‘Get Out From Behind Your Desk,’ Says Evan Rassman of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman

Practice area: Commercial real estate

Law school and year of graduation: Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, 2014

The following has been edited for style.

How long have you been at the firm?

What year were you promoted/elected to your current role?

Were you a partner at another firm before joining your present firm? If so, which one, how long were you there and when did you leave?

How would you describe your career trajectory (was it organic or an active pursuit)?

Dealmaking has always been of interest to me, which is why I actively pursued a career as a commercial real estate attorney. The partners here at Cohen Seglias have always supported my goal and rewarded my work with promotions from senior counsel to partner and then most recently, to office managing partner in our Wilmington, Delaware, location. Developing and maintaining our robust commercial real estate practice is exactly where I wanted my career to land.

What do you think was the deciding point for the firm in electing/promoting you to your current role? Was it your performance on a specific case? A personality trait? Making connections with the right people?

I believe that my path to the position of Wilmington office managing partner has resulted from a blend of performance, personality, and proactive attention to both my internal relationships and external relationships. I enthusiastically embraced the challenge of developing a substantial book of business and building long-standing client relationships early on. I appreciate the firm’s confidence in my leadership skills, and my partners’ recognition of my work ethic which is to consistently go above and beyond what is expected at each stage of my career.

What unique challenges do you face as it relates to your role?

Our office in Wilmington provides several areas of counsel to clients, including commercial litigation, corporate law, and trust and estates. As the office’s managing partner, the challenge comes in the context of understanding these areas in addition to maintaining a busy commercial real estate practice. It is important that I thoroughly understand all other practices and available resources to effectively staff the work that comes to our office from other offices.

What’s the best piece of advice you give to someone who wants to rise up the ranks to lead an office?

Get out from behind your desk. Build your book of business and make relationships you can bank on. As you build yourself, you will build your team.

Who had the greatest influence in your career that helped propel you to your current role?

I remain in contact with a lawyer who I knew early on, who is now a real estate developer. He got me involved in his real estate deals and I am grateful to him for helping steer me in the direction I wanted to pursue.

How do you utilize technology to benefit the firm/practice and/or business development?

Technology allows for upgrades in the way lawyers communicate with clients and counsel, as well as with the courts. I will always choose a face-to-face meeting over an email or Zoom call, because I feel that relationships improve when you meet in person. Maybe that is old school, but even so, I do of course depend upon technology for all of the efficiencies of law office management.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your younger self and/or what would you do differently?

I would advise my younger self to have the confidence to approach the bigger deals with developers. As a second or third-year associate, it can feel intimidating when the deal seems “too big.” It’s so important to use your skill set and take the opportunity to handle some of the larger deals that come in. It will only make you a more capable attorney.

Do you have a prediction on how the legal industry will evolve over the next several years?

Across all areas of law, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play an even larger part specifically in litigation matters. AI is already doing some of the cumbersome work typically handled by junior associates, such as summarizing deposition transcripts and research.

Please share with us any firm or industry initiatives that you are working on as well as the impact you hope to achieve.

We currently have five offices within 50 miles of each other. One of the firm’s goals is to build a rapport among our legal professionals across all of the offices, to aid in cross-selling our services and to better understand the work the firm is doing in different regions and industries.

As a law firm leader, what impact would you like to have on your firm and/or the legal industry as a whole?

I want to transform the traditional tone of law firms from the cutthroat nature prevalent when I was coming up. I want to inspire the industry to create a more enjoyable, more corporate yet relaxed workplace that encourages and rewards collaboration and meaningful relationships. I want to see law firms push attorneys to develop relationships with clients earlier in their careers rather than wait until mid- or late career. Why wait to be where you wanted to be 20 years earlier?