It is certainly not unusual for an attorney to switch firms, even if he is exiting one that he co-founded.
But in the case of Tom Colin, it gets a bit more complicated. The one-time presiding judge for the family court in the Stamford/Norwalk district has left Greenwich”™s Schoonmaker, George, Colin, et al. to join Stamford”™s Siegel & Kaufman ”” with the result that the latter is now Siegel, Colin & Kaufman.
It actually isn”™t all that confusing, Colin insisted to the Business Journal.
“I”™m leaving one firm to pursue other opportunities at another firm,” Colin said. “And Fred Siegel and I have had a personal and professional relationship since the early ”™90s.
“We”™ve been adversaries and we”™ve worked together on cases,” he continued. “I would recuse myself when I was on the bench on cases he was personally involved with.
“But I had other lawyers in his firm appear before me,” Colin said. “And I was always impressed by their advocacy, ethical standards, as well as their general kindness and compassion.”
“Fred and I were not necessarily looking to bring on a new name partner,” Ross Kaufman said. “But this seemed like a natural fit, due to the long history Fred and Tom have had together and the opportunities I”™ve had to work with him and to appear before him. Knowing the team and the infrastructure that we have in place helped him make what was a monumental decision.”
“We all agreed that this was a natural landing place for him,” Siegel said. “He knows the other lawyers here, so there”™s already a certain level of comfort.”
The attorney went on to say that what is now Siegel, Colin & Kaufman has built a reputation for putting its clients first and providing the kinds of services ”” family law, litigation and mediation ”” they need.
Colin said that approach also plays to his strengths.
“I”™ve done a lot of mediating,” he said, “and been involved in out-of-court settlements. Where I”™m going is a place that has the kind of state-of-the-art technology that is very helpful with private mediation.”
Prior to the pandemic, Siegel and Kaufman had been working to keep the Stamford office au courant when it came to technology in an effort to make their firm more “portable,” in Kaufman”™s words.
“Now if Fred is attending a conference or involved in another matter outside the state or country, he can just open his laptop and it”™s as if he”™s sitting at his desk in Stamford.”
The firm also put together a remote courtroom, and in February successfully conducted two multiday virtual custody trials simultaneously.
SCK is also planning to open an office in Westport later this year, with Greenwich likely to soon follow. In January it added partner Dyan Kozaczka and legal assistant Mary Shanahan. Elsa Balestrino, Colin”™s longtime paralegal, has joined the firm as well.
“Given the amount of work that we were doing and the work that was coming in, we felt it was important” to expand, Kaufman said. “This way the quality of our work is not diluted.” He said he anticipates the attorney team, which now numbers six, to continue growing at “a modest clip.”
“It”™s bittersweet to leave the place that I helped start in 1996,” Colin said of his former place of business. “But I”™m excited about this new opportunity. I think that change is good.”
