By Chris Musillo
July 1, 2019
marks ten years since Musillo Unkenholt began.
America itself was founded on July 4, 1776. It was serendipitous to birth an immigration
law firm over the same week as the country itself was birthed. In celebration of our tenth birthday, MU will
be closed on Friday July 26. We will be
having a food and drink tasting event out of the office. We are being chauffeured to
a number of cool places here in Cincinnati!
I hope that you
will indulge me with a little history on our special birthday.
Cindy Unkenholt
and I launched the firm by choosing a name that continues to confuse the legal
profession: Musillo Unkenholt. Very
Italian, and very, very German.
Besides the two
of us, we started with five paralegals: Rita, Jenna, Amy, Kathryn, and
Mary. Three of these five are still here
at MU: Rita, Jenna, and Amy. The fact
that I remain working with these three stars fills me with daily happiness.
These three set
the MU culture, and the others who work here embody it and enhance it. It is fashionable right now to talk about an
office “growing” a culture. We have had a
great culture from MU’s first day. We
are creative and dedicated. We don’t
cheat the work – we work hard. Everyone
takes tremendous pride and ownership over a successful case.
We are dedicated,
and yet we have fun too. We go to
ballgames, 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 is
evident in a significant way: the long tenure of these special people. In ten years, we have never had an attorney quit
the law firm. We have had very few
paralegals leave the firm. The
consistency of our team is because of the culture that is set by the people. Let me tell you a little about these amazing
people.
In spite of
retiring a few years ago, Cindy remains one of my closest friends. It would have been impossible to start this
firm without her. Her willingness to
take this chance with me is something that will fill me for the rest of my
life. She supported me when I needed to
be supported. She also challenged me
when I needed to be challenged. Some of
my favorite memories with Cindy are the early days, when she and I worked
through 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 part
of the firm, regularly showing up at MU events.
These ten years
have been a rich journey that would not have been rich without Rita, Jenna, and
Amy. These three outstanding women are
the lifeblood of the firm. They have
worked on the hardest cases, and for the largest and most demanding clients. They have put in countless hours in these ten
years (As I type this, on a Saturday morning at my desk, Jenna is across the
hall working on a case). I cannot thank
them enough.
Rita recently earned
a promotion to become MUs Human Resource Manager, although she still pitches in
as a paralegal during busy times. She
was my first hire back in 1999. She has
a dedication, an energy, and a sense of ownership of MU that is incomparable. She is always the first one at the office, and
sometimes, the last to leave.
Jenna constantly
goes far beyond what any employer should ask of her. Her passion for the work has brought clients
to tears of joy. These thankful clients
have sent her beautiful emails and gifts to recognize her part in making their
American dream come true. Like Rita, Jenna’s
work ethic is unbounded.
Amy has a unique sense
of honing in on exactly what the client needs. It is most evident in her
ability to communicate confusing immigration concepts in a clean style. This ability has put many, many client’s
minds at ease. But that’s not her only
talent: Amy’s baking skills are responsible for the cupcakes.
Our attorney team
is outstanding. I was proud to invite
Maria into the partnership this past January.
She has been at MU since 2011, and quickly fell into the MU way of doing
things. She is a smart, hardworking
lawyer, who has blossomed into much more than just a co-leader. She takes her leadership skills beyond the MU
doors. She founded the Cincinnati Bar
Association’s Immigration Committee.
That proved so successful that they asked her to join the CBA
Board. She teaches at the University of
Cincinnati’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 next
longest tenured lawyer. Her ability to work
through any problem with grace under fire is something that everyone should
envy. She never gets frazzled, no matter
the challenge in front of her. She
concentrates entirely on the solution. It’s
remarkable. Maria and I can’t wait to bring
her into the partnership.
Shabnam was our
first student law clerk that we offered the opportunity to join MU, a decision
that has worked out so well that we repeated it with Allyson, Olivia, Rob, and
soon, Megan. John is our only lateral
attorney, and we’re lucky that he left Montreal to come back to Cincinnati. This group shares strategies, and genuinely
cares about each other’s success. We
have great and productive attorney meetings where the energy for the work
really shows.
Beyond the three
originals, we have an enormously talented group of paralegals. Nicole was an old friend who took a few years
away from paralegal work, came back, and hasn’t missed a beat. She is laser-focused on getting cases filed
and approved. We plucked Annalisa right
out of paralegal school and, as with Shabnam and the attorneys, has been such a
pleasure 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 different
backgrounds. Some are immigrants or come
from first-generation families. Some are
natives. All are Americans. And all are very much appreciated. Like the US itself, the diversity of our team’s
personality, race, gender, vibrancy, and background, enhances the experience
that we all have with each other.
This entire
experience would be impossible without our inspiring clients. These businesses are not just from here in
Greater 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 healthcare
worker in rural Alaska.
Many of the
business clients started with us from the day that we opened the law firm’s
doors. Many started small and have developed
into exciting companies. Together they
employ 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 is
exponential.
The owners and
leaders of these companies are not just business colleagues, but genuine friends. We call and email and text at weird hours and
on weekends. I have been to many of their
homes. I have met their spouses,
children, and parents.
Our clients are
from countless countries around the world, most often from the Philippines and
India. I have worked with thousands of
wonderful people from these two lovely countries helping them achieve what my
own family achieved a generation ago: legal passage to the US to a place that
lets them maximize their talents. I have
had the chance to visit both countries and have a deep appreciation for their
values and ethos, and maybe a little too much of an appreciation for their
food.
Beyond these two
incredible countries, MU has worked with clients from nearly every country in
Europe, much of Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Still we can do more. We have not yet immigrated any penguins from
Antarctica.
The next ten
years will be exciting. Immigration is a
dynamic area of law. We will be moving our office into larger space in the fall, having outgrown our home at 205 W
Fourth Street.
We have a
stalwart group of experienced employees who continue set a model tone. We have a collection of younger employees who
infuse this place with enormous energy. Thank
you to everyone who has been a part of ten wonderful years. I can’t wait to see what happens over the
next ten.
With an
incredible amount of thankfulness and gratitude,
Chris
