Shop Talk: Q&A with Mark L. Donahue, FTW
Photo/Christina H. Davis
Mark L. Donahue
President, Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple, Worcester
Mark L. Donahue has been practicing law at the Worcester law firm of Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple for more than 20 years. On Feb. 25, he was elected president of the firm and will serve a one year term helping to manage the 40-attorney firm. Here, he talks about his practice area and how it’s faring in the difficult economic conditions.
What are your responsibilities as president of the firm?
Our firm is run by an executive committee of five people and each year there’s a person who takes the responsibility of leading that group, and that’s the president. So, the responsibilities range from running the meetings to being the point person on a number of issues.
What brought you to practice law at FTW?
I came out to Fletcher Tilton in 1986. I had been practicing in the Boston area for five or six years before that. I came out to do real estate development and financing. That time period was kind of the first boom of the real estate market and the firm was looking to expand its practice in that area. I came out here and made it a home. Today, I do predominantly real estate developing which involves permitting, land usage, real estate financing and acquisition.
How’s your practice area doing given the real estate market?
It is a challenging period of time. We’re working with a number of clients trying to figure out a way to survive and get through what’s expected to be a lean 2009.
What are the biggest challenges your clients are facing? Is it financing?
We’re finding for those that want to make a move there’s capital available and it’s available across the spectrum with different types of lenders. The biggest challenge that we see in real estate right now is a lack of users, particularly at the residential level. Also, a fair amount of work that we had been doing recently had a large retail component to it. That market has simply evaporated.
Are there any bright spots?
Yes there are. Some businesses are taking the opportunity to expand their operations by moving into larger quarters or by moving from a rental to an ownership opportunity. The deals are predominantly users that are going to use the space themselves as opposed to investors. There has been an increase in people looking to buy believing that maybe there are distressed properties out there — sellers who have to sell. We’ve seen a little bit of an uptick in that area. But on the residential side there’s still the question of when the buyers going to come back to the market.
How does this real estate crash compare to the one you lived through in the 90s?
It’s different, I think. What we saw in the real estate field at least in the late 80s and early 90s was much more of a result of over expansion coupled with the failure of the banks that had been providing the lending. This time it’s just the lack of people willing to move forward to make purchases or make capital commitments, particularly in the residential and retail sectors. It’s much broader. I see it much more as a lack of confidence than a lack of structure.
Are there particular areas at FTW that are picking up where real estate is lagging?
Our employee or labor and employment group is getting busier by the day helping people going through the process of reducing their workforce. We have a group that works with lenders on workouts. They’re pretty busy. So, it’s often the old adage, the lawyers make money no matter what the economy is. I don’t know if it’s necessarily true, but I hope it is.
What’s your biggest challenge?
Internally, I think the biggest challenge now for our organization is to make sure that we take care of our people, who are our biggest asset. It’s about keeping them motivated and excited. You have to make your staff part of the team and show that as a team we can get through the challenges.
Mark L. Donahue, president of Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple, explains his favorite part of his job.
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