Click here for Part I & Part II

Helping mid-market enterprises grow with a suite of legal services

Neil A. Cooper is Executive partner at Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld (RCCB), a Philadelphia law firm. Comprised of a diverse group of entrepreneurially minded attorneys, RCCB is dedicated to providing innovative solutions to emerging growth and middle market organizations, as well as executives, investors and high net worth individuals and families, with an emphasis on business insight and real world results. Neil leads the firm alongside his three co-founders: John E. Royer, Jr., Barry L. Cohen, and Roger J. Braunfeld. Prior to starting RCCB, and its predecessors, Neil was General Counsel of a publicly traded software company. He started his career at Morgan Lewis, a leading international law firm.

Neil Cooper spoke with Jeff Mack, Executive Managing Director at Newmark Grubb Frank, for this interview.

JEFF MACK: Tell us about your work with the Philadelphia–Israel Chamber of Commerce.

NEIL COOPER: I’m really excited about the Philadelphia Israel Chamber of Commerce. I have been involved for probably about a decade, but I had become more involved over the past year or so. I am on the executive committee and the board of directors, and I’m also a vice president of the organization. We’re seeing a lot of opportunities for Israeli companies to come to the United States and address broader markets. There’s a lot of technology development in Israel, and Israel is not a particularly large market, so once those companies have their products they need to find a way to find a larger distribution network for their products. Many of them do that by coming to the United States. We’re also seeing a lot of companies that are very interested in our region, and one of the competitive advantages I think this region has is access to customers. Some regions like Silicon Valley have a lot of the venture capital funds, and maybe Boston and New York has the financial services industry and angel investors. We have all of that here as well in smaller quantities, but what we do have that some of the other places don’t have in the same degree is companies who are willing to buy products and services from earlier stage and emerging growth companies and get them on their start and help them to launch.

Q. Take us through what you do at RCCB. What does your role entail?

A. The executive partner at RCCB is what a lot of people would refer to as the COO, so you make everything, you need to make sure that everything is happening in the way it needs to happen and in the timeframes that it needs to happen. It is a very challenging position in a growing company because there are always many different things that need to be addressed, ranging from new people and HR matters, technology matters, marketing, and so on. Of course, our number one priority is getting the work done for clients, and the list doesn’t really end. So, what I see is my job is making sure that everything is moving forward like it needs to move forward and that we’re getting things done so that we can continue to build a great organization. We also need to plan for the future and build infrastructure that’s going to serve us as we continue to grow the firm, both in numbers and geography.

Q. What’s your five-year plan?

A. While we believe we have a great start on being one of the leading corporate and transactional and business boutiques in the mid-Atlantic region, we’re going to continue to grow that both in numbers and in geography. In five years I would expect us to be in more markets including New York and probably one or two others, but the limit on our growth is going to be our culture because that’s the most important thing to us and in what we do for our clients. We want to make sure that they feel like they’re dealing with a different kind of law firm, which is giving them very intimate types of personal attention, and with people who have the training that they need when they need it. Also, for our people at the firm, we have a very fun culture—a hardworking but fun culture—and we want to make sure it stays that way.

Connect with Neil on LinkedIn

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.

Jeffrey E. Mack, Executive Managing Director

Jeffrey E. Mack is a senior leader in Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Philadelphia operation. Jeff has been a significant member of the commercial brokerage community in Philadelphia since 1979. He co-founded Smith Mack & Co. in 1984 and has continued to lease and sell more suburban office space than any other individual agent. He served as past chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Realtors, commercial and industrial division. NGKF acquired Smith Mack & Co. in 2012.

Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

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

Connect on LinkedIn