Family atmosphere promotes personal, business growth

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE: From left, Brenda L. Vucci, legal administrative assistant, Heidi K. Seddon, legal administrative assistant, and Peter V. Lacouture, partner, share a laugh at Robinson & Cole at One Financial Plaza in Providence. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
BUSINESS AND PLEASURE: From left, Brenda L. Vucci, legal administrative assistant, Heidi K. Seddon, legal administrative assistant, and Peter V. Lacouture, partner, share a laugh at Robinson & Cole at One Financial Plaza in Providence. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Friday at 5 p.m. is perhaps the most popular time of the workweek.

But at the Providence office of Robinson & Cole LLP, it’s not popular for the same reason – time to go home – as at many other places.

At the downtown law firm, no one’s rushing home. Instead, employees are gathering to unwind together and enjoy a well-earned social hour at the firm’s live at five.

“We don’t do it every week, but it’s nice to just relax at the end of a sometimes tough week,” said Patricia Igoe, a partner at Robinson & Cole who joined the firm to open the Providence office seven years ago. “Sometimes it’s not easy practicing the law, so you have to counter that with enjoyable things.”

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Of course, the promise of a Friday-evening break isn’t the only thing that makes Robinson & Cole the winner in Providence Business News’ Best Places to Work Small-Employer category.

Robinson & Cole, based in Hartford, Conn., concentrates on business affairs and business litigation and employs well over 350 full-time employees and about 200 attorneys, though at the Providence office there are 17 staff members.

Employees cite a combination of generous benefits, the foundation of a familial atmosphere and culture of employee value and community involvement among the reasons the law firm is an exceptional place to work.

“I’ve been very happy here,” said Igoe. “We’re a team that works together every day to deliver a good product to our clients and to make it a good and enjoyable place to work.”

Igoe and other partners at the firm consider its familial atmosphere a point of pride – and that includes recognizing that staff have commitments and lives outside of work that deserve as much as attention as life at the office does.

The firm is large, Igoe said, which allows it to deliver the necessary breadth of lawyers for clients. But it also is small enough, she said, that employees can enjoy a supportive environment that also is one where “you know everyone well.”

“I know several young attorneys who have children and coach (youth sports), and that sometimes is a time commitment in the late afternoon and we encourage and totally support that,” Igoe said. “It’s expected that we all have a life outside of the law and we want to be flexible.”

That sometimes translates into flexible hours – a practice not too common at law firms. For instance, one employee shifts hours so that he can walk his daughter to school every morning.

This kind of caring environment is exactly what drove partner Dan Sullivan to the company nearly 30 years ago. He moved from the firm’s Hartford base to Providence when the satellite office opened.

“I started with the firm right out of law school,” Sullivan said. “When I was interviewing, there was a very noticeable difference in terms of the personal interactions I saw. Here, they knew about each other’s kids.”

What’s kept Sullivan with Robinson & Cole is his feeling that this is a different kind of law firm.

“I’ve just had great opportunities to work on some great cases and great lawyers,” he said. “We will [soon] be celebrating one of our partners who has been with the firm for 50 years. While that’s not shocking to us, it’s becoming more and more unusual in the industry.”

Big anniversaries aren’t the only things that are celebrated at Robinson & Cole. During an annual staff appreciation week, each firm office designs daily events and lunches for its staff.

Then there’s the attractive health and vacation time package and opportunities to further education through a tuition reimbursement benefit.

In addition, the firm encourages charitable giving and often will get behind a cause that has a personal meaning to one of its employees.

The firm also helps to ensure the next generation of lawyers. Each year, they have a Roger Williams University first-year student for a summer clerk, selecting a candidate based on diversity. This year, the firm found two candidates so qualified they decided to have both for the internship.

“It’s specifically for diverse candidates who might have a tougher time, and it’s worked out so well. And, so far, everyone has kept with the law,” Igoe said. n

Employees in R.I.: 17

Daniel F. Sullivan, office partner in charge and leader of the Insurance & Reinsurance Group

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