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A Partner’s Perspective on Michael F. McConville

I’ve had the privilege of being Mike’s law partner since 1980.  Forty-four years is a long time to work closely with anyone, but it has allowed me to make these observations to share with you about who Mike is, and what he has meant to our firm and our clients.  So, while later in this article we let Mike share in his own words how he became a lawyer, it is important that you first get an insider’s perspective on who I know him to be as a person and trusted “attorney and counselor at law”—because Mike will never “toot his own horn” about what he does and what he has accomplished.

In many ways, Mike and I could not be more different.  He is the youngest son of an all-boys Irish Catholic family who grew up in Pittsford, graduated from Catholic schools (McQuaid and Boston College), and still plays golf well (15 handicap even with a bad shoulder and one replaced knee).  Mike certainly does not mind a drink with friends or clients and conversing with salty speech.  By contrast, I am the kid with one sister from a conservative Protestant home in Fairport, graduated from public school, seldom break 100 on the golf course, have never had an alcoholic drink, and use only words rated “G.”  Any client “thank you gifts” of whiskey or wine that I receive have wound up on Mike’s desk.  He has somehow kept his full head of hair, which is finally graying.  I’ve lost almost all of mine.

But what Mike and I have shared in common has allowed us to remain loyal partners joined at the hip, through the ups and downs of the private practice of law for over four decades—he the business transactions and estate planning lawyer; I the litigator.  As a result, MCCM now enters its 45^th year.  Here are the hallmarks of the approach to client service that Mike has championed for us:

• Clients must receive our respect and diligence, and with a recognition that our goal must be to accomplish their goals in as effective and cost-efficient a manner as possible. A client’s success, not Mike’s own ego in “winning” a negotiation or besting opposing counsel, is paramount.
• There is nothing pretentious about Mike’s appearance or lifestyle. He would rather meet a client for breakfast at a local diner than over dinner at a high-end restaurant.  For years he has kept a list of Rochester area diners at the ready for scheduling client conferences.  Other lawyers strive to project their “success” by outward symbols, like driving a BMW or Mercedes.  Mike drives a Chevy because he is loyal to a long-time client who owns a GM dealership.
• Mike’s authenticity as a person is obvious and genuine. Earlier in our careers Mike and I met with an elderly client at her kitchen table to talk about her estate plan and execute a new will.  After we spent an hour with her, she said: “You men are almost like real people.”
• Because of who Mike is, hundreds of businesses and individual clients have gravitated to him for wise counsel. The result is that he has always been the attorney at MCCM who originates the most business for the firm.   But unlike other lawyers known as “rainmakers”, he has never trumpeted this fact to his colleagues and staff.  Rather, what he has recognized and modeled is that his success and client-centered legal representation requires a talented team around him.  Hence, we have attracted and retained excellent staff members and younger lawyers at MCCM because of Mike’s insistence that they be compensated well and recognized for the contributions they make to the firm’s collective success.
• Raising six children (with the last two as twins!) while building and nurturing a law practice would seem incompatible, but Mike pulled it off. He demonstrated that you could garner clients while standing with other parents on the sidelines at a soccer or hockey game, or serving on the board of an organization in which your children were involved. Mike’s commitment to “work-life balance”—long before that term was ever coined as an espoused goal for law firm managers—has made MCCM a desirable place to work.

I can’t imagine having spent a career alongside another lawyer and friend whom I could admire and appreciate more.

Now in his own words, Mike explains how and why he wound up as a lawyer back in his hometown of Rochester.

A common question asked of lawyers is “Why did you become a lawyer?”  You ask an Irishman a simple question and you will usually get a rather lengthy story.  Initially I wanted to be an engineer, but luckily my parents had the foresight to send me for some aptitude testing. The results came back that I should be an accountant instead.

As a 17-year-old high school senior, I had no idea what an accountant was, but decided to explore that path.  I thought that I would major in math, and like two of my older brothers, go to Notre Dame.  However, the admissions staff at Notre Dame didn’t see it that way.  So instead, I was intent on going to Kent State because that was the closest college to where my girlfriend was going to college—now my wife of 53 years.

At these critical decision points, your siblings can provide valuable guidance.  One of my brothers asked: “where else did you get into college?”  I had been accepted to the business school at Boston College, but was disappointed that it was not the liberal arts school.  My brothers then collectively ganged up on me and said I was crazy to choose Kent, OH over Boston, MA for a four-year college experience.  They advised me to enroll at BC, work hard and then transfer to the liberal arts school for sophomore year.

Thoroughly confused, my mother and I got in the car and drove to Kent State the very next day.   After spending 15 minutes in Kent, OH, I was going to Boston College.  My first year of Business School sealed my life direction.  I took an accounting course which I thoroughly enjoyed—and  stayed in the business school.  I had to take an income tax course during my sophomore year, loved it, and made up my mind—I was going on to law school to become a tax lawyer.

After graduating college with a major in accounting, I enrolled in Albany Law School.  After graduation, I first went to work for Price Waterhouse in Boston doing tax accounting.  After four years of daily commuting an hour and a half each way, I looked at my wife and we both agreed that maybe coming back to Rochester and trying to practice law would be a good idea.

I moved back in 1978 to practice with a small three-man law firm.  After two years, I joined some high school and college classmates to practice law and have been at MCCM for over 44 years.

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About MCCM

McConville Considine Cooman & Morin, P.C. is a full-service law firm based in Rochester, New York, providing high-quality legal services to businesses and individuals since 1979.  With over a dozen attorneys and a full paralegal support staff, the firm is well-positioned to right-size services tailored to each client. We are large enough to provide expertise in a broad range of practice areas, yet small enough to devote prompt, personal attention to our clients.

We represent a diverse range of clients located throughout New York State and New England.  They include individuals, numerous manufacturing and service industry businesses, local governments, and health care professionals, provider groups, facilities and associations. We also serve as local counsel to out-of-state clients and their attorneys who have litigation pending in Western New York courts.  For more information, please contact us at 585.546.2500.