John A. Falk steps into leadership role at Faraci Lange

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Stephen G. Schwarz may be stepping aside from his role of managing partner at Faraci Lange Attorneys, but he’s not retiring.

“Some of my partners thought this was going to be a signal to the community that I’m done,” said Schwarz, who turned 68 earlier this month.

“I’m really not done yet. I have a bunch of really big cases that are set for trial, and that I’m still pursuing, that are going to take several years to complete,” he said.

The new managing partner is John A. Falk, who moved into the new position Jan. 1.

“I’m honored,” Falk said. “It’s a firm I’m very proud to be a part of.”

Falk received his law degree at the University of Dayton School of Law. His law career started as an assistant Monroe County District Attorney.

“When I went to law school, I always thought I wanted to do trial work and then when I was in law school, I interned for the deputy attorney general for Medicaid fraud. I really found it very very interesting at that point I definitely knew I wanted to be a prosecutor,” he said.

The trial experience he gained at the DA’s office “dovetailed really well here in terms of the litigation with the deposition and trial work,” Falk said.

Schwarz said Falk is “one of the most sincere, honest, and beloved people I think I’ve ever met.”

“John is one of those people who, no matter who encounters him, they come away with a feeling that he is a genuinely good person who has their interests at heart and is not going to mislead them in any way,” Schwarz said.

“As a result of that, he’s been tremendously successful. Many many lawyers and people in the community will refer people that need our type of work to him, and he has shown a great ability to produce for those people,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz, who has been managing partner since 1995, said it was the right time for a change because he’s at an age where retirement is probably in the future, “but not in the immediate future.”

“I thought that the best thing for the firm would be to have somebody come on as managing partner while I’m capable of supporting them and continuing to work as a partner, rather than waiting until the last minute when I’m retiring and have that change happen all at once,” he said.

Actually, his start date as managing partner is “sort of an estimate.” When he started at the firm “there really wasn’t much management,” he said.

Founder Angelo Faraci was more of an entrepreneur while Schwarz took on the role of systemizing the firm. But, because Faraci Lange is a relatively small firm, the job of managing partner has never been a full-time job. Schwarz always had a full caseload and Falk will also.

It’s also a manageable role because the firm hired chief operating officer Katrina L. Connelly in 2010. Connelly oversees all administrative and business-related operations of the firm for both the Rochester and Buffalo offices.

She is responsible for the accounting, finance, personnel administration, technology, and marketing, and also assists the managing partner and partners with the firm’s strategic plan.

Faraci Lange is a personal injury firm that started in 1968. Today it has 10 attorneys in an office suite at 1882 South Winton Road, in Brighton, and one lawyer in a Buffalo office.

“As a group, and as a firm, we are happy with where we are at. I think, if the opportunity arises with certain cases, we’ll grow,” Falk said.

Schwarz also said, “a change in leadership and having a new perspective is always a good thing.”

“People think differently. They see the world a little bit differently. I don’t think there’s going to be a big departure from the way we practiced, but there may be some small things that John decides are a good idea that he wants to promote,” Schwarz said.

His advice to Falk: “We can’t be afraid to fail. In our business — in any business — you have to take some chances. You have to do that in an informed way and make educated guesses.”

“That’s what we’ve done over the years. Since I’ve been in this role, we’ve taken some chances …  Sometimes the type of litigation, you can’t necessarily predict whether they’re going to be successful or not,” he said.

“The central advice that I gave him was to continue to look for new areas that we can expand into in an educated and informed way, but not to be stuck with the past and what we’ve done in the past because the world evolves and our business evolves too and we need to evolve with it,” Schwarz said.

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