Micale names new partners

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Dec 14, 2001 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE - Frederick R. Micale will share the marquee with two new names as the firm of Micale, Stock, and Sobolevsky debuts. Linda J. Stock and Andre R. Sobolevsky became partners in early November, as the two-year-old firm renewed its focus on international business and technology law. Stock concentrates her practice on real estate and business law, while Russian-born Sobolevsky adds the "international" to the firm's international law practice. Other members of the Micale firm speak fluent Portuguese, German, French, and Spanish.

"This is certainly a cross-cultural law firm," says Micale.

Micale, Stock & Sobolevsky employs six attorneys at its offices in Syracuse's MONY Towers.

Having a native Russian speaker as a partner will help the firm in its business dealings on behalf of clients in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, says Micale. The firm represents several companies that are involved in international trade, as well as high-tech companies, such as software developers.

The Russian market, says Sobolevsky, has changed since the unstable days following the end of the Cold War. Moscow is comparable to Manhattan and London in its thirst for high-end consumer goods, he adds.

Business-friendly reforms such as a 13-percent flat tax and currency protections, says Sobolevsky, have made Moscow a destination for many Western companies over the past year. The market isn't only for big players, he stresses; small companies can also benefit from selling overseas.

Eastern Europe is also in need of technological upgrades for its communications systems, after 45 years of neglect. Some of the firm's clients are working to build new communications links in former Soviet republics.

The upgrade of communications, says Micale, allows companies anywhere to access international business opportunities. Data-processing companies in the United States have used communications links to allow foreign companies to access supercomputers over satellite links, he adds.

Despite the attraction more than one billion potential Chinese consumers hold for American business, Micale is convinced that Eastern Europe holds more promise for trade. Much of China, he argues, is underdeveloped and far from a consumer society, while Eastern Europe is closer in culture to the West.

Just as capital and goods flow across borders, people also must move in accordance with the law. Helping local and international clients get the right employees from across the globe has given the firm an expertise in immigration law, says Micale.

The ability to compete against larger firms in the international arena, says Micale, comes from relationships he's built over a 30-year career in law. The

personal relationships members of the firm develop, he says, may not show up as billable hours but pay off in other ways. Travel experiences are often better than book knowledge.

"We've already been to these places," says Micale, "not just read about them after we got a client."

Helen Teplitskaia, president of the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, visited Syracuse last month as a guest of the firm, soon after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Micale hopes relationships within the organization will bring future dividends for the firm and area businesses seeking to enter the Russian market.

During her visit, Teplitskaia met with local business leaders and toured the production facilities of L. & J.G. Stickley and Paul deLima. She says her hosts knew what they were talking about when discussing international business.

"They demonstrated a high level of familiarity with issues related to the Russian

market," says Teplitskaia.