Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | September 2, 2024 | wbjournal.com Boston Framingham Worcester BOWDITCH.COM BREAK THROUGH WITH BOWDITCH Like your business and your family, we've evolved but our roots are still planted in Worcester. Rely on a team of attorneys who are invested in the future of Central Massachusetts. Transactions | Regulatory | Dispute Resolution Estate Planning | Family Law | and more experience," Bus- sone said. "We're at over 50% female lawyers at this point. at's a far cry from 10 years ago." According to the American Bar Association, 39% of lawyers were female in 2023. Bowdtich will undergo further change, as the firm prepares to move from its longtime home at 311 Main St. to the Glass Tower at 446 Main St. in Worcester. "Moving to a new space is like when you finally sell your house. You clean it out; you move on," Shoro said. "I'm excited about the move, and I suspect other people in Worcester will be excited about moving to new space and that energy that you get from it." Younger talent now has the chance to move into more senior positions. "People are starting to get excited about the opportunities, because now they're thinking them through and understand how those will potentially play out for them," Shoro said. "We've been here for 110 years. We're not going anywhere." years is that we have done a lot so our revenue stream comes from lawyers across the firm," Bussone said. "We put business develop- ment resources across the firm, across the practice areas. We're not dependent on any one attorney like we used to be." Recognizing Bowditch was an aging firm, its leaders began adding to the ranks. Bowditch added 14 lawyers to its roster in 2024, said Shoro. "Our focus going forward is going to be on revitalizing the Worcester office," he said. "We're going to continue basi- cally on the same path that we started a number of years ago, trying to grow the firm and bring in new talented lawyers." New office, new chapter Expansion has allowed opportunities for Bowditch to assemble a roster to better reflect the community it serves, said Bussone. "We've been able to diversify our population, not just in practice areas but also in demographics and years of Ciavarra said in a July interview about the Prince Lobel expansion. "We have a lot of incredibly strong ties and feelings about [Bowditch] and the people we've worked with over the past de- cades. But nothing lasts forever." Refilling the ranks Despite the high-profile exo- dus, the top brass at Bowditch seem confident in their business model, as the 110-year-old firm looks to refill its ranks and continue to be among the most prominent Central Mass. law firms. Over a decade ago, the firm began proactively planning for its long-term vitality and talent growth, a process in- volving adding depth across its practice areas, ensuring no one lawyer played too big of a role in the firm's financial picture, said Tina Bussone, executive director of Bowditch. "e broader transition plan the firm has implemented over the last several F O C U S L AW & AC C O U N T I N G AiVi Nguyen worked for Bowditch for 15 years. Mark Borenstein worked for Bowditch for six years. Jared Fiore worked for Bowditch for nine years. Tim Monahan worked for Bowditch for six years. George Tetler worked for Bowditch for 42 years. He's been involved in the leadership of numerous other organizations over the decades, including the Worcester Coun- ty Bar Association, Clark University, the United Way of Central Massachusetts, Massport, and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. All of this made him the perfect point person for establishing Prince Lobel Worcester bonafides, along with Ciavar- ra, Tetler, Radigan, said Tateronis. "ose guys are a critical piece of it, because it wouldn't make sense for us to just state from Boston that we were arriving in Worcester and open for busi- ness," Tateronis said. "It's an opportunity to partner with the best of the best and do something I think will be big for our business but also has the potential to be game changing in the community." Angelini and Ciavarra made it clear they have no ill-will toward the firm they had spent a combined 96 years working for. Both noted they had differing opin- ions on decisions at Bowditch to expand into areas outside of business practices and beyond Worcester County. e main reason for their Bowdtich depar- ture, though, was the unique opportuni- ty to establish Prince Lobel in the city. "Most people don't even work for 40 or 50 years, nevermind in one place," Continued from previous page Doug Radigan worked for Bowditch for 16 years. W

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