Ask Paul S. Tagatac what he attributes his success in the legal field to over his impressive 33-year career and he points to what he jokingly refers to as his “tragic flaw.”

“I’m practical,” said the Hartford-based attorney who joined Goldberg Segalla in October as a partner to help expand the firm’s Employment and Labor practice in Connecticut. “I have built a career out of returning phone calls. And that sounds ridiculous to say, but when I call people back, they cannot imagine I’ve done so. I have had clients for 30 years who still comment on that: ‘I can always get you on the phone.’ That has tremendous value to them.

“I’m not a legalese guy. I don’t talk in statute numbers. I don’t talk in case citations,” he added. “I just talk to folks, like you and I are talking. ‘Conversation’ is the key word. It’s not an interrogation. ‘Tell me about what’s going on, tell me what happened with this person or that person, and we’ll figure everything out.’ That, to me, has been the approach that has helped me succeed since I’ve been practicing law.”

Paul’s commitment to fostering strong personal relationships and always being there for his clients whenever they need him is driven by his passion for the area of law on which he has focused the past four decades.

“When people say, ‘Oh, this is business, it’s not personal,’ — well, Labor and Employment is personal. It’s someone’s livelihood. It is inherently personal to an individual and I do not take that lightly,” said Paul. “I represent management and I am mindful of the interaction between individuals in the workplace. And that is of interest to me. It’s dynamic. You come across the same legal issues frequently, but the players and specific facts and circumstances are rarely identical when you are dealing with Employment and Labor matters because you are dealing with individuals and it’s just human nature.”

Paul said his decision to join Goldberg Segalla came down to a single factor: Opportunity.

“The biggest selling point for me was the opportunity to join Goldberg Segalla, a nationally respected firm with deep resources and countless attorneys with expertise, and with staff that can assist me in helping my clients,” he said. “And that’s really what it was.”

In return for the opportunity presented, Paul brings to Goldberg Segalla decades of experience, knowledge, and success, enhancing the firm’s already well-established national reputation for expertise in Employment and Labor law.

“I’m bringing experience of over 30 years in every aspect of Employment law: Day-to-day counseling. Discrimination. Wage and hour. Trials. Administrative complaints: whether it’s the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, collective bargaining — every facet,” said Paul.

“My biggest objective, is ‘what are you trying to do from a business standpoint?’ You’ll never get to the point where your decision is without some risk,” he added. “But you tell me what’s going on today, and why you picked up the phone and we can walk through a plan that will put you in the best position, so if you have to stand in front of a judge, a jury or an administrative officer, we can tell a very simple story as to why you took the action you took. And that is really key.”

Paul said partnering with clients on solutions rests at the heart of his approach.

“I’m going to tell you based on my experience: this is your legal obligation, and these are your options in terms of strategy. One may be riskier than the other. One may be exceedingly conservative. So, for me, client service is ensuring the client has an understanding of their legal position in layman’s terms. You came to me. You have a legal issue. Let’s talk about it,” Paul said. “I’m going to give you what is likely to happen and what your choices are, and you describe to me how you would like to proceed. But I would never dictate to a client what they should or should not do. I will tell them what I think, and then I will ask a lot of questions. You can learn a lot by being quiet and listening. I definitely take a collaborative approach.”