One size does not fit all at the law firm of DePaola Valdes L.L.P.
“You can”™t treat every case like you”™ve been there before,” says Joseph DePaola and echoed by his wife, Regina Valdes Montalvo. “It”™s easy to paint by numbers, but you”™re not doing the best job for the client that way.”
With offices in Brewster and Manhattan, the two specialize in personal injury, commercial and civil litigation and criminal defense.
Rather than utilizing a handful of private investigators, they have honed in on one who knows their operations and moves quickly. “This is especially important in personal injury cases,” Regina says. “You need an investigator to go to the accident scene. The evidence may not exist for long, and we may need it for a jury two or three years later.”
The couple met while studying for B.A. degrees at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he majored in political science and she had a double major in international affairs and political science. They ran in the same crowd, but did not date until an encounter in 2010 at an event held by a mutual friend.
“We spent the evening talking about a case I was working on,” Joseph says. Shop talk led to marriage on Sept. 24, 2011.
The newlyweds were pursuing different career paths. Joseph”™s family lived in Elmsford before relocating to Brewster. A graduate of North Salem High School, he said he knew he wanted to be a lawyer.
“My parents encouraged it. My father ran delivery routes. He dragged me out of bed at 4 a.m. to accompany him just to show what a miserable life it could be. I had to go to bed at 8 o”™clock, so I had no time to get into trouble.”
After receiving his undergraduate degree, it was off to St. John”™s University Law School for a J. D. and then work at a civil litigation firm with 800 lawyers.
Joseph kept scaling down to smaller firms. “I realized I belonged on my own and wanted to be a litigator in court, not shuffling papers at a desk. Both grandfathers owned their own businesses. We were not built to work for others.”
Regina spent early years in Spain until her father, an artist, signed with an American gallery.
“We moved for the summer, but we could only rent for a year, so we stayed,” she recalls. “My mother had wanted me to have a second language, so I had attended a French lycée in Spain. It was an easy transition to a French lycée in Manhattan. One year followed another. We never left.”
Enrolling at New York Law School, she earned a J. D., but sought a way to work in the art field with a law degree,
Joseph persuaded her to work with him. “I love it!” she exclaims. “We help people facing things they would rather not be dealing with in their lives.”
The work has its happy moments, she says, “like when we got a personal injury settlement in time for the client to buy Christmas presents.”
There are stressful moments, Joseph says. He recalls an election law case with a deadline to get the candidate legally on the ballot. “There”™s no other time frame like it. It had to go from trial to appeal in two weeks.”
“Our being married helps clients,” Regina says, noting the pair discuss cases even en route to their vacation home in Sag Harbor with their two dogs. “We don”™t always agree, but that, too, helps clients, as we explore options.”
Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be emailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.
