By Chris Musillo
July 1, 2019marks ten years since Musillo Unkenholt began. America itself was founded on July 4, 1776. It was serendipitous to birth an immigrationlaw firm over the same week as the country itself was birthed. In celebration of our tenth birthday, MU willbe closed on Friday July 26. We will behaving a food and drink tasting event out of the office. We are being chauffeured toa number of cool places here in Cincinnati!
I hope that youwill indulge me with a little history on our special birthday.
Cindy Unkenholtand I launched the firm by choosing a name that continues to confuse the legalprofession: Musillo Unkenholt. VeryItalian, and very, very German.
Besides the twoof us, we started with five paralegals: Rita, Jenna, Amy, Kathryn, andMary. Three of these five are still hereat MU: Rita, Jenna, and Amy. The factthat I remain working with these three stars fills me with daily happiness.
These three setthe MU culture, and the others who work here embody it and enhance it. It is fashionable right now to talk about anoffice “growing” a culture. We have had agreat culture from MU’s first day. Weare creative and dedicated. We don’tcheat the work – we work hard. Everyonetakes tremendous pride and ownership over a successful case.
We are dedicated,and yet we have fun too. We go toballgames, happy hours, firm lunches, road trips, and parties. We give back to our community. We treat each other with immense respect. And we also eat a lot of cupcakes.
The culture isevident in a significant way: the long tenure of these special people. In ten years, we have never had an attorney quitthe law firm. We have had very fewparalegals leave the firm. Theconsistency of our team is because of the culture that is set by the people. Let me tell you a little about these amazingpeople.
In spite ofretiring a few years ago, Cindy remains one of my closest friends. It would have been impossible to start thisfirm without her. Her willingness totake this chance with me is something that will fill me for the rest of mylife. She supported me when I needed tobe supported. She also challenged mewhen I needed to be challenged. Some ofmy favorite memories with Cindy are the early days, when she and I workedthrough the processes that are necessary to start a business: websites, payroll,insurance, leases, budgets, bank accounts, and a thousand other things. I am so glad that she continues to be a partof the firm, regularly showing up at MU events.
These ten yearshave been a rich journey that would not have been rich without Rita, Jenna, andAmy. These three outstanding women arethe lifeblood of the firm. They haveworked on the hardest cases, and for the largest and most demanding clients. They have put in countless hours in these tenyears (As I type this, on a Saturday morning at my desk, Jenna is across thehall working on a case). I cannot thankthem enough.
Rita recently earneda promotion to become MUs Human Resource Manager, although she still pitches inas a paralegal during busy times. Shewas my first hire back in 1999. She hasa dedication, an energy, and a sense of ownership of MU that is incomparable. She is always the first one at the office, andsometimes, the last to leave.
Jenna constantlygoes far beyond what any employer should ask of her. Her passion for the work has brought clientsto tears of joy. These thankful clientshave sent her beautiful emails and gifts to recognize her part in making theirAmerican dream come true. Like Rita, Jenna’swork ethic is unbounded.
Amy has a unique senseof honing in on exactly what the client needs. It is most evident in herability to communicate confusing immigration concepts in a clean style. This ability has put many, many client’sminds at ease. But that’s not her onlytalent: Amy’s baking skills are responsible for the cupcakes.
Our attorney teamis outstanding. I was proud to inviteMaria into the partnership this past January. She has been at MU since 2011, and quickly fell into the MU way of doingthings. She is a smart, hardworkinglawyer, who has blossomed into much more than just a co-leader. She takes her leadership skills beyond the MUdoors. She founded the Cincinnati BarAssociation’s Immigration Committee. That proved so successful that they asked her to join the CBABoard. She teaches at the University ofCincinnati’s Law School as an Adjunct Professor. She came into the firm with a passion for immigrants– a passion that even drove her to marry one!
Anshu is our nextlongest tenured lawyer. Her ability to workthrough any problem with grace under fire is something that everyone shouldenvy. She never gets frazzled, no matterthe challenge in front of her. Sheconcentrates entirely on the solution. It’sremarkable. Maria and I can’t wait to bringher into the partnership.
Shabnam was ourfirst student law clerk that we offered the opportunity to join MU, a decisionthat has worked out so well that we repeated it with Allyson, Olivia, Rob, andsoon, Megan. John is our only lateralattorney, and we’re lucky that he left Montreal to come back to Cincinnati. This group shares strategies, and genuinelycares about each other’s success. Wehave great and productive attorney meetings where the energy for the workreally shows.
Beyond the threeoriginals, we have an enormously talented group of paralegals. Nicole was an old friend who took a few yearsaway from paralegal work, came back, and hasn’t missed a beat. She is laser-focused on getting cases filedand approved. We plucked Annalisa rightout of paralegal school and, as with Shabnam and the attorneys, has been such apleasure to work with that we repeated the practice with Heather, Candice,Julia, Ally, and Tyler.
Ana, Mary, Tina,Denna, Gwendolyn, Aigerim, and Tess, came to MU from a variety of differentbackgrounds. Some are immigrants or comefrom first-generation families. Some arenatives. All are Americans. And all are very much appreciated. Like the US itself, the diversity of our team’spersonality, race, gender, vibrancy, and background, enhances the experiencethat we all have with each other.
This entireexperience would be impossible without our inspiring clients. These businesses are not just from here inGreater Cincinnati, but from Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Iowa,California, Washington DC, Maine, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Pennsylvania,and, well now that I think about it, every state. We have even secured a visa for healthcareworker in rural Alaska.
Many of thebusiness clients started with us from the day that we opened the law firm’sdoors. Many started small and have developedinto exciting companies. Together theyemploy thousands of immigrants, and tens of thousands of Americans. They serve literally millions of people. They have grown as we have grown. The product of these client relationships isexponential.
The owners andleaders of these companies are not just business colleagues, but genuine friends. We call and email and text at weird hours andon weekends. I have been to many of theirhomes. I have met their spouses,children, and parents.
Our clients arefrom countless countries around the world, most often from the Philippines andIndia. I have worked with thousands ofwonderful people from these two lovely countries helping them achieve what myown family achieved a generation ago: legal passage to the US to a place thatlets them maximize their talents. I havehad the chance to visit both countries and have a deep appreciation for theirvalues and ethos, and maybe a little too much of an appreciation for theirfood.
Beyond these twoincredible countries, MU has worked with clients from nearly every country inEurope, much of Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Still we can do more. We have not yet immigrated any penguins fromAntarctica.
The next tenyears will be exciting. Immigration is adynamic area of law. We will be moving our office into larger space in the fall, having outgrown our home at 205 WFourth Street.
We have astalwart group of experienced employees who continue set a model tone. We have a collection of younger employees whoinfuse this place with enormous energy. Thankyou to everyone who has been a part of ten wonderful years. I can’t wait to see what happens over thenext ten.
With anincredible amount of thankfulness and gratitude,
Chris
Chris