clockwise from left, associates Michael J. Jacobs, Nicole M. Labonte, Philip J. Laffey, Marlene B. Marshall and Kenneth E. Russo, and partner Jeffrey D. Sowa. /
THE LAWYERS at LaPlante Sowa Goldman brainstorm as a team to prepare for major cases. Above, clockwise from left, associates Michael J. Jacobs, Nicole M. Labonte, Philip J. Laffey, Marlene B. Marshall and Kenneth E. Russo, and partner Jeffrey D. Sowa. /

Robert Goldman met his partner Brian LaPlante at a professional development seminar on boundary disputes. LaPlante was barely 30, but in his short career, he had become such an expert in real estate law that he was teaching his elders.
“I kind of got a kick out of that,” said Goldman, who’s been practicing real estate law since the 1970s. Having focused on transactional work – residential and commercial sales and financing – he sometimes needed to refer clients to a litigator, and he began to use LaPlante.
That was about five years ago. Last February, having worked together extensively, they took the next step and merged their firms, LaPlante & Sowa Ltd. and Fessel Goldman & Hirsch Inc., into the new LaPlante Sowa Goldman, headquartered in Providence.
Along with real estate, the firm specializes in employment law, partner Jeffrey D. Sowa’s area of expertise, which LaPlante said is about 20 percent of their practice.
Sowa handles a lot of school-related terminations, representing former Johnston High School assistant principal Stephen F. Chrabaszcz Jr., for example, in a federal case in which he said he won a “six-figure” award for his client. He has represented school districts, and he advises an array of employers on legal issues as well.
“I’ve been able to handle a lot of preventative issues for small businesses,” Sowa said. “I can advise them on what to do so they don’t get in trouble with claims by employees.”
Beyond that, the lawyers handle all sorts of civil matters – but real estate is their niche.
“Given the climate of the law now, it’s difficult to be a general practitioner,” said LaPlante.
And because of Goldman’s extensive experience and decades-long relationship with the Rhode Island Association of Realtors and the Rhode Island Mortgage Bankers Association, and his professional standing especially in the Cranston-Warwick area, the firm is called upon to represent commercial lenders and others in an array of real estate deals.
Even in the current market, LaPlante said the firm continues to enjoy an “incredible level of success” with residential transactions. The implosion of the sub-prime lending market has not adversely affected the firm, Goldman said, because “I’ve always focused my practice … on the more traditional [lending] base.”
Goldman does handle deals involving low- to moderate-income borrowers, but on behalf of Rhode Island Housing. He noted that “sub-prime lending serves a purpose,” because not everyone can qualify for conventional loans – the problem is deceptive “teaser” rates and allowing people to get in over their heads.
LaPlante noted that foreclosures are hurting lenders, too, because no one wants to buy the properties, and the prices have dropped, so they can’t even recover their investments. For lawyers with an expertise in this field, however, it’s actually good for business.
“Because of the tightening of the noose on homebuyers, there’s generally a litigious environment,” he said. “There’s no question about it: As litigators, we are recession-proof.”
As with Sowa and employment advice, LaPlante also puts his litigation experience to work on behalf of clients Goldman is representing in deal negotiations. That’s one of the reasons they merged – because they felt that together, they could offer an enhanced value to clients.
Two or three times a month, Goldman said, the firm now gives seminars to clients “on various types of risk prevention issues, on how they can conduct their business more effectively.” He also speaks from personal experience: He has developed several office buildings.
Looking ahead, the partners see growth. Like LaPlante and Sowa, the firm is young, and business has increased “significantly” just since the merger, Goldman said. One more attorney is coming in the fall, and the firm is building its future work force through a strong relationship with Roger Williams University’s law school, a key source of law clerks.
The firm’s modest size gives the partners flexibility, and it allows them to provide personal service to their clients. “They deal with us directly,” Goldman noted.
“I don’t like the word boutique,” LaPlante said, “but we have a boutique practice in the sense that we offer many of the same services offered by firms that are larger in scale, and we compete head-to-head for those clients.”

Company profile: LaPlante Sowa Goldman

Partners: Brian LaPlante, Jeffrey D. Sowa, Robert Goldman
Type of business: Law firm
Location: 67 Cedar St., Providence, plus offices in Warwick and North Attleboro
Employees: 26, including 12 attorneys
Year founded: 2004; expanded through merger in 2007
Annual sales: WND

No posts to display