By Tasha Norman
Michael J. Hurley Jr., 51, Cassin & Cassin, New York.
Job title: Managing partner.
Practice area: Commercial mortgage-backed securities, balance sheet lending.
Law school and year of graduation: Fordham University School of Law (1997). I worked at Cassin during the day and attended law school in the evening.
How long have you been at the firm? I began my career at Cassin 30 years ago.
How long were you a partner at the firm before being promoted to firm leadership? I was promoted to partner in 2000 and joined the firm’s Executive Committee in 2003; appointed managing partner on Jan. 1, 2018 (a position that did not exist before 2018).
Were there any surprises you faced after becoming a leader at the firm? The coronavirus pandemic happened not long after I began my role as managing partner — which certainly presented some unexpected challenges. But what became immediately clear was there’s no playbook for being a leader. Like most law firms, we weren’t accustomed to working remotely for extended periods of time. But what we did have was a strong culture that was based on trust and a true sense of camaraderie. While I had spent my entire career at the firm, as a relatively new leader I knew I had to mobilize that culture to allow us to rally around each other. If there’s a surprise to take away from that, it’s this: if you trust your colleagues and team members and you hire smart people, then maybe you don’t need to have all the answers — the smart people you’ve surrounded yourself with can assist.
What’s been the biggest change, day to day, in your routine since becoming a leader at the firm? Almost everything changes, and little is routine. Your day is no longer spent solely on billable hours. Your “routine” becomes about touchpoints. You set an agenda, but it’s hard to stick to it, because you need to be able to pivot and address challenges our people and clients may be facing (and that was especially true during the pandemic), while keeping your eye on business development and the growth of the firm.
What do you think was the deciding point for the firm in elevating you to your current position? It sounds cliche, but I “grew up” here. I started my career at Cassin & Cassin almost 30 years ago and our founder, Joseph Cassin, was really a mentor to me from the start. Joe helped me develop what I’d call a “quiet confidence” where I am able to remain level-headed and view almost any challenge as an opportunity. Over nearly 30 years I’ve been able to work on every aspect of our business and really understand what drives the firm — from our culture to the unique needs of our clients.
What advice would you give to someone whose goal is to ascend to firm leadership? Show up and pay attention. What I mean by that is you need to be engaged and curious — not only about clients and the marketplace, but also the workings of your firm. You need to observe and learn from other leaders, both in your firm and across the profession. You can do that from afar by observing, but you also need to find opportunities to get involved so you can pick up leadership skills and learn the business of law, as opposed to just the practice of law, close up. That’s what I tried to do.
Who had the greatest influence in your career that helped propel you to your leadership role? That’s easy: our chairman and founding partner, Joe Cassin. I started at the firm before I even enrolled in law school. Joe helped teach me what they don’t teach you in law school, and that’s the business of law, especially the power of maintaining strong relationships with the people you work with, both internally and externally. Joe has always challenged me to get outside my comfort zone so I could learn and grow.
Knowing what you know now, if you had a chance to advise or mentor your younger self (at any stage), what advice would you give to yourself, and/or what would you do differently? Live in the moment. Take more chances. You can plan and predict where you want your career to go, but don’t assume that the path you’re on now will be where you’ll stay. If you work hard and make good decisions, things tend to work out. When I joined Cassin, I knew I wanted to go to law school, but I had no expectation that I’d become managing partner of the firm.
How do you keep your teams motivated during these unprecedented times? It really comes down to communication and transparency. During the pandemic we had weekly town halls, virtual lunches, online coffees with the managing partner — anything we could think of that would allow us to keep communicating with the entire firm and let everyone know what was going on. A key part of our culture is that our people feel and know they are part of something.
What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of? It’s certainly not my accomplishment alone, but I’d say it’s our firm’s culture. Our culture fosters entrepreneurship and is one of promotion and recognition, based on merit and not lockstep, which makes Cassin a special firm. We invest in and promote our attorneys at a young age, and we always have. In fact, I made partner when I was just 2½ years out of law school. We’ve created a firm that develops great talent and challenges our people to be the best they can be.
What’s the one characteristic that you believe every firm leader should possess? If I were to pick one characteristic, it would have to be humility. You can’t be a great leader without it. For me, that’s about being self-aware and recognizing that you don’t have to have all the answers. You need to surround yourself with people who bring forward a diverse range of thinking and never allow yourself to feel threatened by the contributions and achievements of others. There are other characteristics — like having a strategic vision, the courage to lead, empathy for others and integrity — but, without humility, all of those probably fall a little short.
What is the one behavior or trait that you have seen derail more leaders’ careers? Ego. Being a leader is about making others better; it’s not about being the best — it’s about making those around you better. When you put your self-interest first you let ego dictate the path forward and eventually, that can derail a career.
Pick three words and/or phrases or key elements you would like to focus on for 2022. Grow better not necessarily bigger — do what we do the best we can. Focus on culture and camaraderie. Develop our people — putting our people in a position where they can grow and step out of their comfort zone.
What’s the key to running a successful initiative in your opinion and, based on recent events, like COVID-19 and work-from-home policies, has your definition of success changed since 2020/2021? There was a time earlier in my career when I would have said that success equals survival. But that changes — you go through periods of time where maybe you define success in ways that in hindsight can be seen as personal and selfish. But as you grow, I think you learn that success is about being a part of seeing other people become successful. That has always been a key part of our culture at Cassin & Cassin. And what we all dealt with through COVID made that even stronger.
How I Made It To Managing Partner, Law.com
By Tasha Norman
Michael J. Hurley Jr., 51, Cassin & Cassin, New York.
Job title: Managing partner.
Practice area: Commercial mortgage-backed securities, balance sheet lending.
Law school and year of graduation: Fordham University School of Law (1997). I worked at Cassin during the day and attended law school in the evening.
How long have you been at the firm? I began my career at Cassin 30 years ago.
How long were you a partner at the firm before being promoted to firm leadership? I was promoted to partner in 2000 and joined the firm’s Executive Committee in 2003; appointed managing partner on Jan. 1, 2018 (a position that did not exist before 2018).
Were there any surprises you faced after becoming a leader at the firm? The coronavirus pandemic happened not long after I began my role as managing partner — which certainly presented some unexpected challenges. But what became immediately clear was there’s no playbook for being a leader. Like most law firms, we weren’t accustomed to working remotely for extended periods of time. But what we did have was a strong culture that was based on trust and a true sense of camaraderie. While I had spent my entire career at the firm, as a relatively new leader I knew I had to mobilize that culture to allow us to rally around each other. If there’s a surprise to take away from that, it’s this: if you trust your colleagues and team members and you hire smart people, then maybe you don’t need to have all the answers — the smart people you’ve surrounded yourself with can assist.
What’s been the biggest change, day to day, in your routine since becoming a leader at the firm? Almost everything changes, and little is routine. Your day is no longer spent solely on billable hours. Your “routine” becomes about touchpoints. You set an agenda, but it’s hard to stick to it, because you need to be able to pivot and address challenges our people and clients may be facing (and that was especially true during the pandemic), while keeping your eye on business development and the growth of the firm.
What do you think was the deciding point for the firm in elevating you to your current position? It sounds cliche, but I “grew up” here. I started my career at Cassin & Cassin almost 30 years ago and our founder, Joseph Cassin, was really a mentor to me from the start. Joe helped me develop what I’d call a “quiet confidence” where I am able to remain level-headed and view almost any challenge as an opportunity. Over nearly 30 years I’ve been able to work on every aspect of our business and really understand what drives the firm — from our culture to the unique needs of our clients.
What advice would you give to someone whose goal is to ascend to firm leadership? Show up and pay attention. What I mean by that is you need to be engaged and curious — not only about clients and the marketplace, but also the workings of your firm. You need to observe and learn from other leaders, both in your firm and across the profession. You can do that from afar by observing, but you also need to find opportunities to get involved so you can pick up leadership skills and learn the business of law, as opposed to just the practice of law, close up. That’s what I tried to do.
Who had the greatest influence in your career that helped propel you to your leadership role? That’s easy: our chairman and founding partner, Joe Cassin. I started at the firm before I even enrolled in law school. Joe helped teach me what they don’t teach you in law school, and that’s the business of law, especially the power of maintaining strong relationships with the people you work with, both internally and externally. Joe has always challenged me to get outside my comfort zone so I could learn and grow.
Knowing what you know now, if you had a chance to advise or mentor your younger self (at any stage), what advice would you give to yourself, and/or what would you do differently? Live in the moment. Take more chances. You can plan and predict where you want your career to go, but don’t assume that the path you’re on now will be where you’ll stay. If you work hard and make good decisions, things tend to work out. When I joined Cassin, I knew I wanted to go to law school, but I had no expectation that I’d become managing partner of the firm.
How do you keep your teams motivated during these unprecedented times? It really comes down to communication and transparency. During the pandemic we had weekly town halls, virtual lunches, online coffees with the managing partner — anything we could think of that would allow us to keep communicating with the entire firm and let everyone know what was going on. A key part of our culture is that our people feel and know they are part of something.
What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of? It’s certainly not my accomplishment alone, but I’d say it’s our firm’s culture. Our culture fosters entrepreneurship and is one of promotion and recognition, based on merit and not lockstep, which makes Cassin a special firm. We invest in and promote our attorneys at a young age, and we always have. In fact, I made partner when I was just 2½ years out of law school. We’ve created a firm that develops great talent and challenges our people to be the best they can be.
What’s the one characteristic that you believe every firm leader should possess? If I were to pick one characteristic, it would have to be humility. You can’t be a great leader without it. For me, that’s about being self-aware and recognizing that you don’t have to have all the answers. You need to surround yourself with people who bring forward a diverse range of thinking and never allow yourself to feel threatened by the contributions and achievements of others. There are other characteristics — like having a strategic vision, the courage to lead, empathy for others and integrity — but, without humility, all of those probably fall a little short.
What is the one behavior or trait that you have seen derail more leaders’ careers? Ego. Being a leader is about making others better; it’s not about being the best — it’s about making those around you better. When you put your self-interest first you let ego dictate the path forward and eventually, that can derail a career.
Pick three words and/or phrases or key elements you would like to focus on for 2022. Grow better not necessarily bigger — do what we do the best we can. Focus on culture and camaraderie. Develop our people — putting our people in a position where they can grow and step out of their comfort zone.
What’s the key to running a successful initiative in your opinion and, based on recent events, like COVID-19 and work-from-home policies, has your definition of success changed since 2020/2021? There was a time earlier in my career when I would have said that success equals survival. But that changes — you go through periods of time where maybe you define success in ways that in hindsight can be seen as personal and selfish. But as you grow, I think you learn that success is about being a part of seeing other people become successful. That has always been a key part of our culture at Cassin & Cassin. And what we all dealt with through COVID made that even stronger.
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CONTACT
Michael J. Hurley, Jr.
Managing Partner
212.798.0124
mhurley@cassinllp.com
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