Effective, sophisticated representation centered on Philadelphia’s diverse legal needs

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Francine Griesing is the founder and Managing Member of Griesing Law, a law firm based in Philadelphia. Founded in 2010, Griesing Law provides comprehensive legal services to the region’s leading government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations—including Fortune 500 companies. The firm’s services encompass practice areas ranging from employment and business transactions to government and regulatory affairs to intellectual property, higher education, telecommunications, real estate, and much more. In 2013, Griesing Law received the annual Law Firm MVP Award from the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. The following year, the firm was selected as SmartCEO Magazine’s Philadelphia Law Firm of the Year.

Francine Griesing spoke with Jeff Mack, of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, for this interview.

JEFF MACK: What sets Griesing Law apart?

FRANCINE GRIESING: People come to us because we’re capable, but we are also very financially economical for them. We give good value for the time spent, and we take personal attention very seriously. If you contact us, you know you’re going to get that call back or that email back very quickly. People often complain that’s not what they get from lawyers, so we make it our business to be on top of our game with respect to being responsive.

Q. Tell us about your co-founder and Griesing Law CTO Jessica Mazzeo.

A. Jessica Mazzeo was one of the three people who started the firm. She was initially our office manager, when there were two lawyers and an office manager. Jessica and I worked together for several years before founding the firm. We’ve been together now, almost a decade, and Jessica is still in her 30s so that tells you something. She’s now the Chief Operating Officer of Griesing Law. Anyone who has dealt with Jessica would attest to her extraordinary range of skills and what an asset she is to our team.

Jessica is representing the firm in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, which is a highly selective program of small businesses around the country that Goldman Sachs wants to inspire, support, encourage, and help grow. The program is intense. It requires enormous amounts of time and effort, and the goal is to help anyone participating in the program to take their business to the next level. We’ve taken our business pretty far on our own, but the thought was that we can always learn from the experts, and Goldman Sachs obviously is a premier entity to learn from. So, Jessica’s participating to see what they might think about how we can take our firm to an even bigger platform.

Q. Are there advantages to managing a small, tight-knit law firm?

A. One of the biggest rewards of managing a small law firm is my motto: Nothing feels as good as being your own boss. It kind of goes with nothing tastes as good as that thin feeling—two of my mantras. Nothing feels as good as being your own boss, but also nothing is as challenging and is as likely to keep you up at night as being your own boss. I love having my own business. I love having my brand that I’ve developed from nothing to something, and which people all over the city and the region know and associate with excellence, and responsiveness, and collegiality, and collaboration, and creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit.

I think that is what our brand has come to represent. I’m really proud of it and I’m really excited about it every day. I’m always thinking about what we’re going to do next, and brainstorming with my team about what we’re going to do next, but it is a daunting challenge because the reality is that at the end of every month, I’ve got to pay a very significant amount of rent, I have a lot of payroll, I have a lot of other expenses that go with running a firm that people wouldn’t realize—lots of insurance and the like. The buck stops here. The last person to get paid is the owner. It is a big challenge especially when you are used to getting a paycheck for most of your life, but I have found the challenge to be well worth it, given the rewards.

Connect with Francine on LinkedIn

Sponsored By:

ABOUT NEWMARK GRUBB KNIGHT FRANK

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) is one of the world's leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 12,800 professionals operate from more than 370 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.

With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.

NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets. BGC’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: BGCP). BGC also has an outstanding bond issuance of Senior Notes due June 15, 2042, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (NYSE: BGCA). BGC Partners is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please visit www.bgcpartners.com.

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If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contact edwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

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