January 6, 2025 • 51 mins
Nicholas Lipresti is a transactional attorney practicing in corporate, business, commercial lending, and finance. His practice focuses on structuring, negotiating, and closing joint ventures, as well as mergers and acquisitions.
He often acts as outside general counsel with expertise in real estate, asset-based financings & lines of credit, project financings, tax credit financings, subordinated and senior debt transactions, convertible/preferred equity structured finance and loan assumptions.
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He often acts as outside general counsel with expertise in real estate, asset-based financings & lines of credit, project financings, tax credit financings, subordinated and senior debt transactions, convertible/preferred equity structured finance and loan assumptions.
Winning Business Radio is broadcast live Mondays at 4PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Winning Business Radio is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Winning Business Radio Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/winning-business-radio--3075598/support.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W four cy
Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments
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(00:20):
choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Churchill said, those who fail to learn from history are
condemned to repeat it. Kevin helen n believes that certainly
applies to business. Welcome to Winning Business Radio here at
W four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com
and now your host, Kevin Helena.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Thank you everybody for joining in today. I'm Kevin Hallanan
and welcome back to Winning Business TV and Radio on
W four cy dot com. We're streaming live on talkforretv
dot com, and of course we're streaming live on Facebook
and that's at Winning Business Radio. And we're available in
podcast form after the live show on just about whatever
(01:12):
platform you use to find your podcast content. That's YouTube, iHeartRadio, Spotify,
Apple again, wherever you listen. The mission of Winning Business
radio and TV, as regular viewers and listeners know, is
to offer insights and advice to help people avoid the
mistakes of others, to learn best practices, the how tos,
the what toos, the what not tos, to be challenged
(01:35):
and hopefully to be inspired by the successes of others.
Who are those others. They're consultants, coaches, advisors, authors, founders, owners, entrepreneurs,
people with expertise. Today's an attorney. But you know, virtually
every successful person I've ever had a chance to talk
to has said some form of failure in their lives
and careers. So every week I say, we all have
to get our knee skinned once in a while. I'm
(01:57):
driven to keep those scrapes from needing major surgery. To
learn from history so we don't repeat it. I've spent
the better part of my career equipping businesses to grow
from solopreneurs to small and medium sized businesses all the
way up to the Fortune fifty, and I've seen a
lot of those companies win, and to varying degrees. I've
seen some fail, and I've had the opportunity to rub
(02:17):
elbows with some of the highest performing people around and
with some who probably should have found other professions. In
my own businesses, I've had lots of success, but some
failures too, So I like to think I've learned a
lot from those experiences. So you're going to hear from
me my opinions and insights. But anyone who knows me
will tell you that I have a hard time staying quiet.
So more importantly than me, you're going to hear from experts,
(02:40):
those consultants, coaches, advisors, authors, founders, owners, entrepreneurs, attorneys. Today,
my guest is attorney Nick Lapresty, corporate and business transactional
lawyer with Nepresty Law Lapresty Law. Here's his bio. Nicholas
Depresti is a transactional attorney based near Boston, concentrating his
practice in corporate business, commercial lending, and finance law. His
(03:04):
practice focuses on structuring, negotiating, and closing joint ventures as
well as mergers and acquisitions, and that's both buyers and sellers.
Nick is also known for his expertise in asset dispositions, securities, issuances,
and other capital raises. Recapitalizations, restructurings, buyouts and takeouts, as
well as various forms of business and real estate financing
(03:24):
ranging from venture and private capity capital excuse me, I
said that wrong? From venture and private equity to asset
and property backed bank financings. He sought after for his
expertise and negotiating term sheets, letters of intent, purchase, asset
and equity agreements, profit sharing plans, operating agreements, buyer seller agreements,
(03:45):
shareholder agreements, employment agreements, as well as confidentially in non
disclosure agreements for business. Nick has significant experience preparing private
placement memorana and other offering documents for equity issuances and syndications,
as well as compliance with federal and state blue law
excuse me, blue sky securities laws getting ahead of myself there.
(04:05):
He also represents many commercial lenders and borrowers in connection
with commercial estate financings, asset based financings and lines of credit,
project financings, tax credit financing supportinate and knows the lob
we're going to get to this subordinated and senior debt transactions,
convertible preferred equity, structured finance, and loan assumptions. Nick regularly
counsels financial institutions and borrowers, and the drafting and negotiation
(04:28):
of loan documentation including loan agreements, notes, mortgages and deeds,
security pledges, guarantees, and subordination agreements. Providing outside general counsel,
he works with closely held businesses from startups to establish companies,
as well as nonprofits and entities and workout situations. Nick
supports clients with organizational and equity planning, strategic advice, resolution
(04:49):
of conflicts among owners, executive employment matters, and ongoing corporate counseling.
Nick earned his BA in Political Science and government with
a minor and classical civilizations from William and Mary, his jd.
Or Law degree from the Columbia Columbus School of Law
at the Catholic University of America, and his Master's of
Laws and Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center. He
(05:09):
and his wife Kristin live in Upton, Mass with their
daughter Lily who's ten, their son James who's eight. There
are two rescued dogs, Cody and Beast, and their three
axe lotels. Nick. Welcome to Winning Business Radio.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Thank you, thank you for having me, and I've just
heard a lot about myself and that.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Do I do all that well? I appreciate the time.
I know you're busy, and I appreciate you carving out
about an hour here. Let's start with family. Tell us
a little bit about Kristin.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Kristin, she's my wife and the reason i'm up here
in New England now. Met her in college and actually
summer abroad in Sicily.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So oh wow, go cool back many years at this point.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And Lily and James.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yep, there's are the ones that keep me young and
or feeling old dependent on the day.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Yeah, they're They're.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
My two and the reason I do everything and family
time is great and also the reason we're New England
to raise them as my wife always wanted to come
home for that.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
That's awesome. Uh So I'm a dog guy, so but
don't don't let me offend anybody. I want to hear
more about the Axle Lottels three action Lottles. Tell us
what that is, what they are.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
I did get.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Very driven, so I did not know about them before
the kids.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
There must be in a TV.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Show or a cartoon or something, because I wasn't aware
of them.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
But they exist. They're real.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
It's like a salamander with a tadpole tail is the
best I can describe me, and it's they're like fish,
but you can't put them with fish because fish will
actually bully them. And they don't like the light, so
they kind of like to be in the dark. They're
interesting animals, but the kids love them. They look like
cartoon characters.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
They they that my wife does not like that we
have to keep outside and and they're they're family pets.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
That's awesome, and h I happened to look them up
because I was curious. They're used in research because they
can regenerate uh, tales, ears, whatever, limbs.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
Right, yeah, there again the salimenter tail we have.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
We haven't thankfully suffered any of that at our house,
but they and they're crazy little things.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
They got neck.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Beards, which I just find are hilarious because they move
and they moved in the water.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
That's awesome. All right. So you grew up in the
DC Virgin area, right, yep?
Speaker 4 (07:34):
The man man of kind of the East Coast. My
parents are New Yorkers that went down to d C.
And that's where I was born and raised in Fairfax County.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Cool. What was it like to grow up there.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Uh interesting, I thought, again, as we all did. We
thought it was normal growing up because it was just
the way. But now looking back on it.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
But even though you weren't a Mandalorian.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Not a not a Mandalorian, and I walked in.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Little little reference, this is the way, anyway, go ahead, And.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
But looking back on it is different. It's different from
New England and it was rolling suburbia. I mean again,
my parents are New Yorkers, went down to d C
for work, ended up settling in the suburbs, which was
again at that time being completely redeveloped into suburbs. And
it just has continued since then and even after I left.
(08:26):
And it's different because there's no there's no central town feel.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Again, it's rolling suburbia. And I, to be honest, I
like it up here.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
So did you bring your sports allegiances with you? Where
do those?
Speaker 4 (08:40):
They? I have? And the Commanders are making it easier
this year again, And I'm old enough that I remember
ninety two when when the Redskins now Commanders were good
and then it was a brutal winner of about thirty
so years. Still follow the the Nationals. We'll see wizards.
(09:04):
I still can't love that name. And I don't know
where they're going, but we got the commanders and we'll see.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
So my wife and I were doing the MLB Ballpark tour.
I mean, I've talked about that at one point or another,
but we saw the Nationals two years ago.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Beautiful park.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Beautiful is it really is? Yeah? What made you decide
to attend? William and Mary into major in polyscien government?
And then I'm curious about classical civilizations too. I think
it's pretty cool. I'm not you know, some people laugh
at minors. Yeah, whatever, but I'm curious about that as well.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
So William and Mary again growing up in northern Virginia
and blessed with a great in school or in state
school system.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
So again I love my parents.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
They are very clear you can go anywhere you want
in the country, but if you're going to pay over
state tuition, so that that heavily impacted. And so I
looked at the the general all three again, I don't
even know how college admissions work. I applied to University
of Virginia, I got waitlisted.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
I got applied to Virginia Tech, which I got in.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
My older sister went there, and I was a big
fan of the football program at the time, and when
to William and Mary, it probably goes into political sites
and the rest of the conversation. It was it was
the area in the history. It's just a lovely area.
It was. It wasn't too small, wasn't too big.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It was one of the older schools in the nation, right.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah, I mean it's right there. I think they said
seven presidents studied there. Got funny back in the day,
no one had really graduated. You just went to college,
learned until you thought you were done, and then you
were good and you left different these days, but yeah,
great area. Liked it there, and being from DC and
(10:55):
then the courses with government that that kind of just
led to. I didn't know what I wanted to do
when I grew up, but thought I was going to
go into government work on Capitol Hill when I was
a kid, again just being a political nerd.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Well, you had some cool internships and I want to
get to those in a little bit, but you did have
some of that experience that's which is cool.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Yeah, So I had some experience, and unfortunately it was
enough to realize that it wasn't for me. So again,
I love the opportunities. I got there, but it Capitol Hill,
and this was again twenty years ago. It was starting
to change from what historically had been. And again you'd
(11:36):
think kind of collegial environment. Again, you work on what
you can together, respectful disagreements, and I guess the average politician,
you would say, on both sides, was more of a
flag bearrier bear excuse me for his or her cause.
It started to shift to more kind of a celebrity
culture where people cared more about who was coming to
(11:59):
see what they gone on. And again this is twenty
years ago, so not a comment on anything regular, but
it was enough to say I'll go somewhere else, and
law school was the next option.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So yeah, that was my next question. When did you
know you wanted to be an attorney?
Speaker 4 (12:17):
When I graduated law school, it was pretty clear because
when I went into law school, or at least planned
to go into law school taking the LSATZ the entrics exam,
was still government was on my mind, and a lot
of people on Capitol Hill went to law school, so
it was kind of just a logical step. And then
(12:38):
I realized in law school that I didn't want to
go into the government or Capitol Hill, and then I
had to figure out in law school what type of
lawyer I wanted to be, and that was part of
the journey.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
And was Catholic University of America a choice because you
got in or did you apply there specifically you wanted
to go there? What was that about?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Got in and was looking to stay in the DC
area and my whole career would be down there.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Foolish me? So yeah, got in and.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
When went straight from undergrad to law school, which actually
I don't recommend really for anyone out there.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Not that if any kids are listening to this.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Is take a gap year, go go be a paralegal
somewhere before you decide to commit to the school, and
then probably at least the next decade of your life
to pay off the debts associated with it.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Is that your biggest motivator for that advice? Or was
it the grueling nature?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
It was? It was the grueling nature. And it's one
of those things almost I say med school, but again
I didn't have that where it's once you step on
the train, it's hard to get off. It's three years,
it's very intense, and again, you there's only so many
options and the market's tough, So it's not I guess
(14:05):
it's you can't just kind of be a babe in
the woods anymore and it'll work out it And it's
the industry itself is tough, so it always get some
experience and see if you like it or you decide to.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
To DIA to do it.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Last question before the first break. You also got your
Masters of Taxation. What was behind I'm saying that correct
Masters of Law Laws focusing on LM. Is that we said,
and what was the motivation for that? What was that plan?
Speaker 4 (14:36):
A part of that again was my career has been
what's been planned and then what actually happened. So when
I went to law school, decided not to go it
wasn't going to go in Capitol Hill politics, and not
that I was ever going to run for office or anything,
but just over there, I said, all.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
Right, I'm going to go to law school.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
And then not blaming my dad, but kind of his
insight was working for the government is some of the
and he did it when he was younger is some
of the best training he ever got. So the idea
was go work in the Chiefs General's Council office. Again,
you're in DC, so is there and yet training. Unfortunately,
(15:15):
I came out of law school in one of the recessions,
including legal market recession.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
So it was very tight at that time.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
But that was the plan, and so l excuse me,
and tax was going to be kind of a culmination
of tax analysis as well as business.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Thank you all right, we're going to be back in
just a minute. Everybody will be back with Nick Lepresty
in about sixty seconds.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helena on
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Don't go away. More helpful information is coming right up
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And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in
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is Kevin Helene.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
We are back with nick La Presty, partner of Lapresty Law.
All Right, I want to take you through Samavia. I
won't go through every early position, but you had some
cool internships and I want to ask kind of what
you learned. What were your key takeaways. You interned for
Senator John Warner national on the National Security Team. Talk
about that briefly and what did you take away from
(17:15):
that experience?
Speaker 5 (17:17):
That was a great experience.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Again he by the way, quick interruption for the audience.
Internship ships are brief.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yes, it was for the summer and again the late
Senator Warner, and he was an elder statesman by the time,
the senior senator, and it was a great experience because
he was he was very respected. So in terms of
again you're you're such a peon of an intern at
that but getting to kind of be close to what's
(17:46):
going on and seeing the people that he interacted with
was again for political nerd was really cool and I
mean especially at that time, it was an interesting environment. Again,
he in the same building, remember from the Senator Ted
Kennedy again another yeah, beast, but it was when.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
He was another elder statesman.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Legend, a legend, and and what I always.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Remember about him was in the Russell Building there were long.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Hallways because then the offices would be off the halls,
and he was he'd been around enough that he had
his two dogs, so he would walk and whenever you
saw him, he'd have the dogs and a staffer two
and he'd have that that.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Again older gate.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
But and so again it was a great experience and
you you'd like to think again that how things worked
in terms of the government and the country and and
being there and especially at interesting times again national security team.
There again a flare up in Israel, a war during
that time, so there was political pressure.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Like five years post nine to eleven, so everything was
pretty raw still.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Yeah, and so it was it was a great time
to be there and learn and again get experience. I mean,
life's about the journey and getting experiences, and that was
a great one. Again realizing that it wasn't going to
be a call in, but at least getting getting.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
To have that and move on.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
And then the first of your two judicial internships, first
with Superior Court of District of the DC Court, Honorable
Len Leibovitz talk about that experience.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
So that was great.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
The I'm not a big fan of classroom learning, just again,
that's not how I learned the best, not that it's that,
it's just we all learn different ways. So I learned
better on the job the experience. So in law school
and with Judge Leberwitz at the time, I don't even
know if I was getting credit, but it was going
in and helping answer a couple of emails, being an
(19:44):
assistant to the law clerk, but it was getting some
experience on what the law is. First year of law
school is a very brutal process. It's kind of it
breaks you down, and so kind of getting out that
it's more than just a classroom was important to me.
And DC the big courthouse not too far away, and
(20:05):
she was on the civil docket at the time, which
to me was humorous because she I believe she's still
on the bench. Great lady. She career criminal attorney. I
think she was a prosecutor, so that was where she
liked to be. And when I worked or assisted, she
was on the civil docket, which again is not it's
(20:27):
not criminal, it's lawsuits among parties, not the state. So
it's just I don't want to say it just didn't
interest her as much. It wasn't her passion. So it
was funny. I remember at the time one of the
court cases it was between two owners or to an
owner and a former owner of a Georgetown townhouse and
(20:49):
down in DC, very nice area of the city. I
think probably eight figures or sover price tag. The two
parties were arguing over or some drapes and a chandelier
about whether it was fixed years or not. And again
everyone can do it, but I want to say the
(21:09):
value might have been twenty five thousand dollars they're fighting over,
I think. And again it was going on for a
while so that by the time I even came in,
I think each side had probably spent over a quarter
million dollars in legal fees in process. And it was
it was frustrating for the judge to see that because
again washe not a waste of time?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
But again that's where emotion got the better of those
two parties, right, yes, and so.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
But again it was it was learning how things work
in the dock and as civil so if you had
an issue, if you needed to get paid suit how
that worked, and again it was another experience where I
took from that that I didn't want to be a litigator,
and not that there's anything wrong, but it was. It
was an experience and I appreciate it and just realized
(22:01):
it wasn't for me. So again it was a great
I got to where I am in law school, didn't
know where I was going to be doing this. It
was kind of things started to fall away and the
best way to kind.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Of that's a good experience to know what you don't
want to do as much as you find out what
you do.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
And so I spent the first two years probably of
law school, started to jettison whole practice areas that again
nothing wrong with yes, not for me.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Let's see, I want to go to Actually, you had
a summer internship, another internship. I'll skip those if you
don't mind. Listen, there's something specific you want to share
mcandalish and Lillard and McGuire woods. But I want to
get to the other judicial internship, Superior Court of DC.
The Honorable John Bailey Junior.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, So that was again back in DC Superior Court,
and this time it was on the criminal docket. So
a completely different experience because in the criminal docket, the
plaintiff is O is the government, and the defendant is
always an individual that's been charged with the crime.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
So and this is it was DZ but it was
state level not federal.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yes, its DC so local not yeah, well it is.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
You talking, but yes, it was. It was local but criminal.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
So again you're looking at at situations, uh, violence, drug
related and it again appreciation of it and again where
how how society works? And because when you when you're
looking at a criminal docket like that, a lot of
it there's not murder. And then and again the big crimes,
(23:45):
it's it's a lot of again just processing crimes again,
a lot of drug related and it I mean, it's
it's sad to see.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
How Yeah, you see people at their worst in those situations.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
They're worse.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
And then some people, even young people that you almost
say never had a chance. So it again it was
it was. It was a poignant moment, uh, in my
career of learning. And and there's the good thing is
at that level there is a lot of assistance of
people that in organizations that that try to help where
they can, especially when state federal governments kind of falls short,
(24:22):
but it's it again. It gives you an appreciation and
that that life is a little different than we'll.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Say Law and Order.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
It's a great TV show, but doesn't exactly show how
how true it is.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
What the it's not all settled in an hour, not less.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Lesson is easy and everything, but there's ups and downs
and and it's hard and again even you've got to
prove it and and sometimes again it's one of those things.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
You know it, but to prove it is a different story.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
And again if you can't prove it, there's there's serious ratifications.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
And then law clerk Jackson and Campbell again short term,
because that was still you were still in school at
that point.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Yep. That was still kind of like the other legal internships,
getting out there and just getting more experience and finding
each one. Again mcainleish Lillard, we don't have spent much
time on it, but that was my first summer associate,
and I spent against civil litigation, working with lawsuits and
then also doing family law. Realized very quickly again family
(25:27):
law was not not for me. Again another important part
of then there's lawyers that do it. But at the
time I was reading and notating impact statements by ten
twelve year olds about their parents' divorce. And again you
need to do it. Yeah, unfortunately it has to be done.
But I knew it would shoot me up in a year.
(25:49):
Maybe it was not going to be my career. So again,
the people that do that are necessary and have that makeup,
but I knew I didn't. So it was again kind
of the jettisoning of areas and and then working in
McGuire woods doing some some tax work. So again it
was kind of sticking your toe in different ponds and
seeing where you're going to go. Because even as an attorney,
(26:11):
there's a lot of different types of attorneys and and
your your career, your lifestyle can be very different depending
what you end up at.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Well, it's like if you don't uh play the right
music for your unborn child, it determines the future, the
right or wrong internship can not just kidding, this is important,
just as important. All right, Then you were an associate
for this guy, Peter la Presty. I'm guessing there's a
connection there, and that was a four year that was
(26:41):
that was a that was a professional legal position.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yep, that was just associate and that was again learn
learning how to how to be an attorney, and coming
out of law school in a recession, the legal market
was was pretty tough, and so I was thankful for
that and to have a job, and again to appreciate that.
And again that's a lesson in itself, coming out.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Of a school uncle or oh no, work with my dad,
Oh that was your done?
Speaker 5 (27:11):
Oh yes, that was my dad.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
And so being able to again never really designed to
be fathering son job. And again they were firm and
it was only for a time, but again at that
point having a job and being able to maintain and
then as the market opened up, even being able to
apply from having a job was much different than applying
from not having a job. So again that's true, it
(27:35):
seems almost like a lifetime ago, but it was again
as professional, a different time and kind of scary when
again you want to work. You know you can do
the job, but sometimes your options are limited by what's
out there.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
What was the practice area or areas.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
Working.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I've always done corporate work, working with business as business owners.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Again, started to do some tax work as I had
my LLM.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
I realized a couple of years in that I'd be
one heck of a tax issue spotter. But I was
going to focus on corporate tax. It's something, it's consuming,
there's a lot of changes. You need to stay current.
You can't dabble in it. And I knew that I
was going to not be fully there. So I still,
like I said, I'm a great issue spotter, but now
(28:24):
I focus in in corporate business world, which is really
helping business owners businesses again meet their goals, make money
and stay out of trouble and losing money.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
All right, which is a good segue. We'll take our
second commercial break, we'll come back and we'll dig into
the current work you're doing now. We'll be back in
one minute with Nikola Presty.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
You're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene on
W four CY Radio. That's W four C Why dot
Com Don't go away, more helpful information and is coming
right up right here on Winning Business Radio.
Speaker 7 (29:05):
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Speaker 2 (29:39):
And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene,
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in
mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again
is Kevin Helena.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
We're back with Nick Lapresty, partner at Lapresty Law. So
you make your way from Virginia back to Worcester. Fletcher
Tilton spent about a year there. Tell us a little
bit about that and your key takeaway.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
Funny.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
So my key takeaway that I came up that was
a contract job and as you said, out in Worcester,
and that was my realizing that New England is not
home moment. And again, great people there, great firm, but
it was kind of it was the moment and the
big takeaway or the light going off was that I'm
(30:36):
I'm an entrepreneurial attorney in regards to again, I'm an attorney,
but going out making business, growing that book.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, attorneys or business people, they better be right.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
We're service providers. We have to be.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
And that that experience and that model was was not entrepreneurial.
It was just, I don't want to say, an old
boys and girls network, but it was. It was very
insular and established. So Okiel, Yes, And so I knew
that that structure and then probably that that community was
(31:08):
not really the best for me, because I would I'd
fail left and right in terms of it was clear,
especially in the professional service provider world of attorneys, accountants, insurance,
that there were generations at play of locals, and that
to kind of break into that as an outsider would
(31:30):
be difficult and probably not the best use of time.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
But that was your ability to get back, as you said,
family reasons, not back for your wife to get back.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
No, that's how we got back again.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
We got back, and that was the lesson in which
I took from after that with my next job. And
part of the reason I was there, Everett and was
at that firm is very entrepreneurial.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
So that's when you and I met, when you were
at Darrel Everett.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, years a lifetime ago, and again
looking there, even as an associate attorney, where generally you're
not looked at to get business or co out in business,
they actually had a weekly requirement to go out in
the community. And again the expectations were pretty low, but
you have to learn and you had to start somewhere.
(32:20):
And that was exactly what I was looking for because
when I came up north, and again especially after the
Fletcher Tilton experience, I realized not being in New Englander,
there's nothing wrong with it, but being from somewhere, whether
it's a college, a town, that you could tap into
that community for contacts, and that's how we start to
build a network and then from there you built a
(32:43):
book of business out of that network. And that was
what was important for me, was I had to build
a network because I had nothing, and so being the
entrepreneurial lane was very helpful and that's what I started
at that time, and again being an attorney and working
on that and developing my practice there, but also understanding
(33:05):
about networking, building a network and realizing that to be successful,
especially as an attorney and as a service provider, at
a certain amount of time or a certain place in
your career. It's just not enough to be proficient at
the work that's being put in front of you. You
have to also bring in work for yourself and potentially others,
if you're looking to continue to climb the career, or
(33:29):
if you're looking to put yourself in a position. As
they said, the the golden rule is gold and if
you can bring in a lot of money, you'll be
able to dictate your terms.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
So then you made your way to this is interesting,
the Presty law. But Greater Boston. Is that an office
of the DC firm or is that a new firm?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
So it is an office of the firm. And this
now goes back to COVID. And in end of twenty
or end of nineteen twenty nineteen, I knew that my
time at Dara Everett was coming to an end, solely
for the fact that the man behind the firm, Zach
Darrow I want to say twenty seventeen, had moved to
(34:15):
Florida and was spending more time out of the Miami practice.
So fast forward a couple of years. The Miami office
had grown a lot, as he had been down there,
a lot, which makes sense. There was also a New
York Office of Providence, Rhode Island, which was kind of
the headquarters, and then mass mass was not really kind
of mission critical. So while again knock on Wood I
(34:39):
was doing well, I was growing, it was clear I
was growing, and it had a point where the firm
wasn't going to be interested at so looked around. Actually,
in January of twenty twenty, started a partnership with a
couple of former colleagues, which crashed and burned extremely quickly.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
So now go end of March, we're now COVID.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Before we're all lockdown. Yeah, yeah, but no one's working
at that point.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
So it was really the question of do I start
my own firm at that moment, or do I open
up a satellite office of an existing firm, which is
what I did, because in terms of starting a business
again professional licensure as an attorney, it was it would
have been a lot more hurdles, especially at a time
when people weren't answering the phone. It was again not
(35:29):
until maybe June or so of twenty twenty when people
realized we're gonna have to work through COVID.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, it was only gonna be two weeks, yeah, no.
Speaker 5 (35:36):
Two two weeks maybe a little bit more than the world.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Of reset, and that's not what happened. So yeah, So
Lepressey Law is again founded in two thousand and three,
and again it's my dad's firm. It was never meant
to be a father and son and it's not now.
If anything, it's viewed as a kind of think of
it as an expense sharing relationship and so on in
(36:00):
twenty twenty and then ended up taking over operations in
twenty twenty two and now still working with my dad,
which is great. He's in what he calls his glide path.
He's on his way to retirement at his own pace.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
But it sounds like you guys have a working relationship,
unlike I've seen in a lot of other quote family
businesses where all due respect, dad sticks around too long.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
Yes, no, And the dynamic is different because it's an
expense sharing situation.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
Again. He has his world, his clients. I have mine.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
So it's not again you think of traditional family business
where it's the kind of the turning over the keys
of whether again it's a physical building or again kind
of all the clients that were one generation are now
coming years and again there will be some clients and
there are some clients that shared, but generally he's got
his stuff and I've got mine, which from a pressure
(37:01):
and intensity purpose, is kind of great because it isn't
it's it's very low pressure.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
It gives him, it sounds to me like it gives
him all kinds of freedom to chart his path whenever
he wants to step away. It's not going to negatively
impact you, exactly. And he's in control of that. You're
in control of that.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
So he's it's and so it's fun and and so
the only troubled times are when there's technology upgrades and uh,
and then that that hits him, and then there's usually
a couple of emails a zoomed to figure something out.
But other than that, he's usually pretty happy about the arrangement.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
But the expletives don't make the filter though, right, No, no, And.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Again we have a consultant for our outsourced I T
which again so poor for them, is then usually the
tip of the spear.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
All right, So let's dig into the work that you do.
It's all business focused. You're working with your clients that
probably range in size and industry. Give us sort of
a probably not fair to say, thumbnil give us a
description of the types of clients that you work with.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
We were with a variety and again from small to
someone setting up their own company and I need some
basic guidance that again could probably maybe pay a vendor
online to do it, but in terms of learning and
bet and process, that's not the best.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Yeah, ce Corpes Corp LLC. Right, right, what's the right
choice for that entity partner exactly?
Speaker 4 (38:31):
And we'll pervent some basic documents right now, there's there's
it's easy access to a lot of information, which in
itself becomes a problem because there's there's right information, there's
wrong information, there's over information. And so again we say
nothing's too small, and then we work all the way
again through operations, ongoing matters with owners, transactions up to
(38:54):
medium large companies which again have hundreds of employees. Again
top line revenue you can go into tens or hundreds
of millions. But at the end of the day, the
common threat is in terms of ownership, there is a
defined ownership group and we're not near anything towards public
(39:15):
or that that is a different end of the ecosystem.
So we work with yet little too again Main Street
Boston or anywhere downtown that again appreciates what we do here,
which is working with businesses, business owners, and that's what
we focus on, but without what we say is the
(39:35):
downtown fee. Again, our goals to kind of slip it
and provide the value. Since this is what we do,
We've done it our whole careers. And while we don't
have the bench and some would say the name recognition
of some of those larger firms, again, we're there when
you don't want to pay fifteen hundred dollars and we're
(39:55):
happy to help you out at a reasonable rate. But
sometimes you do that those firms and those matters, and
and again we'll be honest that that's not us, but.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
You have a deep referral network to know those guys.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
Yes, if it ever gets that big, if you've got
a company that hits the rocket and you need to
do an I p O, it's never going to be me,
but I'll get you to someone that that's going to
be more than happy to help you. And and again
they're they're probably going to be about fifteen hundred dollars
an hour, but that's like, that's that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
If that's what the matter requires, right, And so it's
really anything law related in there's a lot of law
baked into business purchasing a piece of real estate, selling
a person piece of real estate, partnerships.
Speaker 5 (40:39):
Most paperwork.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
Again I joke, I'm a paperwork nerd in terms of
the company. If you're signing something there there's a reason.
And again you're you're either looking to make money, you're
looking to access something. Again, with a commercial lease, you
can access brick and mortar space.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
A lot of companies, some of these are my clients,
when they do a deal with their client, there's paper.
They call it paper, right, is it the prospects paper
or is it the seller's paper? And there's you know
that documents, those documents. This is for the audience sake.
I know you know this. I'm trying to draw this out.
Is uh you know which is better? Depends on the
(41:19):
side you're on and how should how is it written?
It depends on the side you're on, right, And who's
going to review it? Well, it better be reviewed before
anybody signs it.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
Absolutely, And I know that's self interested because I'm one
of those people, but that's really we and again, businesses
and business owners that know what they're doing understand that
it's best to bring in a professional, and it could
they figure it out themselves probably, but again it's it's
usually what gets you is now what's in front of you,
(41:47):
it's what you.
Speaker 5 (41:47):
Didn't see coming.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
And without being a professional on that line, it just
pay the professional, get it done, and then go to
your highest revenue earning activities. If you're in sales, have
a go sell more. If you're manufacturing, go make more stuff.
And that's where we kind of come in to assist
in making money. Another big thing is protecting liability, to
(42:12):
make sure people don't take money away, and that's where
we come in. And a lot of it is documenting
and making sure that when parties understand I'm bringing this in,
you're bringing that, we're building this together, you're putting money in.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
Now I'm doing here.
Speaker 4 (42:29):
This is how it comes out, this is what happens
if something goes wrong, it's really again documenting the process
and making the parties understand how things work. And again,
God forgiven, if anything bad happens, then you kind of
have the initial playbook of how to unwind, uncouple, and
try to figure out a dispute.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you've heard way more than me.
But I've heard a few more stories of partnerships that
are dissolving. And it's like a divorce.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
It's a business divorce, it is, and there's as much
emotions as in it's a relationship. Again, it's it's a
professional relationship, not a personal relationship.
Speaker 5 (43:07):
But still there.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
We have our egos, we've been slighted or perceived slides,
and everyone will say it's the principle, and yet it
can get brutal. And the worst times is when there's
nothing there because if there's a disagreement, again, no one's happy.
But if there's a process there, you just start going
(43:30):
through the steps. You do this, I do that, we
figure out the value here. No one's really happy, but
you're moving forward and again getting to a place where
you're there getting rid of the assets or one's taking
them from the other and the others getting compensation. But
you're moving past the pain point, and that's the goal.
When you don't have paperwork, there's no process, you're you're
(43:53):
stuck in the mud of really what the two parties
want to do.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
And so the old, the old adage of never get
into business with your friend isn't really true. It's don't
do it without documenting things. It's don't do it without
agreements upfront. And you set a key phrase. I think,
how'd you say it about? You know, you implied when
things go bad, and they often do.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
When things are going well, no one looks at the paperwork, right,
they know how processes are going and people are going
out to lunch, smiles, phone calls of you're doing great.
It's when oh, we're not making enough money as we
thought we would, or things are moving slower. That's when
you start looking at the paperwork to say, okay, well
what are my options here? And it's not the best
(44:39):
place to be, but unfortunately it happens, and it happens
with some regular regularity. In business, not everything is a success.
There's failures, and then again there's a whole gray area
of might be failure, might be success, somewhere in the middle,
and again completely self interested. But having a process in
(44:59):
place is smart planning, and it again you don't need
to pay a ton for it, and against it can
be replicated. I call it institutional knowledge. The longer you
work with a professional that the easier it is for
he or you. Assist and that's really where we come
in again.
Speaker 5 (45:16):
So talk about business.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
So sorry, talk about the term outside general counsel for
those that don't know what that means.
Speaker 4 (45:23):
So in outside general counsel, it's really a term for
businesses that have legal.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
Needs but aren't going ongoing ongoing legal.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Needs, but aren't going to have an attorney on staff.
It doesn't make sense from a need, from a price
point to have an attorney inside the business. So what
you look for is again an attorney outside the business
that again can provide that council with as much regularity
as needed. So again it's not that every Monday there's
(45:53):
a call or a meeting. Again, there can be if
the client needs it. Is that probably the best use
of the time. No, unless there's a weekly impression. But
it's working. I call it the boomerang effect to an extent,
is that you have the relationship and when something comes up,
that's the boomerang coming.
Speaker 5 (46:11):
In and hey, this is a matter.
Speaker 4 (46:13):
It could be something our commercial landlord sent us some
paperwork to get looked at, or you've just had an
employee quit and sent this over. It can be anything,
but that's that's the come in and then we usually
will address it. If I can do it in house.
Speaker 5 (46:29):
Great.
Speaker 4 (46:29):
If again, let's say it's an employment situation, I do
I call employment light. But if again an employee files
a lawsuit, we're not helping. So again we'll get them
to the right professional that will assist in that moment.
And then again once the matter is resolved, or maybe
it's a contract situation, but it's done. Again, that's the
boomerang boomerang zooming out and maybe they come back a week,
(46:53):
a month, six months, but it's really as an as
needed relationship. But again, you have what I call institutional knowledge,
which is okay, this is why things are done, or.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Is you're not starting all over again understanding the wise.
Speaker 4 (47:07):
Yeah, this is why we handle it this way. But
this is why we're not handling it that way. It's
it's that ability, which again brings i'd say a lot
of value. The longer it goes on, wall costs get
cut down.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
So it's all those events that take place, it's all
those transactions that might seem minor. Lease right, seems minor,
but it's a lot of pages.
Speaker 4 (47:32):
A lot of pages. And again, if you've got a
personal guarantee and you're the owner. I mean that means
you're you're responsible for it just as much. Again, the
lease work we do is also with companies where there's
what we call buildouts. So it could be a medical practice,
could be retailed, but again that that's basically a construction
agreement inside a lease. And again you want to make
(47:54):
sure it's going along the same time. And then also
with that, who's paying What is the lord paying fully
for the build out? Are you paying twenty percent, they're
paying eighty percent? If so, are you doing it at
the same time or as you're the first twenty and
they're the last eighty.
Speaker 5 (48:09):
Things like that matter, and again PaperWorks nerves. But that's what.
Speaker 4 (48:13):
We look at and that's what we do because there's
reasons for it, and it's always kind of the bodyguard
of protecting the business and the business owner. That again
there's a cost of doing business and putting yourself out there,
but making sure that you're aware of your risks and
you're not taking more risks than you should.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
All right, believe it or not, we only have time
for a couple of more questions. First, what do you
is kind of a big one, but what are you
most proud of in your career thus far.
Speaker 4 (48:41):
Thus far, I'd say the entrepreneurial aspect and realizing and
again I'm nothing special, but again it's we're professional service provider.
We have to the floor is providing good quality service.
Beyond that, it's it's the business aspect of it. It
(49:01):
is sales, marketing growth and that's been something in my
career and I'm focusing on now again of how to
build a business in addition to being an attorney, and
this business is a law firm and that especially the
last years, the last couple of years has been a
great experience, a frustrating experience at times, but I feel
(49:24):
like where I'm at now in being able to build
something and again more than just a book of business,
but something that again there's others that are working here
at along for the ride.
Speaker 5 (49:36):
Is That's what I'm proud of.
Speaker 7 (49:37):
It.
Speaker 4 (49:37):
Again, we're nothing yet, but we're we're hopefully going to
build something in a little bit of our own model
and see how it works.
Speaker 3 (49:45):
Well. We're hearing good things. We are out of time.
He's Nick Lapresty and Lapresty at Laprestylaw dot com or
six one seven three five one four seven five four.
Reach out to him if you are a bit business
in need of legal assistance, whether it's specific or ongoing. Nick,
thank you very much. Thanks Kevin, You're quite welcome, and
(50:07):
thanks everybody for listening and watching. This is the show
about business and business challenges. If you've got concerns about
the sales effectiveness of your company, whether your sales team
is you or small or large, feel free to reach
out to me on Facebook or LinkedIn at Winning Business Radio.
You can drop me a note. That's Kevinatwinning Business Radio
dot com. We are Winning Incorporated, part of Sandler Training.
(50:29):
We say we develop sales teams into high achievers and
sales leaders into true coaches and mentors. We're not right
for everybody, but hey, maybe we should have a conversation.
That's up to you. Thanks as always to producer and
engineer Jan Thank you one for another job well done.
Please be sure to join us next week Monday, January thirteenth,
My guest is going to be Katie Dustin, president of
(50:50):
JED Insurance and Financial Services. Until then, this is Kevin Halliian.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
You've been listening to Winning Business Radio with your host
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(51:20):
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(00:20):
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Speaker 2 (00:29):
Churchill said, those who fail to learn from history are
condemned to repeat it. Kevin helen n believes that certainly
applies to business. Welcome to Winning Business Radio here at
W four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com
and now your host, Kevin Helena.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Thank you everybody for joining in today. I'm Kevin Hallanan
and welcome back to Winning Business TV and Radio on
W four cy dot com. We're streaming live on talkforretv
dot com, and of course we're streaming live on Facebook
and that's at Winning Business Radio. And we're available in
podcast form after the live show on just about whatever
(01:12):
platform you use to find your podcast content. That's YouTube, iHeartRadio, Spotify,
Apple again, wherever you listen. The mission of Winning Business
radio and TV, as regular viewers and listeners know, is
to offer insights and advice to help people avoid the
mistakes of others, to learn best practices, the how tos,
the what toos, the what not tos, to be challenged
(01:35):
and hopefully to be inspired by the successes of others.
Who are those others. They're consultants, coaches, advisors, authors, founders, owners, entrepreneurs,
people with expertise. Today's an attorney. But you know, virtually
every successful person I've ever had a chance to talk
to has said some form of failure in their lives
and careers. So every week I say, we all have
to get our knee skinned once in a while. I'm
(01:57):
driven to keep those scrapes from needing major surgery. To
learn from history so we don't repeat it. I've spent
the better part of my career equipping businesses to grow
from solopreneurs to small and medium sized businesses all the
way up to the Fortune fifty, and I've seen a
lot of those companies win, and to varying degrees. I've
seen some fail, and I've had the opportunity to rub
(02:17):
elbows with some of the highest performing people around and
with some who probably should have found other professions. In
my own businesses, I've had lots of success, but some
failures too, So I like to think I've learned a
lot from those experiences. So you're going to hear from
me my opinions and insights. But anyone who knows me
will tell you that I have a hard time staying quiet.
So more importantly than me, you're going to hear from experts,
(02:40):
those consultants, coaches, advisors, authors, founders, owners, entrepreneurs, attorneys. Today,
my guest is attorney Nick Lapresty, corporate and business transactional
lawyer with Nepresty Law Lapresty Law. Here's his bio. Nicholas
Depresti is a transactional attorney based near Boston, concentrating his
practice in corporate business, commercial lending, and finance law. His
(03:04):
practice focuses on structuring, negotiating, and closing joint ventures as
well as mergers and acquisitions, and that's both buyers and sellers.
Nick is also known for his expertise in asset dispositions, securities, issuances,
and other capital raises. Recapitalizations, restructurings, buyouts and takeouts, as
well as various forms of business and real estate financing
(03:24):
ranging from venture and private capity capital excuse me, I
said that wrong? From venture and private equity to asset
and property backed bank financings. He sought after for his
expertise and negotiating term sheets, letters of intent, purchase, asset
and equity agreements, profit sharing plans, operating agreements, buyer seller agreements,
(03:45):
shareholder agreements, employment agreements, as well as confidentially in non
disclosure agreements for business. Nick has significant experience preparing private
placement memorana and other offering documents for equity issuances and syndications,
as well as compliance with federal and state blue law
excuse me, blue sky securities laws getting ahead of myself there.
(04:05):
He also represents many commercial lenders and borrowers in connection
with commercial estate financings, asset based financings and lines of credit,
project financings, tax credit financing supportinate and knows the lob
we're going to get to this subordinated and senior debt transactions,
convertible preferred equity, structured finance, and loan assumptions. Nick regularly
counsels financial institutions and borrowers, and the drafting and negotiation
(04:28):
of loan documentation including loan agreements, notes, mortgages and deeds,
security pledges, guarantees, and subordination agreements. Providing outside general counsel,
he works with closely held businesses from startups to establish companies,
as well as nonprofits and entities and workout situations. Nick
supports clients with organizational and equity planning, strategic advice, resolution
(04:49):
of conflicts among owners, executive employment matters, and ongoing corporate counseling.
Nick earned his BA in Political Science and government with
a minor and classical civilizations from William and Mary, his jd.
Or Law degree from the Columbia Columbus School of Law
at the Catholic University of America, and his Master's of
Laws and Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center. He
(05:09):
and his wife Kristin live in Upton, Mass with their
daughter Lily who's ten, their son James who's eight. There
are two rescued dogs, Cody and Beast, and their three
axe lotels. Nick. Welcome to Winning Business Radio.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Thank you, thank you for having me, and I've just
heard a lot about myself and that.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Do I do all that well? I appreciate the time.
I know you're busy, and I appreciate you carving out
about an hour here. Let's start with family. Tell us
a little bit about Kristin.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Kristin, she's my wife and the reason i'm up here
in New England now. Met her in college and actually
summer abroad in Sicily.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So oh wow, go cool back many years at this point.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And Lily and James.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yep, there's are the ones that keep me young and
or feeling old dependent on the day.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Yeah, they're They're.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
My two and the reason I do everything and family
time is great and also the reason we're New England
to raise them as my wife always wanted to come
home for that.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
That's awesome. Uh So I'm a dog guy, so but
don't don't let me offend anybody. I want to hear
more about the Axle Lottels three action Lottles. Tell us
what that is, what they are.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
I did get.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Very driven, so I did not know about them before
the kids.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
There must be in a TV.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Show or a cartoon or something, because I wasn't aware
of them.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
But they exist. They're real.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
It's like a salamander with a tadpole tail is the
best I can describe me, and it's they're like fish,
but you can't put them with fish because fish will
actually bully them. And they don't like the light, so
they kind of like to be in the dark. They're
interesting animals, but the kids love them. They look like
cartoon characters.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
They they that my wife does not like that we
have to keep outside and and they're they're family pets.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
That's awesome, and h I happened to look them up
because I was curious. They're used in research because they
can regenerate uh, tales, ears, whatever, limbs.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
Right, yeah, there again the salimenter tail we have.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
We haven't thankfully suffered any of that at our house,
but they and they're crazy little things.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
They got neck.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Beards, which I just find are hilarious because they move
and they moved in the water.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
That's awesome. All right. So you grew up in the
DC Virgin area, right, yep?
Speaker 4 (07:34):
The man man of kind of the East Coast. My
parents are New Yorkers that went down to d C.
And that's where I was born and raised in Fairfax County.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Cool. What was it like to grow up there.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Uh interesting, I thought, again, as we all did. We
thought it was normal growing up because it was just
the way. But now looking back on it.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
But even though you weren't a Mandalorian.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Not a not a Mandalorian, and I walked in.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Little little reference, this is the way, anyway, go ahead, And.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
But looking back on it is different. It's different from
New England and it was rolling suburbia. I mean again,
my parents are New Yorkers, went down to d C
for work, ended up settling in the suburbs, which was
again at that time being completely redeveloped into suburbs. And
it just has continued since then and even after I left.
(08:26):
And it's different because there's no there's no central town feel.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Again, it's rolling suburbia. And I, to be honest, I
like it up here.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
So did you bring your sports allegiances with you? Where
do those?
Speaker 4 (08:40):
They? I have? And the Commanders are making it easier
this year again, And I'm old enough that I remember
ninety two when when the Redskins now Commanders were good
and then it was a brutal winner of about thirty
so years. Still follow the the Nationals. We'll see wizards.
(09:04):
I still can't love that name. And I don't know
where they're going, but we got the commanders and we'll see.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
So my wife and I were doing the MLB Ballpark tour.
I mean, I've talked about that at one point or another,
but we saw the Nationals two years ago.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Beautiful park.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Beautiful is it really is? Yeah? What made you decide
to attend? William and Mary into major in polyscien government?
And then I'm curious about classical civilizations too. I think
it's pretty cool. I'm not you know, some people laugh
at minors. Yeah, whatever, but I'm curious about that as well.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
So William and Mary again growing up in northern Virginia
and blessed with a great in school or in state
school system.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
So again I love my parents.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
They are very clear you can go anywhere you want
in the country, but if you're going to pay over
state tuition, so that that heavily impacted. And so I
looked at the the general all three again, I don't
even know how college admissions work. I applied to University
of Virginia, I got waitlisted.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
I got applied to Virginia Tech, which I got in.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
My older sister went there, and I was a big
fan of the football program at the time, and when
to William and Mary, it probably goes into political sites
and the rest of the conversation. It was it was
the area in the history. It's just a lovely area.
It was. It wasn't too small, wasn't too big.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It was one of the older schools in the nation, right.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah, I mean it's right there. I think they said
seven presidents studied there. Got funny back in the day,
no one had really graduated. You just went to college,
learned until you thought you were done, and then you
were good and you left different these days, but yeah,
great area. Liked it there, and being from DC and
(10:55):
then the courses with government that that kind of just
led to. I didn't know what I wanted to do
when I grew up, but thought I was going to
go into government work on Capitol Hill when I was
a kid, again just being a political nerd.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Well, you had some cool internships and I want to
get to those in a little bit, but you did have
some of that experience that's which is cool.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Yeah, So I had some experience, and unfortunately it was
enough to realize that it wasn't for me. So again,
I love the opportunities. I got there, but it Capitol Hill,
and this was again twenty years ago. It was starting
to change from what historically had been. And again you'd
(11:36):
think kind of collegial environment. Again, you work on what
you can together, respectful disagreements, and I guess the average politician,
you would say, on both sides, was more of a
flag bearrier bear excuse me for his or her cause.
It started to shift to more kind of a celebrity
culture where people cared more about who was coming to
(11:59):
see what they gone on. And again this is twenty
years ago, so not a comment on anything regular, but
it was enough to say I'll go somewhere else, and
law school was the next option.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So yeah, that was my next question. When did you
know you wanted to be an attorney?
Speaker 4 (12:17):
When I graduated law school, it was pretty clear because
when I went into law school, or at least planned
to go into law school taking the LSATZ the entrics exam,
was still government was on my mind, and a lot
of people on Capitol Hill went to law school, so
it was kind of just a logical step. And then
(12:38):
I realized in law school that I didn't want to
go into the government or Capitol Hill, and then I
had to figure out in law school what type of
lawyer I wanted to be, and that was part of
the journey.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
And was Catholic University of America a choice because you
got in or did you apply there specifically you wanted
to go there? What was that about?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Got in and was looking to stay in the DC
area and my whole career would be down there.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Foolish me? So yeah, got in and.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
When went straight from undergrad to law school, which actually
I don't recommend really for anyone out there.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Not that if any kids are listening to this.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Is take a gap year, go go be a paralegal
somewhere before you decide to commit to the school, and
then probably at least the next decade of your life
to pay off the debts associated with it.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Is that your biggest motivator for that advice? Or was
it the grueling nature?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
It was? It was the grueling nature. And it's one
of those things almost I say med school, but again
I didn't have that where it's once you step on
the train, it's hard to get off. It's three years,
it's very intense, and again, you there's only so many
options and the market's tough, So it's not I guess
(14:05):
it's you can't just kind of be a babe in
the woods anymore and it'll work out it And it's
the industry itself is tough, so it always get some
experience and see if you like it or you decide to.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
To DIA to do it.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Last question before the first break. You also got your
Masters of Taxation. What was behind I'm saying that correct
Masters of Law Laws focusing on LM. Is that we said,
and what was the motivation for that? What was that plan?
Speaker 4 (14:36):
A part of that again was my career has been
what's been planned and then what actually happened. So when
I went to law school, decided not to go it
wasn't going to go in Capitol Hill politics, and not
that I was ever going to run for office or anything,
but just over there, I said, all.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
Right, I'm going to go to law school.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
And then not blaming my dad, but kind of his
insight was working for the government is some of the
and he did it when he was younger is some
of the best training he ever got. So the idea
was go work in the Chiefs General's Council office. Again,
you're in DC, so is there and yet training. Unfortunately,
(15:15):
I came out of law school in one of the recessions,
including legal market recession.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
So it was very tight at that time.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
But that was the plan, and so l excuse me,
and tax was going to be kind of a culmination
of tax analysis as well as business.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Thank you all right, we're going to be back in
just a minute. Everybody will be back with Nick Lepresty
in about sixty seconds.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helena on
W four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com.
Don't go away. More helpful information is coming right up
right here on Winning Business Radio.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
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(16:22):
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You're free advertising now.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in
mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again
is Kevin Helene.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
We are back with nick La Presty, partner of Lapresty Law.
All Right, I want to take you through Samavia. I
won't go through every early position, but you had some
cool internships and I want to ask kind of what
you learned. What were your key takeaways. You interned for
Senator John Warner national on the National Security Team. Talk
about that briefly and what did you take away from
(17:15):
that experience?
Speaker 5 (17:17):
That was a great experience.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Again he by the way, quick interruption for the audience.
Internship ships are brief.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yes, it was for the summer and again the late
Senator Warner, and he was an elder statesman by the time,
the senior senator, and it was a great experience because
he was he was very respected. So in terms of
again you're you're such a peon of an intern at
that but getting to kind of be close to what's
(17:46):
going on and seeing the people that he interacted with
was again for political nerd was really cool and I
mean especially at that time, it was an interesting environment. Again,
he in the same building, remember from the Senator Ted
Kennedy again another yeah, beast, but it was when.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
He was another elder statesman.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Legend, a legend, and and what I always.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Remember about him was in the Russell Building there were long.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Hallways because then the offices would be off the halls,
and he was he'd been around enough that he had
his two dogs, so he would walk and whenever you
saw him, he'd have the dogs and a staffer two
and he'd have that that.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Again older gate.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
But and so again it was a great experience and
you you'd like to think again that how things worked
in terms of the government and the country and and
being there and especially at interesting times again national security team.
There again a flare up in Israel, a war during
that time, so there was political pressure.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Like five years post nine to eleven, so everything was
pretty raw still.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Yeah, and so it was it was a great time
to be there and learn and again get experience. I mean,
life's about the journey and getting experiences, and that was
a great one. Again realizing that it wasn't going to
be a call in, but at least getting getting.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
To have that and move on.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
And then the first of your two judicial internships, first
with Superior Court of District of the DC Court, Honorable
Len Leibovitz talk about that experience.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
So that was great.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
The I'm not a big fan of classroom learning, just again,
that's not how I learned the best, not that it's that,
it's just we all learn different ways. So I learned
better on the job the experience. So in law school
and with Judge Leberwitz at the time, I don't even
know if I was getting credit, but it was going
in and helping answer a couple of emails, being an
(19:44):
assistant to the law clerk, but it was getting some
experience on what the law is. First year of law
school is a very brutal process. It's kind of it
breaks you down, and so kind of getting out that
it's more than just a classroom was important to me.
And DC the big courthouse not too far away, and
(20:05):
she was on the civil docket at the time, which
to me was humorous because she I believe she's still
on the bench. Great lady. She career criminal attorney. I
think she was a prosecutor, so that was where she
liked to be. And when I worked or assisted, she
was on the civil docket, which again is not it's
(20:27):
not criminal, it's lawsuits among parties, not the state. So
it's just I don't want to say it just didn't
interest her as much. It wasn't her passion. So it
was funny. I remember at the time one of the
court cases it was between two owners or to an
owner and a former owner of a Georgetown townhouse and
(20:49):
down in DC, very nice area of the city. I
think probably eight figures or sover price tag. The two
parties were arguing over or some drapes and a chandelier
about whether it was fixed years or not. And again
everyone can do it, but I want to say the
(21:09):
value might have been twenty five thousand dollars they're fighting over,
I think. And again it was going on for a
while so that by the time I even came in,
I think each side had probably spent over a quarter
million dollars in legal fees in process. And it was
it was frustrating for the judge to see that because
again washe not a waste of time?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
But again that's where emotion got the better of those
two parties, right, yes, and so.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
But again it was it was learning how things work
in the dock and as civil so if you had
an issue, if you needed to get paid suit how
that worked, and again it was another experience where I
took from that that I didn't want to be a litigator,
and not that there's anything wrong, but it was. It
was an experience and I appreciate it and just realized
(22:01):
it wasn't for me. So again it was a great
I got to where I am in law school, didn't
know where I was going to be doing this. It
was kind of things started to fall away and the
best way to kind.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Of that's a good experience to know what you don't
want to do as much as you find out what
you do.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
And so I spent the first two years probably of
law school, started to jettison whole practice areas that again
nothing wrong with yes, not for me.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Let's see, I want to go to Actually, you had
a summer internship, another internship. I'll skip those if you
don't mind. Listen, there's something specific you want to share
mcandalish and Lillard and McGuire woods. But I want to
get to the other judicial internship, Superior Court of DC.
The Honorable John Bailey Junior.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, So that was again back in DC Superior Court,
and this time it was on the criminal docket. So
a completely different experience because in the criminal docket, the
plaintiff is O is the government, and the defendant is
always an individual that's been charged with the crime.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
So and this is it was DZ but it was
state level not federal.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yes, its DC so local not yeah, well it is.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
You talking, but yes, it was. It was local but criminal.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
So again you're looking at at situations, uh, violence, drug
related and it again appreciation of it and again where
how how society works? And because when you when you're
looking at a criminal docket like that, a lot of
it there's not murder. And then and again the big crimes,
(23:45):
it's it's a lot of again just processing crimes again,
a lot of drug related and it I mean, it's
it's sad to see.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
How Yeah, you see people at their worst in those situations.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
They're worse.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
And then some people, even young people that you almost
say never had a chance. So it again it was
it was. It was a poignant moment, uh, in my
career of learning. And and there's the good thing is
at that level there is a lot of assistance of
people that in organizations that that try to help where
they can, especially when state federal governments kind of falls short,
(24:22):
but it's it again. It gives you an appreciation and
that that life is a little different than we'll.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Say Law and Order.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
It's a great TV show, but doesn't exactly show how
how true it is.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
What the it's not all settled in an hour, not less.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Lesson is easy and everything, but there's ups and downs
and and it's hard and again even you've got to
prove it and and sometimes again it's one of those things.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
You know it, but to prove it is a different story.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
And again if you can't prove it, there's there's serious ratifications.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
And then law clerk Jackson and Campbell again short term,
because that was still you were still in school at
that point.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Yep. That was still kind of like the other legal internships,
getting out there and just getting more experience and finding
each one. Again mcainleish Lillard, we don't have spent much
time on it, but that was my first summer associate,
and I spent against civil litigation, working with lawsuits and
then also doing family law. Realized very quickly again family
(25:27):
law was not not for me. Again another important part
of then there's lawyers that do it. But at the
time I was reading and notating impact statements by ten
twelve year olds about their parents' divorce. And again you
need to do it. Yeah, unfortunately it has to be done.
But I knew it would shoot me up in a year.
(25:49):
Maybe it was not going to be my career. So again,
the people that do that are necessary and have that makeup,
but I knew I didn't. So it was again kind
of the jettisoning of areas and and then working in
McGuire woods doing some some tax work. So again it
was kind of sticking your toe in different ponds and
seeing where you're going to go. Because even as an attorney,
(26:11):
there's a lot of different types of attorneys and and
your your career, your lifestyle can be very different depending
what you end up at.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Well, it's like if you don't uh play the right
music for your unborn child, it determines the future, the
right or wrong internship can not just kidding, this is important,
just as important. All right, Then you were an associate
for this guy, Peter la Presty. I'm guessing there's a
connection there, and that was a four year that was
(26:41):
that was a that was a professional legal position.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yep, that was just associate and that was again learn
learning how to how to be an attorney, and coming
out of law school in a recession, the legal market
was was pretty tough, and so I was thankful for
that and to have a job, and again to appreciate that.
And again that's a lesson in itself, coming out.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Of a school uncle or oh no, work with my dad,
Oh that was your done?
Speaker 5 (27:11):
Oh yes, that was my dad.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
And so being able to again never really designed to
be fathering son job. And again they were firm and
it was only for a time, but again at that
point having a job and being able to maintain and
then as the market opened up, even being able to
apply from having a job was much different than applying
from not having a job. So again that's true, it
(27:35):
seems almost like a lifetime ago, but it was again
as professional, a different time and kind of scary when
again you want to work. You know you can do
the job, but sometimes your options are limited by what's
out there.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
What was the practice area or areas.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
Working.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I've always done corporate work, working with business as business owners.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Again, started to do some tax work as I had
my LLM.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
I realized a couple of years in that I'd be
one heck of a tax issue spotter. But I was
going to focus on corporate tax. It's something, it's consuming,
there's a lot of changes. You need to stay current.
You can't dabble in it. And I knew that I
was going to not be fully there. So I still,
like I said, I'm a great issue spotter, but now
(28:24):
I focus in in corporate business world, which is really
helping business owners businesses again meet their goals, make money
and stay out of trouble and losing money.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
All right, which is a good segue. We'll take our
second commercial break, we'll come back and we'll dig into
the current work you're doing now. We'll be back in
one minute with Nikola Presty.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
You're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene on
W four CY Radio. That's W four C Why dot
Com Don't go away, more helpful information and is coming
right up right here on Winning Business Radio.
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Speaker 2 (29:39):
And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene,
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in
mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again
is Kevin Helena.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
We're back with Nick Lapresty, partner at Lapresty Law. So
you make your way from Virginia back to Worcester. Fletcher
Tilton spent about a year there. Tell us a little
bit about that and your key takeaway.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
Funny.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
So my key takeaway that I came up that was
a contract job and as you said, out in Worcester,
and that was my realizing that New England is not
home moment. And again, great people there, great firm, but
it was kind of it was the moment and the
big takeaway or the light going off was that I'm
(30:36):
I'm an entrepreneurial attorney in regards to again, I'm an attorney,
but going out making business, growing that book.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, attorneys or business people, they better be right.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
We're service providers. We have to be.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
And that that experience and that model was was not entrepreneurial.
It was just, I don't want to say, an old
boys and girls network, but it was. It was very
insular and established. So Okiel, Yes, And so I knew
that that structure and then probably that that community was
(31:08):
not really the best for me, because I would I'd
fail left and right in terms of it was clear,
especially in the professional service provider world of attorneys, accountants, insurance,
that there were generations at play of locals, and that
to kind of break into that as an outsider would
(31:30):
be difficult and probably not the best use of time.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
But that was your ability to get back, as you said,
family reasons, not back for your wife to get back.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
No, that's how we got back again.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
We got back, and that was the lesson in which
I took from after that with my next job. And
part of the reason I was there, Everett and was
at that firm is very entrepreneurial.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
So that's when you and I met, when you were
at Darrel Everett.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, years a lifetime ago, and again
looking there, even as an associate attorney, where generally you're
not looked at to get business or co out in business,
they actually had a weekly requirement to go out in
the community. And again the expectations were pretty low, but
you have to learn and you had to start somewhere.
(32:20):
And that was exactly what I was looking for because
when I came up north, and again especially after the
Fletcher Tilton experience, I realized not being in New Englander,
there's nothing wrong with it, but being from somewhere, whether
it's a college, a town, that you could tap into
that community for contacts, and that's how we start to
build a network and then from there you built a
(32:43):
book of business out of that network. And that was
what was important for me, was I had to build
a network because I had nothing, and so being the
entrepreneurial lane was very helpful and that's what I started
at that time, and again being an attorney and working
on that and developing my practice there, but also understanding
(33:05):
about networking, building a network and realizing that to be successful,
especially as an attorney and as a service provider, at
a certain amount of time or a certain place in
your career. It's just not enough to be proficient at
the work that's being put in front of you. You
have to also bring in work for yourself and potentially others,
if you're looking to continue to climb the career, or
(33:29):
if you're looking to put yourself in a position. As
they said, the the golden rule is gold and if
you can bring in a lot of money, you'll be
able to dictate your terms.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
So then you made your way to this is interesting,
the Presty law. But Greater Boston. Is that an office
of the DC firm or is that a new firm?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
So it is an office of the firm. And this
now goes back to COVID. And in end of twenty
or end of nineteen twenty nineteen, I knew that my
time at Dara Everett was coming to an end, solely
for the fact that the man behind the firm, Zach
Darrow I want to say twenty seventeen, had moved to
(34:15):
Florida and was spending more time out of the Miami practice.
So fast forward a couple of years. The Miami office
had grown a lot, as he had been down there,
a lot, which makes sense. There was also a New
York Office of Providence, Rhode Island, which was kind of
the headquarters, and then mass mass was not really kind
of mission critical. So while again knock on Wood I
(34:39):
was doing well, I was growing, it was clear I
was growing, and it had a point where the firm
wasn't going to be interested at so looked around. Actually,
in January of twenty twenty, started a partnership with a
couple of former colleagues, which crashed and burned extremely quickly.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
So now go end of March, we're now COVID.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Before we're all lockdown. Yeah, yeah, but no one's working
at that point.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
So it was really the question of do I start
my own firm at that moment, or do I open
up a satellite office of an existing firm, which is
what I did, because in terms of starting a business
again professional licensure as an attorney, it was it would
have been a lot more hurdles, especially at a time
when people weren't answering the phone. It was again not
(35:29):
until maybe June or so of twenty twenty when people
realized we're gonna have to work through COVID.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, it was only gonna be two weeks, yeah, no.
Speaker 5 (35:36):
Two two weeks maybe a little bit more than the world.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Of reset, and that's not what happened. So yeah, So
Lepressey Law is again founded in two thousand and three,
and again it's my dad's firm. It was never meant
to be a father and son and it's not now.
If anything, it's viewed as a kind of think of
it as an expense sharing relationship and so on in
(36:00):
twenty twenty and then ended up taking over operations in
twenty twenty two and now still working with my dad,
which is great. He's in what he calls his glide path.
He's on his way to retirement at his own pace.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
But it sounds like you guys have a working relationship,
unlike I've seen in a lot of other quote family
businesses where all due respect, dad sticks around too long.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
Yes, no, And the dynamic is different because it's an
expense sharing situation.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
Again. He has his world, his clients. I have mine.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
So it's not again you think of traditional family business
where it's the kind of the turning over the keys
of whether again it's a physical building or again kind
of all the clients that were one generation are now
coming years and again there will be some clients and
there are some clients that shared, but generally he's got
his stuff and I've got mine, which from a pressure
(37:01):
and intensity purpose, is kind of great because it isn't
it's it's very low pressure.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
It gives him, it sounds to me like it gives
him all kinds of freedom to chart his path whenever
he wants to step away. It's not going to negatively
impact you, exactly. And he's in control of that. You're
in control of that.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
So he's it's and so it's fun and and so
the only troubled times are when there's technology upgrades and uh,
and then that that hits him, and then there's usually
a couple of emails a zoomed to figure something out.
But other than that, he's usually pretty happy about the arrangement.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
But the expletives don't make the filter though, right, No, no, And.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Again we have a consultant for our outsourced I T
which again so poor for them, is then usually the
tip of the spear.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
All right, So let's dig into the work that you do.
It's all business focused. You're working with your clients that
probably range in size and industry. Give us sort of
a probably not fair to say, thumbnil give us a
description of the types of clients that you work with.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
We were with a variety and again from small to
someone setting up their own company and I need some
basic guidance that again could probably maybe pay a vendor
online to do it, but in terms of learning and
bet and process, that's not the best.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Yeah, ce Corpes Corp LLC. Right, right, what's the right
choice for that entity partner exactly?
Speaker 4 (38:31):
And we'll pervent some basic documents right now, there's there's
it's easy access to a lot of information, which in
itself becomes a problem because there's there's right information, there's
wrong information, there's over information. And so again we say
nothing's too small, and then we work all the way
again through operations, ongoing matters with owners, transactions up to
(38:54):
medium large companies which again have hundreds of employees. Again
top line revenue you can go into tens or hundreds
of millions. But at the end of the day, the
common threat is in terms of ownership, there is a
defined ownership group and we're not near anything towards public
(39:15):
or that that is a different end of the ecosystem.
So we work with yet little too again Main Street
Boston or anywhere downtown that again appreciates what we do here,
which is working with businesses, business owners, and that's what
we focus on, but without what we say is the
(39:35):
downtown fee. Again, our goals to kind of slip it
and provide the value. Since this is what we do,
We've done it our whole careers. And while we don't
have the bench and some would say the name recognition
of some of those larger firms, again, we're there when
you don't want to pay fifteen hundred dollars and we're
(39:55):
happy to help you out at a reasonable rate. But
sometimes you do that those firms and those matters, and
and again we'll be honest that that's not us, but.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
You have a deep referral network to know those guys.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
Yes, if it ever gets that big, if you've got
a company that hits the rocket and you need to
do an I p O, it's never going to be me,
but I'll get you to someone that that's going to
be more than happy to help you. And and again
they're they're probably going to be about fifteen hundred dollars
an hour, but that's like, that's that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
If that's what the matter requires, right, And so it's
really anything law related in there's a lot of law
baked into business purchasing a piece of real estate, selling
a person piece of real estate, partnerships.
Speaker 5 (40:39):
Most paperwork.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
Again I joke, I'm a paperwork nerd in terms of
the company. If you're signing something there there's a reason.
And again you're you're either looking to make money, you're
looking to access something. Again, with a commercial lease, you
can access brick and mortar space.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
A lot of companies, some of these are my clients,
when they do a deal with their client, there's paper.
They call it paper, right, is it the prospects paper
or is it the seller's paper? And there's you know
that documents, those documents. This is for the audience sake.
I know you know this. I'm trying to draw this out.
Is uh you know which is better? Depends on the
(41:19):
side you're on and how should how is it written?
It depends on the side you're on, right, And who's
going to review it? Well, it better be reviewed before
anybody signs it.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
Absolutely, And I know that's self interested because I'm one
of those people, but that's really we and again, businesses
and business owners that know what they're doing understand that
it's best to bring in a professional, and it could
they figure it out themselves probably, but again it's it's
usually what gets you is now what's in front of you,
(41:47):
it's what you.
Speaker 5 (41:47):
Didn't see coming.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
And without being a professional on that line, it just
pay the professional, get it done, and then go to
your highest revenue earning activities. If you're in sales, have
a go sell more. If you're manufacturing, go make more stuff.
And that's where we kind of come in to assist
in making money. Another big thing is protecting liability, to
(42:12):
make sure people don't take money away, and that's where
we come in. And a lot of it is documenting
and making sure that when parties understand I'm bringing this in,
you're bringing that, we're building this together, you're putting money in.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
Now I'm doing here.
Speaker 4 (42:29):
This is how it comes out, this is what happens
if something goes wrong, it's really again documenting the process
and making the parties understand how things work. And again,
God forgiven, if anything bad happens, then you kind of
have the initial playbook of how to unwind, uncouple, and
try to figure out a dispute.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you've heard way more than me.
But I've heard a few more stories of partnerships that
are dissolving. And it's like a divorce.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
It's a business divorce, it is, and there's as much
emotions as in it's a relationship. Again, it's it's a
professional relationship, not a personal relationship.
Speaker 5 (43:07):
But still there.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
We have our egos, we've been slighted or perceived slides,
and everyone will say it's the principle, and yet it
can get brutal. And the worst times is when there's
nothing there because if there's a disagreement, again, no one's happy.
But if there's a process there, you just start going
(43:30):
through the steps. You do this, I do that, we
figure out the value here. No one's really happy, but
you're moving forward and again getting to a place where
you're there getting rid of the assets or one's taking
them from the other and the others getting compensation. But
you're moving past the pain point, and that's the goal.
When you don't have paperwork, there's no process, you're you're
(43:53):
stuck in the mud of really what the two parties
want to do.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
And so the old, the old adage of never get
into business with your friend isn't really true. It's don't
do it without documenting things. It's don't do it without
agreements upfront. And you set a key phrase. I think,
how'd you say it about? You know, you implied when
things go bad, and they often do.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
When things are going well, no one looks at the paperwork, right,
they know how processes are going and people are going
out to lunch, smiles, phone calls of you're doing great.
It's when oh, we're not making enough money as we
thought we would, or things are moving slower. That's when
you start looking at the paperwork to say, okay, well
what are my options here? And it's not the best
(44:39):
place to be, but unfortunately it happens, and it happens
with some regular regularity. In business, not everything is a success.
There's failures, and then again there's a whole gray area
of might be failure, might be success, somewhere in the middle,
and again completely self interested. But having a process in
(44:59):
place is smart planning, and it again you don't need
to pay a ton for it, and against it can
be replicated. I call it institutional knowledge. The longer you
work with a professional that the easier it is for
he or you. Assist and that's really where we come
in again.
Speaker 5 (45:16):
So talk about business.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
So sorry, talk about the term outside general counsel for
those that don't know what that means.
Speaker 4 (45:23):
So in outside general counsel, it's really a term for
businesses that have legal.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
Needs but aren't going ongoing ongoing legal.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Needs, but aren't going to have an attorney on staff.
It doesn't make sense from a need, from a price
point to have an attorney inside the business. So what
you look for is again an attorney outside the business
that again can provide that council with as much regularity
as needed. So again it's not that every Monday there's
(45:53):
a call or a meeting. Again, there can be if
the client needs it. Is that probably the best use
of the time. No, unless there's a weekly impression. But
it's working. I call it the boomerang effect to an extent,
is that you have the relationship and when something comes up,
that's the boomerang coming.
Speaker 5 (46:11):
In and hey, this is a matter.
Speaker 4 (46:13):
It could be something our commercial landlord sent us some
paperwork to get looked at, or you've just had an
employee quit and sent this over. It can be anything,
but that's that's the come in and then we usually
will address it. If I can do it in house.
Speaker 5 (46:29):
Great.
Speaker 4 (46:29):
If again, let's say it's an employment situation, I do
I call employment light. But if again an employee files
a lawsuit, we're not helping. So again we'll get them
to the right professional that will assist in that moment.
And then again once the matter is resolved, or maybe
it's a contract situation, but it's done. Again, that's the
boomerang boomerang zooming out and maybe they come back a week,
(46:53):
a month, six months, but it's really as an as
needed relationship. But again, you have what I call institutional knowledge,
which is okay, this is why things are done, or.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Is you're not starting all over again understanding the wise.
Speaker 4 (47:07):
Yeah, this is why we handle it this way. But
this is why we're not handling it that way. It's
it's that ability, which again brings i'd say a lot
of value. The longer it goes on, wall costs get
cut down.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
So it's all those events that take place, it's all
those transactions that might seem minor. Lease right, seems minor,
but it's a lot of pages.
Speaker 4 (47:32):
A lot of pages. And again, if you've got a
personal guarantee and you're the owner. I mean that means
you're you're responsible for it just as much. Again, the
lease work we do is also with companies where there's
what we call buildouts. So it could be a medical practice,
could be retailed, but again that that's basically a construction
agreement inside a lease. And again you want to make
(47:54):
sure it's going along the same time. And then also
with that, who's paying What is the lord paying fully
for the build out? Are you paying twenty percent, they're
paying eighty percent? If so, are you doing it at
the same time or as you're the first twenty and
they're the last eighty.
Speaker 5 (48:09):
Things like that matter, and again PaperWorks nerves. But that's what.
Speaker 4 (48:13):
We look at and that's what we do because there's
reasons for it, and it's always kind of the bodyguard
of protecting the business and the business owner. That again
there's a cost of doing business and putting yourself out there,
but making sure that you're aware of your risks and
you're not taking more risks than you should.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
All right, believe it or not, we only have time
for a couple of more questions. First, what do you
is kind of a big one, but what are you
most proud of in your career thus far.
Speaker 4 (48:41):
Thus far, I'd say the entrepreneurial aspect and realizing and
again I'm nothing special, but again it's we're professional service provider.
We have to the floor is providing good quality service.
Beyond that, it's it's the business aspect of it. It
(49:01):
is sales, marketing growth and that's been something in my
career and I'm focusing on now again of how to
build a business in addition to being an attorney, and
this business is a law firm and that especially the
last years, the last couple of years has been a
great experience, a frustrating experience at times, but I feel
(49:24):
like where I'm at now in being able to build
something and again more than just a book of business,
but something that again there's others that are working here
at along for the ride.
Speaker 5 (49:36):
Is That's what I'm proud of.
Speaker 7 (49:37):
It.
Speaker 4 (49:37):
Again, we're nothing yet, but we're we're hopefully going to
build something in a little bit of our own model
and see how it works.
Speaker 3 (49:45):
Well. We're hearing good things. We are out of time.
He's Nick Lapresty and Lapresty at Laprestylaw dot com or
six one seven three five one four seven five four.
Reach out to him if you are a bit business
in need of legal assistance, whether it's specific or ongoing. Nick,
thank you very much. Thanks Kevin, You're quite welcome, and
(50:07):
thanks everybody for listening and watching. This is the show
about business and business challenges. If you've got concerns about
the sales effectiveness of your company, whether your sales team
is you or small or large, feel free to reach
out to me on Facebook or LinkedIn at Winning Business Radio.
You can drop me a note. That's Kevinatwinning Business Radio
dot com. We are Winning Incorporated, part of Sandler Training.
(50:29):
We say we develop sales teams into high achievers and
sales leaders into true coaches and mentors. We're not right
for everybody, but hey, maybe we should have a conversation.
That's up to you. Thanks as always to producer and
engineer Jan Thank you one for another job well done.
Please be sure to join us next week Monday, January thirteenth,
My guest is going to be Katie Dustin, president of
(50:50):
JED Insurance and Financial Services. Until then, this is Kevin Halliian.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
You've been listening to Winning Business Radio with your host
Kevin Helen. If you missed any part of this episode.
The podcast is available on Talk for Podcasting and iHeartRadio.
For more information and questions, go to Winning Business Radio
dot com or check us out on social media. Tune
in again next week and every Monday at four pm
Eastern Time to listen live to Winning Business Radio on
(51:20):
W four CY Radio w four cy dot com. Until then,
let's succeed where others have failed and win in business
with Kevin Halenan and Winning Business Radio
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