Martha Rial, Post-Gazette
Charles Cohen, co-founder of Cohen & Grigsby, in his office overlooking Point State Park.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Q: Prior to launching your own firm, you were a successful attorney at Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, one of the largest and most prestigious firms in the city. Why did you leave?
Charles Cohen
Position: Co-founder and chairman, Cohen & Grigsby
Age: 65
Hometown: Steubenville, Ohio; lives in Shadyside.
Education: Bachelor's degree in European history from Dartmouth College, 1962; law degree, University of Michigan, 1965.
Career: 1965-81: Reed Smith Shaw & McClay; 1981-present: Cohen & Grigsby.
I spent 16 wonderful years there from age 24 to 40. At Reed Smith I was trained by some giants in the profession ... nurturing mentors. Ultimately I was a full partner, happy and compensated, but at age 40 I didn't want to spend the next 25 years doing what I was doing. The clients were big, old-line manufacturing firms and I was working with the lawyers associated with those companies rather than the business owners and decision makers. I wanted to be more entrepreneurial.
Q: Did you go out as a sole practitioner?
A: Nine of us left Reed Smith together and were joined by one other lawyer. Originally the firm was Manion Alder & Cohen. We spent a month in the Conestoga Building [on Wood Street], which was being renovated. It was like a bomb shelter. Running water was about all it had. But it was a character building. Our first real office was on Fifth Avenue.
Q: Did you worry about the risk?
A: It was kind of a novelty. Back then if you joined a big firm and did well, you would become a partner and live happily ever after. The idea of leaving and starting a new firm was rare. A day after our resignation [from Reed Smith] was announced, I got a call at home from Charles Queenan [former chairman of the management committee at law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart] who said it was a brave, bold move and told me, "If you need anything, you can call me. We won't let you fail." A number of things imbedded in our firm's culture I didn't invent. They were Mr. Queenan's ideas and suggestions.
Q: Did you struggle to find work in the early years?
A: It was not our intention to grow large or fast. But we were a hit in the marketplace.
Our beginning coincided with the beginning of the steel recession and we might never have left Reed Smith if we knew that. Despite that, we got a lot of work in business law, litigation and labor-employment law. Work was coming from middle-market companies and larger companies such as PNC Financial, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and Volkswagen, which at the time had a plant in Westmoreland County. All 10 of us were really busy. We had to make a choice: either turn work away or add capacity. We added capacity and tried to broaden the menu.
Q: Why did the firm thrive?
A: We were able to bring the same intellectual caliber as Reed Smith with better service at less cost. That's still our mantra today. We have a much better handle on overhead and associated costs than old-line firms did and do. For example, our rent. This office [at 11 Stanwix Street, the former Westinghouse Building] is nice, but it's nothing opulent. There are not oversized offices for the so-called big shots. Another example: If you want coffee or water, you walk down the hall with me to get it. I wouldn't dream of interrupting my secretary's work to have her get my coffee or dry cleaning.
Also, when we started, we did not want to replicate the environment we left -- to be all things to all men. We continue to operate with the goal we will do certain things and be the best at what we do. We don't get into anything where we can't be the best. Even if it means lots of money to us.
Q: Why did you establish a presence in Florida?
A: One aspect of the international practice is advising foreign companies and affluent foreign families ... which want to set up subsidiaries in the United States or want passive investments such as real estate in the United States. [Co-founder and partner] Hugh Nevin was proficient at serving that kind of clientele. He's fluent in German. One day Hugh got a call from a large financial institution in Florida that had a challenge to capture the investment management of the affluent German population in Florida. So he decided we should have a new frontier in southwest Florida. But we didn't want to limit the practice there to just [wealth management]. We now have about 16 full-time and a few part-time lawyers in Naples and Bonita Springs.
I got involved right after [my second wife, former KDKA-TV anchorwoman Patti Burns] died in 2001. We had a home in Naples, which is 3 miles and one traffic light from where the office is. I'm there one week a month ... to recruit clients and make clients feel comfortable.
Q: Do any of the original co-founders still work at the firm?
A: Of the 10, four are still here: me, Hugh Nevin, Richard "Chip" Nelson and John Lyncheski. We've never disagreed about money. In the process of enlarging and diversifying capacity, [some of the founders] had a serious disagreement about whether and how to grow. It produced a rupture and in 1985 some left to form Manion McDonough & Lucas. The hard feelings have long since been repaired and they've even represented us and referred work here.
Q: Was Robert Grigsby, who died in 2004, one of the original partners?
A: No. He was a judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and was regarded as one of the top trial lawyers in Pennsylvania. Then he lost an election and found a home with us in 1985. There was a maturity and calmness about him. He was older than the rest of us and looked and acted like [1970s TV series doctor] Marcus Welby ... with a strength and toughness that made him quite effective.
Q: Have you ever considered markets other than Florida?
A: No. We've been asked from time to time by firms out of the city -- in Philadelphia and Cleveland -- to merge. But the vast majority of our partners had practiced in large firms and decided they wanted the ambiance of a smaller, mid-sized firm.
Q: Who are some current clients?
A: Bayer Corp., Giant Eagle, Dietrich Industries, PNC Equity Management, Eat 'n Park, Industrial Scientific. We are also counsel for three major redevelopment projects proposed for Downtown. For the first time in 20 years, I'm actually feeling optimistic that the central city will be revitalized.
Q: Is there a favorite case you've handled?
A: I can't single out a personal favorite. A memorable, high profile accomplishment that made me very proud was our firm's representation of the county and the city in the so-called "Plan B" project for building the new stadium for the Steelers, new ballpark for the Pirates and massive additions and overhaul of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Q: What's been the biggest change in the practice of law since you launched your firm?
A: The mobility of lawyers ... jumping around [from firm to firm]. Another very big thing is the number of providers of legal services other than law firms: banks, financial intermediaries, insurance companies. Another change is the number of people getting a legal education and entering the profession as potential providers ... it's way out of proportion with what society needs.
Q: What's been the biggest challenge of running your own firm?
A: I did a few smart things and several dumb things. One of the smart things was to take my turn running it and then let others run it. I was the first managing partner for three or four years. Then there were [five more including] Jack Elliott, the current managing partner. The idea is we're not anointing a king. It's not an honor to be the CEO of the firm. It's a stewardship.
Another challenge, and maybe this is more of a regret, is that we're not more diverse [in terms of personnel]. But it's extremely hard in Pittsburgh. Of the 40-plus partners, 10 percent are women. Half of our associates are women. The conservatism of Pittsburgh no doubt in my mind has held back women in the legal profession.
Q: You're 65. Are you thinking about retirement?
A: I had been thinking about retirement from active practice of law as I was approaching ... age 60. But the untimely death in 2001 of Patti [Burns] changed all that. I am now immersed in several part-time jobs: assisting clients and colleagues on selected legal matters; teaching at Pitt Law School; corporate director (six companies and three nonprofit organizations); impartial arbitrator; expert witness; and helping to develop the firm's southwest Florida enterprise.
Also, I am happily married again [to Michele McKenney, former president, UPMC Diversified Services] whose best career years are in front of her, which alters the calculus for me.
First Published: June 7, 2006, 4:00 a.m.
