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SCOTT BARANCIKCesar Alvarez: President and chief executive, Greenberg Traurig, Miami
Q. In 1999 you told the St. Petersburg Times, "We need to be in Tampa. . . . We are missing out on much of Florida's economic growth by not being there." But your 21-office law firm, which just opened a branch in Dallas, still isn't here. Why?
It's not for lack of trying. I could've opened an office in Tampa a long time ago. But it would not have been with the kinds of people that we think would do well long-term. . . . At one time, we were really close, but we had just undertaken a significant expansion in the New York area, and one of the things I am always careful about is not to be expanding too rapidly in too many places, so we pulled back . . . We're pretty opportunistic. If a great opportunity happens in Dallas, we don't say, "We really can't take it on today, because we haven't done Tampa yet."
Q. Why is it important for Greenberg to be in Tampa?
We need Tampa to complete our Florida strategy. It is a very important part of the entire economic structure of Florida and the only major metropolitan area where we have no coverage . . . I don't want the only thing on my tombstone to say, "He did pretty well, but he didn't get us to Tampa." . . . On the other hand, to me, whether I get there this year or next year or two years from now is not that critical.
Q. How big of an office do you want in Tampa, and which legal practices?
To compete in Tampa, you are going to need somewhere between 50 and 100 lawyers. You would start with a smaller number and hopefully attract the right number of lawyers on a long-term basis. I think you need the same kind of practices you have in major service centers: corporate, real estate, litigation, some environmental, tax, public finance and governmental. . . . Generally, we don't acquire a firm whole. The cultural impact of acquiring a large law firm is something we have avoided so far.