On April 20, 2001, Goldberg Segalla — comprised then of a small handful of enterprising attorneys who shared a vision and deep trust in one another — swung its doors open for the very first time on Buffalo’s Niagara Square, where it occupied a not-yet-finished office space.

Inside, crews hammered away, building walls and workstations as staff of the newly formed firm worked feverishly to get things off the ground and up to speed while simultaneously sidestepping the on-going construction taking place around them.

Attorneys worked their files while sitting behind tables made from sheets of plywood. Founding partner Neil Goldberg, half of the firm’s namesake, didn’t even have a desk, working instead at a makeshift contraption fashioned out of two sawhorses.

“Even though our physical environment left something to be desired, the personal, interactive environment was so special,” founding partner Jack Freedenberg recalled of those early days. “I remember great enthusiasm and excitement. It was the seed from which the firm sprung.”

Twenty-five years later, Goldberg Segalla is now home to more than 500 attorneys in 23 major-metropolitan offices coast-to-coast across 11 states. Nationwide, the firm employs more than 1,000 people, including a workforce of 250 in Buffalo. And Goldberg Segalla is recognized as an Am Law 200 firm, placing it among the 200 highest-grossing law firms in the United States.

And those sawhorses? Well, their whereabouts are anybody’s guess.

“In April 2001, we were dreaming big and thinking, maybe, in 25 years, we’ll have 150 lawyers,” said founding partner Al D’Aquino. “Here we are 25 years later with more than 500 lawyers. So, it’s gone well and the key has always been bringing your A-game to every case, don’t rest on your laurels and bring up new lawyers to have that same attitude about the culture of the firm. And that’s what’s worked for us.”

For partner Chris Belter — who joined the firm a few months into its existence and who today serves as its chief operating officer — it was obvious that something was happening at Goldberg Segalla that wasn’t happening at other firms across the city.

“When I was approached by the folks here, they had a different energy, a different vibe about them. And they talked about wanting to build a firm that was looking to grow outside of Buffalo. That was interesting. It was not an opportunity that was going to exist anywhere else. Buffalo was, at that time, filled with what I would call small- and medium- sized firms and they had no aspirations of growing in any significance,” said Belter, who also serves on the firm’s management committee along with Hiring Partner Joe Hanna, and partners David Brown, Damon Gruber and Rod Janis.

According to Goldberg, “We developed a dynamic where instead of having a home office and then satellite offices in other states, we would have substantial offices in different locations.”

“Buffalo was an excellent place to organize and run a law firm,” added founding partner Tom Segalla. “But we soon realized that our clients had needs statewide and nationally, and we seized upon that opportunity to develop the firm beyond Buffalo.”

That national vision notwithstanding, there was also something else that stood out about the new firm, and that was its focus on workplace culture. Values, Segalla said, were going to be a cornerstone on which Goldberg Segalla would be built.

“Neil and I had known each other since 1971 when we were on The Law Review at the University of Buffalo,” he said. “And during that time, we recognized that we had the same work ethic and the same vision with respect to the practice of law. And we developed a trust, friendship and loyalty that is still present today. We wanted to develop a firm that had attorneys and staff that had the same attributes. And that started our vision to form a new firm.”

“If you have people who have divergent value structures,” said Goldberg, “it’s going to be much harder to maintain harmony and cohesiveness in the organization. The view at Goldberg Segalla was if we develop this best-practices, vibrant firm, we will do very well. But the most important thing is we’re going to enjoy it while we’re doing it because we enjoy being with each other.”

Joe Hanna said the firm’s unyielding focus on culture and its spirit of collaboration attracted him to Goldberg Segalla as a young associate directly out of law school.

“The firm had a different approach,” he said. “That focus and mentality of ‘we’re all on the same team’ was evident. We’re all in this together, and we’re all going to grow together. To grow up and learn in that environment is a great opportunity for a young lawyer.”

In starting a law firm from the ground up, Goldberg acknowledged that his concern for the well-being of his colleagues extended to their spouses and families whom he kept in mind continuously, knowing they would be “evaluating” the firm’s progress during those early days. And Segalla admitted he was “nervous” the day the firm opened its doors.

But founding partner Cheryl Possenti said the firm’s success was rooted in the fact that Neil and Tom’s vision was implemented “thoughtfully.”

“We grew carefully, adding people that we knew and trusted to make sure that the firm would thrive, and to make sure that our clients would also be well-serviced,” she said.

“Neil and Tom are both forces of nature to begin with,” said Freedenberg. “And because of their deep experience and stellar reputations, the clients didn’t hesitate to follow.”

Indeed, although Goldberg Segalla was a new firm, Neil Goldberg and Tom Segalla were nationally recognized lawyers. Goldberg was then serving as president of the Defense Research Institute – the largest organization of civil defense attorneys in the United States – while Segalla chaired DRI’s Insurance Law Committee and was a highly regarded insurance industry advocate. As such, their reputations were instrumental in propelling the firm’s growth, which was fast but strategic.

Soon, Goldberg Segalla offices opened across New York State in places such as Rochester, Albany, White Plains, Syracuse and eventually New York City. Expansion also included states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland. Growth then continued into the Midwest and Southeast, in cities like Chicago and St. Louis and states including North Carolina and Florida. A handful of offices were later opened in California, as well.

“Our growth has been fueled by clients and client needs and client requests and saying, ‘You know, we would really like to see you have an office in this area.’ And that’s really what the main driver is: client service,” said New York City-based partner Emilio Grillo.

Still, with that growth came challenges. An expansion into London did not work as planned. A significant investment in technology was needed to keep pace with the evolving legal landscape. Leadership needed to take a step back and reconsider the firm’s direction.

“COVID allowed us the opportunity to do that,” said Belter. “We navigated through a real tough time. We made hard decisions. And by the end of 2020, we had really gotten our house in order, and that allowed us to plan for future investment in the firm.”

Partner Caroline Berdzik, who was a member of the firm’s management committee during the pandemic, agreed.

“It was an extremely challenging time. And not only did our firm rise to the challenge, but I think we hit it out of the park,” she said. “It really gave us an opportunity to assess where we were from a technology perspective and to determine what we might need to do to upgrade.”

Since emerging from the pandemic in 2020, the firm’s attorney headcount has grown by more than 100. A new office was opened in San Francisco and Delaware, and a new Defense Base Act and War Hazards Compensation Act practice group has been added. Substantial investments also have been made in technology.

“The world changed during COVID and so did Goldberg Segalla,” said Hanna. “We have become a bigger, better, stronger, and more transparent law firm and it has taken a total team effort to get us there. We’ve never been stronger than we are today.”

“We’re on very solid footing now as we move forward. Great financial footing, great culture, great lawyers,” added David Brown. “We’re spending a lot of time talking to clients about what their needs are and we’re very careful and deliberate about how we grow.”

Damon Gruber said the firm’s strength can also be measured by the fact that attorneys and staff are choosing to build and spend their careers here.

“To me,” he said, “that’s more important than any of the other factors that we’re looking at. The fact is that people are happy here. People like being here. People like being part of this.”

“I think the firm is incredibly well positioned for the future,” added Princeton-based partner David Osterman. “We’ve just been blessed. And I think we’re well positioned to hand it off to the next generation.”

Looking back over the past quarter century, Goldberg said the firm’s “peaks and valleys” have made its success that much more special.

“It wasn’t always easy, and we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought that any business endeavor is straight uphill. But the story of Goldberg Segalla is that it has been blessed beyond measure with great leaders who have the capacity to analyze challenges progressively and to deal with them in a way that has allowed the firm to survive and thrive in a world where many firms have failed.”

Segalla agreed.

“We still get tears in our eyes when we think about what we developed and where we are today. I’m proud of the management of the firm as I view it from my perspective. I’m proud of the lawyers of the firm. I’m proud of the staff of the firm,” he said. “Emotionally proud.”

“Tom and Neil,” said Belter, “are wonderful people. They’re great men. They were great lawyers. They started this firm knowing they were going to retire while this firm was on its upward trajectory, and they didn’t ask that the firm owe them some indebtedness beyond the day they worked. They retired and they turned over the keys to the rest of us. I want to do what they did. I want to hand this firm over better than when I found it and hand it over to the next generation.”

Reflecting on the last 25 years — a span during which Goldberg Segalla grew from a small, grassroots law firm in Buffalo, New York to one of prominence on the national legal stage — Belter said he takes great pride in all that’s been accomplished.

“Goldberg Segalla was really a startup,” he said. “To go from a handful of attorneys to a firm that has over 500 lawyers across the nation, it’s a great Buffalo success story, and I’m proud of it.”