Page 14 - Cleveland Vol 5 No 3

ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH
Phillip Ciano the renowned underbird international MBA program at Arizona State University. Before business school began, Ciano was recovering from knee surgery in Cleveland when his father suggested “clerking” in his rm while he waited for the fall semester to begin. Not only did that “summer job” ignite his fascination for the law but also provided the opportunity to rekindle a life-long friend-
ife rarely plays out precisely as we’ve planned. Sometimes, how- ever, a curve ball can prove to be
just the change-up we need. No one knows this better than one of Cleveland’s most suc- cessful and respected attorneys, Phillip “Phil” Ciano, co-founder and principal of Ciano and Goldwasser LLP.
Had the fates not interceded through a se- ries of events, the world might have gained one very sharp business person, but lost one of the most dynamic healthcare, sports and corporate lawyers it’s seen in a while. As the son of a very high-pro le and extremely suc- cessful attorney, Ciano was adamant from a very early age that a legal career - - especially in “big law” - - was not the path for him.
“I always said, ‘no way, I’m not even go- ing to try to step into my father’s shoes’,” he says with a wry grin. “But you know, we make plans and God laughs. Twenty-one years later, I’m sitting in one of our two law o ces with lawyers and sta who are literally like fam- ily. I couldn’t be happier with the way things worked out.”
It seems Ciano’s change of heart, indeed the passion for law he discovered, came about several years a er completing college while he was in between his initial work as an export trader and completing a post-graduate sab- batical at Tu s University’s esteemed Fletcher School of International Diplomacy. Ciano had recently applied and been accepted to
WRITTEN BY S SAN CUSHING
ship with Andrew “Andy” Goldwasser.
Ciano and Goldwasser had met as children, running around the law o ces their fathers had formed and grown from a modest six at- torneys to well over 100. As o en happens, they lost contact during their college years, but that was quickly recti ed that portentous summer. Working in the same o ces, they
easily picked up right where they’d le o .
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · OHIO · VOL. 5 NO. 3 14
Finding Law and the Adventure of a Lifetime
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