Any experienced contractor or developer knows that a lasting structure depends on more than an ambitious design. It requires a solid foundation and the careful, day-to-day work of putting the pieces together.
The same is true when talented professionals join together in a new partnership, as Goetz Platzer LLP can successfully attest.
The attorneys from legacy law firms Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP (Goetz Fitzpatrick) and Platzer, Swergold, Goldberg, Katz, & Jaslow LLP (Platzer Swergold) joined to form a new firm, Goetz Platzer LLP, nearly two years ago on January 1, 2025.
The new firm brought together some 40 attorneys, combining Goetz Fitzpatrick’s core groups in construction law, commercial litigation, real estate and trusts and estates with complementary practice areas of commercial collections, finance and bankruptcy.
“We have an opportunity to exponentially expand the platforms of the firms,” Aaron Boyajian, managing partner of Goetz Platzer since its inception, and equity partner of Goetz Fitzpatrick since 2018, told Mann Report just a couple of months into the new firm’s existence. “We have the ability to really grow.”
Two years later, Boyajian reported, Goetz Platzer is continuing to find common and complementary ground in its practices, to expand and to create a new critical mass that is helping the firm participate in requests for proposals from major potential clients.
“We’ve been able to get our feet under us, to find out what’s working and what’s not,” Boyajian related. “We took the best of both firms and brought them into a new firm.”
Goetz Fitzpatrick was founded in 1967 as a boutique firm focusing on construction law and real estate, building a practice that served national and international owners, contractors, subcontractors, lenders and design firms in dispute resolution and litigation.
Platzer Swergold, also a boutique firm more than 50 years old, had focused on bankruptcy law, secured transactions, general corporate law, litigation, commercial collections and more. The firm had established a reputationfor excellence in the fields of bankruptcy law, debtor and creditor rights, insolvency, secured transactions, general corporate and commercial law, litigation and related legal matters.
The two firms had referred clients to each other for years. The idea was that each “group” could complementthe other to meet the needs of their clients. That ultimately came to fruition after very passionate discussions about what a new firm would look like, Boyajian said. From construction law and real estate to other core legal disciplines, the firm’s attorneys and staff provide the depth and breadth of expertise to meet needs that clients might otherwise have to turn to multiple firms to address.
For example, Platzer’s previous practice in collection work has been helpful in the litigation practice, one of Goetz’s chief practice areas. That crossover reflects a broader reality, in that legal problems rarely stay confined to a single discipline, and the ability to draw on experience across practice areas often makes the difference for clients.
“Sometimes we may have to think about things in a different way,” Boyajian said. “But we can apply the same practices and the same experience we’ve had on other matters. And we can use that across the whole firm as opposed to one or two siloed practice areas.”
The team has benefited, as well. Through collaboration, individual attorneys are working in practices that weren’t available to them prior to the integration. Eager new attorneys are bringing in new ways of thinking.
“Some of them practice a bit differently from how I practice,” he said. “They’re trying new things and being proactive.”
And some practices, including the trust and estates practice, chaired by Alison Arden Besunder, continue to grow beyond expectations, with a full team of attorneys and staff to handle matters from basic to complex planning to estate administration, fiduciary litigation and guardianship litigation in Supreme and Surrogate’s Court. This has been particularly instrumental for business clients with complex and advanced succession needs.
“It’s just taken off and exceeded our expectations beyond what we all initially imagined,” Boyajian reports. “Joining with another firm created a new subset of potential clients, and not just on the real estate side where the bulk of my practice resides. There is so much generational wealth, and now these generations who are holding that wealth are understanding how best to deploy it in varied ways.”
That generational wealth also creates demand across the firm’s core practices, as families and business owners look to structure and pass down what they’ve built for decades to come. Also growing is the commercial leasing side, which is picking up after a COVID-19-related pause, Boyajian reported.
The company is active on social media, and also regularly publishes blogs and analyses on its website, where individual attorneys offer overviews of such varied topics as New York City’s pied-à-terre tax act, New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act and more. And all of that expansion and cross-collaboration is widening Goetz Platzer’s client pool, including submitting RFPs for government entity and institutional financial firm work.
“With the backing and breadth of commercial litigation, banking, real estate and finance side all under one roof, we’ve been able to dip our toes into potential engagements we hadn’t been previously,” he said. “We think we can do the work of some of the bigger firms without the big firm cost.”
Completely integrating the two culturesis still a work in progress, though a top priority every day, Boyajian said. The group is still cutting through differing cultures, he acknowledged, especially among partners, many of whom were with the separate firms for decades.
“We did things the same way for a long time. This has allowed us to get outside our comfort zone, and the same goes for what was the Platzer side. As Goetz Platzer, we’ve taken the best of both, and are certainly seeing success,” Boyajian said. “With the number of new engagements coming in, as well as the work being done, the firm has maintained a very high standard of practice, which is something we’re proud of.”
The firm is planning more social events to encourage the team members to relate on a personal level and encourage collaboration.
“Every member of the organization has been awesome in the face of change and has embraced the change and the culture we’re trying to build,” he said. “We work hard and we’re having fun doing it.”
As with any growing firm, some turnover is inevitable, and a few associates identified opportunities that were a better fit for their own career goals. What matters, Boyajian said, is that the firm has more than filled those seats with strong new team members who are helping build on its foundation.
A new firm also has resulted in new digs. After Goetz Fitzpatrick’s 40 years at One Penn Plaza, Goetz Platzer relocated to 1325 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan earlier this year.
“Goetz Fitzpatrick’s years at One Penn Plaza coincided with significant milestones, culminating in 2025 with the joining of the attorneys from Goetz Fitzpatrick and Platzer Swergold to form Goetz Platzer LLP,” Boyajian said in that announcement. “This Goetz Platzer office relocation to 1325 Avenue of the Americas reflects both our growth and our commitment to providing an exceptional environment for our attorneys, staff and clients.”
For now, Goetz Platzer is taking a measured, disciplined approach to growth, focused on building on the momentum of the past two years before considering any additional firm-wide additions.
“Goetz Platzer is still new, and we’re being thoughtful about how we grow,” Boyajian continued. “We’re focused on getting the details right and building a firm where everything runs like clockwork, and I believe that positions us well for the right opportunities down the road.”
And that process is allowing the firm to thrive.
Even amid the wave of new clients and engagements, the firm has maintained a very high level of practice, a point of pride for Boyajian, and one he says leaves him confident in where Goetz Platzer is headed.
“In this market, clients want a firm that can move fast and handle complexity across real estate, construction, litigation and finance,” Boyajian said. “That’s exactly what we built, and it’s why we’re winning work we couldn’t have chased before.”
