PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INTERVIEW
Growth catalyst South Jersey’s legal arena is poised to see increased demand in specific verticals, such as insurance coverage
Steven Poulathas Co-Managing Shareholder – Flaster Greenberg What regulatory or legislative initiatives are you closely monitoring? We’ve been on top of the SAFE Banking Act and marijuana legalization process in New Jersey and surrounding states. Flaster Greenberg has adapted and created new practice areas to be at the forefront of these new areas. In my particular practice area, in the midst of all of these relief acts and together with the change of the administration, there are significant tax provisions and related planning. In 4Q20, in anticipation of new legislation from the incoming Biden administration and the new Congress, we were extremely busy doing tax and estate planning. In light of significant tax reforms and other infrastructure bills that the federal government is considering, we are working closely with clients to monitor these legislative proposals and pursuing necessary planning and opportunities as appropriate.
How has demand shifted among your practice areas? COVID-19 created demand in certain practice areas within the employment space and to assist clients with the different governmental relief programs that were essential to keep many businesses running during these trying times. We guided our clients to assure they were able to operate under COVID restrictions, assure client and employee safety and, of course, respect people’s privacy. That has been a very busy area. The government was able to quickly respond and put out a variety of relief programs, such as the PPP loan program, credits and other opportunities to help sustain businesses. We quickly became experts in all those areas to accommodate and help our clients. Likewise, our expanded insurance coverage has been very active in assisting clients with various coverage and business interruption claims arising from COVID. 44
| Invest: South Jersey 2021 | PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
What are some of the distinguishing features of operating in the South Jersey region? We’ve been in Cherry Hill for almost 50 years. We are proud of our roots here. We find Cherry Hill strategic because our local contacts for family-owned businesses and even larger publicly traded businesses have roots within our footprint. It’s critical for us to connect to our local roots and give back. We have pursued several initiatives over the last couple of years related to diversity and other local efforts. What is your outlook for the near term? The outlook seems promising. While COVID presented unique challenges that we had to overcome, with all the changes in the law and different circumstances for lawyers, it keeps us busy. The key point is not just to deal with negative situations and resolve them. It’s about making an effort to create opportunities and ensure positive advancements for our clients.
