Attorney and Paralegal Recruitment Testimonial Video
What our Attorneys and Paralegals have to say about CGA Law Firm.
This video features Attorneys Larry Young, Rees Griffiths, Rebecca Shanaman, and Haley Rohrbaugh as well as Paralegals Julie Rosenau, Judith Becker, and Sonja Comegna.
Video Transcript
Larry Young: “Hi, my name is Larry Young. I chair our Firm’s Bankruptcy Department here at CGA and have been with the Firm since it was formed in 1989. We believe in exceptional legal services, so we’re looking for quality legal talent. We also believe, however, in the work-life balance so that you have an enjoyable family life. We also emphasize community involvement so that CGA is not just a law firm that is enclosed within itself, but participates actively in community service.”
Rees Griffiths: “I’m often asked why I came to York after seven years at Ivy-League institutions: four at the Wharton School, three at Harvard Law School. Law school was kind of a rat-race: early mornings; late at night; no room for my own life. First reason is I simply wanted my life back. I wanted to be able to go home at the end of the day, pursue my own interests, and have a life outside of work and I knew that wouldn’t happen in a major law firm in a big city where my only role would be to extract revenues, working endless hours, and hoping against hope that someday I would become a partner.”
Larry Young: “One of the unique features here at CGA is that while we work hard, we understand there’s a need for a work-life balance and so we want you to do good legal work – exceptional legal work – we want you to work hard, but we also want you to have a fulfilling family life and to be engaged in the community.”
Rebecca Shanaman: “-and everyone expects you, frankly, to take and enjoy those family moments like school recitals, children’s baseball games. That’s very encouraged here in a way that I did not find it to be in Chicago.”
Haley Rohrbaugh: “I have been here eight and a half years. I was a paralegal here for most of that and I went to law school at night and CGA really supported me. I had to leave early most days to get to class three nights a week. They really supported me in taking the bar, through the birth of my daughter, and after all of that, I came back and I was an attorney.”
Larry Young: “We also emphasize community involvement so that CGA is not just a law firm that is enclosed within itself, but participates actively in community service.”
Rebecca Shanaman: “One of the things that drew me to CGA was that board service was an expected requirement of all of their attorneys.”
Reese Griffths: “I spent many years on the local Salvation Army and Bell Socialization boards.”
Rebecca Shanaman: “As a former social worker, being able to give back to the community has always remained very important to me and the fact that work not only encourages it but frankly requires it was a real drawing card for me.”
Reese Griffiths: “It didn’t hurt that York had such a convenient location: near New York, near Philadelphia, near Washington, near Baltimore. I never had a problem fulfilling my interests in symphony, theatre, in the arts.”
Rebecca Shanaman: “Well I right now am chairing Creative York Board. It does a lot of things by fostering arts in the community. We have a gallery, which is really lovely, but we also do all this community outreach, teaching underserved children arts education that they might not otherwise get through Art in the Park and Teen Art House and other programs we put on throughout the year.”
Julie Rosenau: “In bankruptcy, we help people when they’re at their lowest point. We help people save their house, get back on their feet after they’ve had catastrophic injury or a divorce or the loss of a business, so it’s a great rebuilding time for them and our clients are very appreciative of what we do for them.”
Rebecca Shanaman: “What I’ve really liked about working at CGA, in addition to the people, as it’s one of the most supportive and warm environments I could ever imagine to practice law in, but in addition to that, I really enjoy that I can see the results of my work all around me in the community that I live in. In Chicago, I was often on big deals and the benefits of those deals were somewhat attenuated, whereas here I see when I do a commercial real estate deal downtown, I walk past that and I see the benefit that it brings when a formerly shabby-looking building is refurbished and bringing new life down here.”
Judith Becker: “I like working at CGA. I like the people. I like the location. I like the work that I do. It challenges me, it’s very diverse. I fill in wherever I’m needed and just happy to come to work and I plan on staying.”
Julie Rosenau: “-and I stay because we have a good team – a great team – I enjoy my coworkers and I enjoy the variety of the clients and the great results that we get for them.”
Reese Griffiths: “I have a chance to work on sophisticated, intellectually stimulating legal problems, not simply routine work, but yet I’m a member of a Firm that’s small enough that I can feel like I’m part of a family.”
Sonja Comegna: “This is the best place on earth to work.”
Rebecca Shanaman: “If you ask me why I stay at CGA, the answer’s pretty easy: it’s a supportive, warm environment that is committed to excellence. I practice with very smart people who are very committed to their clients and are very committed to the firm culture and after practicing at two or three other places, I can’t imagine a better fit for me and my values than CGA.”
