By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

If Phillips Lytle LLP Managing Partner David McNamara is planning to have a cake to celebrate his firm's birthday in the fall, he'd better have the Buffalo Fire Department on standby, and plenty of folks ready to blow out the candles.

McNamara's firm is turning 175 this year. With the milestone anniversary will come a yearlong celebration looking back on the history of a firm that has counted a future president (Grover Cleveland), two postmaster generals and three state Supreme Court justices among its lawyers.

Local journalist Dick Hirsch is writing a book documenting the deep history of the firm. He hopes to complete it by September, when Phillips Lytle plans to hold the first of two big anniversary celebrations. He said his research for the project has opened his eyes to the significant role Phillips Lytle has played in the community over nearly two centuries.

"What I have found is, we don't realize how many changes have taken place in Buffalo over the last 100 years, and this firm really had to be able to react to those changes to survive," he explained. Hirsch said he thinks the way the firm is structured speaks to its ability to prosper for so long.

"This is a very young firm, and all of the partners are equal," he said. "There are no senior partners and junior partners; this is a democracy." McNamara said that dynamic has been "part of the culture of the firm for a long time."

What does McNamara think is the key to his firm's longevity?

"I believe the reason we have succeeded over the past 175 years is our ability to change and adapt," he said. He also shared a quote attributed to Orsamus Marshall, who founded the firm in 1834: "Accept great trusts and fulfill them with the utmost skill and fidelity in protecting our clients and serving our communities." McNamara called that philosophy the firm's mission statement.

Among the thousands of cases Phillips Lytle has handled over the years, McNamara said there are still a couple that stand out for the way that they shaped the growth and direction of the firm.

"We were instrumental in the efforts of Marine Midland Bank to formulate a credit card in the early days of the credit-card industry," he said. "That work really solidified our banking practice." He also pointed to the litigation over Love Canal, a former waste site in Niagara Falls, as a turning point in the modern history of the firm.

"Our involvement on behalf of Occidental (Petroleum Corporation) in the Love Canal litigation caused us to develop what has become a nationally recognized environmental-law group," he said.

With such a powerful presence in Buffalo and a reputation that precedes the firm, what would it be like for a young lawyer, fresh from law school, to walk through the doors of Phillips Lytle and apply for a job? Intimidating?

Not for Alexandra Townson, who joined the firm four years ago, straight from the University at Buffalo Law School.

"I had the opportunity to clerk for companies that were clients of the firm," she explained, "so I knew the reputation they had in the community and I thought, ‘Now that is where I want to be,' " Townson said. "Coming in, it really gave me a great opportunity to succeed."

McNamara said the firm is planning many events throughout the year at its seven offices, all of which are in New York state.