Who We Are

Who We Are

Powell, Trachtman, Logan, Carrle & Lombardo, P.C. is a full service law firm that focuses on the representation of businesses and business people. The firm was formed in 1988, by attorneys who believed that the accepted model of what law firms do and how they do it needed to be re-engineered, for the simple reason that legal services as they were typically delivered were not consistently adding value to the business clients being served. Powell, Trachtman was born out of that reality, and remains unique in its approach to clients and legal problems. Our methods have worked: over the last ten years, our clients have made us one of the fastest growing and most successful law firms in the region.

Here are some of the keystones that define who we are and how we practice law:

Everyone says they focus on prevention. We really do it. Litigation is a horrible way to resolve a dispute. It costs too much, it takes too long, and the results are unpredictable. Law firms, as a rule, pride themselves on the ability of their litigators. We are no exception - our litigators possess decades of experience - and have developed substantial renown for their trial successes. The difference between Powell, Trachtman and other law firms, however, is that we also focus our resources on the prevention of litigation. Our attorneys have published, lectured and taught lawsuit and liability prevention techniques from coast to coast. We implement our preventive law know-how in specific, concrete ways. For instance:

• We have designed pioneering industry-specific preventive law seminars, which impart useable, everyday business techniques, relating to topics ranging from sexual harassment prevention to electronic documentation;
• We conduct unique "legal audits" of our clients' procedures and forms in order to eliminate foreseeable problems;
• We have developed proprietary, highly-successful preventive law methods that deal with everyday aspects of business life, and can be utilized by employees at all levels, such as techniques for dealing with customers, vendors, etc.
• We even helped found a preventive law training and consulting firm, Counsel Consulting Group,LLC., which we jointly own and operate.

We understand that law firms are service businesses. Our clients tell us that most law firms function as detached professionals. Powell, Trachtman was formed on the precept that it is, first and foremost, a service business. We analyzed the faults that clients frequently found with their lawyers, and we devised training and monitoring programs to make certain that our lawyers break from the stereotypes, and add value to our clients' enterprises. We are not deal breakers. We do not pour fuel on fires, but rather seek to resolve disputes in ways that make business sense. We understand the economics of alternative dispute resolution methods. We also know the importance of proactive communication in relationships between our clients and their insurance companies in the defense of covered claims. We return calls. We keep you advised. If you need the agreement by Wednesday, it will be done on or before Wednesday. We know that in order to properly represent businesses, we have to understand the technologies on which businesses depend. We are amenable to sensible, alternative fee arrangements that involve risk sharing and accountability.

We have grown because our clients consider us their partners.

We bring "mega-law firm" sophistication to small and medium-sized businesses. Many of our most valuable clients are so-called "smaller" companies (i.e., companies with less than $200 million in revenue). Such clients require a level of expertise that most smaller law firms do not possess and, consequently, many of them have historically gravitated to the large, "brand name" law firms. The new breed of "mega-law firms," however, are not especially interested in such companies, which do not generate the volume of legal work as is necessary to garner the attention of the top attorneys in those firms.

The result: the so-called "smaller" companies fall through the cracks of the big law firms, where they are often shunted to younger associates who lack the experience to handle their problems. These companies need an alternative - a law firm in which they can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

We have built Powell, Trachtman to provide that alternative. We do it in three ways.

First, we painstakingly control our growth. We enjoy and value our ability to represent small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs, we believe that growth for its own sake helps neither us nor our clients, and we will not permit ourselves to grow to the point where our top attorneys cease to be involved with all of our clients, no matter their size.

Second, we take advantage of the fact that, on an accelerating basis, many of the most qualified attorneys seek to escape the "mega-law firm" atmosphere, and choose to work in a more manageable and client-service oriented firm like ours. Many of our attorneys used to work in the "brand name" firms; others are regularly recruited to do so, and choose to stay with us. Our attorneys teach in law schools, they hold professional degrees in other fields (like architecture, engineering and accounting), they have real business experience, they are asked to lecture across the country and they have built national reputations.

Third, we know that our clients often need the services of sub-specialists that larger firms typically have on staff. To meet (and, indeed, exceed) this need, we have developed relationships with a variety of outside attorneys and boutique law firms who focus their practice in narrow areas. We monitor the service and expertise level of these attorneys and firms, and we know who is best for what problem. When the need arises, rather than our clients automatically being referred to whoever happens to be on our staff, we associate with a lawyer with particular expertise, and then supervise the relationship, making changes as the best interests of our clients dictate. Our clients get the best of both worlds - using this technique, we can provide a level of expertise and service that the smaller business fish do not always get in the bigger law firm ponds.

We manage overhead and costs by leveraging technology. Attorneys are famous for re-inventing wheels, doing things "the way they were always done," and consuming overhead, all of which is passed on to clients. We drastically changed that. We make it our passion to stay on the leading edge of the technologies that create efficiencies. We use professional trainers to make certain that every one of our attorneys is computer literate, and stays that way. We know how to use sophisticated litigation management software that creates real litigation advantages and savings. Our attorneys can electronically search for any brief, legal memo, contract or other work product anyone in the firm has ever created that might be relevant to a current project. Faxes are automatically converted into electronic images and directed to the computer of the attorney to whom they are addressed. And we do not have to be in the office to leverage these technologies - we can access our intellectual capital from anywhere that has an internet connection. The result is that our overall cost of doing business is less, we work more quickly and efficiently, and it all gets passed on to our clients.

The remainder of this website describes the services we can provide to specific types of businesses. It also provides information on the background and qualification of our attorneys, and provides you with links and source materials that may help you in your business endeavors.