By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Cohen Lombardo attorney Jonathan Cox is logging a lot of extra hours in preparation for his biggest court appearance yet. He's been working roughly four to five nights per week since August along with a full team of colleagues, at times staying at it until midnight.

The veteran attorney says if he is going to be victorious in his latest court battle, it is going to come down to being prepared, being able to anticipate his opponent's next move and employing a good strategy. That and making sure his sneakers are laced up nice and tight.

An amateur tennis player, Cox is currently in Tuscon, Ariz., competing in the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) National Championship. For Cox, the tournament is the culmination of a lifelong love of a game he took up at age 9.

"My dad was an average tennis player, a social tennis player, and a lot of the guys I hung out with played, so it was a natural fit," he said. After three years on the Benett High School tennis squad, Cox got away from the game in college. As a young man, he found himself in Chicago, drifting away from the game he grew up on.

"None of my friends there played, so tennis sort of became a two-week-out-of-the-year sport for me," he said.

A chance encounter shortly after Cox returned to Buffalo in 2004 led to his return to the hard court after a 20-year layoff.

"I met (local tennis coach) Al Litto and he got me back into it, and I started playing USTA leagues," he said. "And it absolutely rekindled the love of the sport that I had when I was younger."

Resuming competitive tennis after a two decade hiatus was "like riding a bike," Cox said - although, at age 46 and with two reconstructive knee surgeries in his past, he is limited to doubles play.

"It's a much different game than singles," he said. "I think there is more strategy to it. You have to put more pressure on your opponent and force them to make the mistake."

Cox says the parallels between success on the tennis court and success as a litigator are plentiful.

"There are a whole lot of corollaries between the two," he said. "The fact that you have strategy, anticipation, you have to be able to read what your opponent is going to do. That's motion practice, that's trial work.

"I think it comes down to that competitive nature and lawyers whether or not they have these types of outside endeavors, are competitive," he added. "We all want to win."

Cox says the mental benefits he gets from playing tennis are as important as the physical ones.

"It helps keep me sane and it helps keep me grounded," he said. "That in itself may make me a better advocate for my client. It also allows me to have some time away from the stresses and strains the job can bring."

With two boys and a wife at home, Cox says he usually gets out just twice a week to play, though his family has seen a bit less of him lately as he and his team prepared for their trip west. The tournament marks Cox's first trip to a national competition, and followed a season in which his team went undefeated in league play, blew through the regionals in August and dominated the sectionals in Syracuse to earn their tickets to Tuscon.

To bring home the championship trophy from the desert, Cox and his teammates will have to outlast 16 other teams from across the country in the three-day tournament.

"We feel pretty good about our chances," he said, noting that the trip could be a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."

"To be able to compete at a game that I love playing and, though we're amateur players, to have it mean something," he said, "that's really, really cool, and it's something I'm very proud to be part of."