Firm
A legacy of careful work.
§1 · Origin
Kowalski & Partners was founded in 1998 with a simple proposition: that a small, relationship-driven firm could deliver counsel of the same caliber as the largest practices — and could do so with the patience, candor, and continuity that big firms often cannot. Twenty-seven years on, that proposition is still the only thing we measure ourselves against.
We have stayed deliberately mid-sized. The partner who first picks up the phone is the partner who works the matter — not a name on a letterhead handed off to an associate the next morning. That continuity is, more than anything else, what clients return for.
§2 · Milestones
Five moments that shaped the firm.
1998
Founded
James Kowalski opens the firm with a single client and a small office on Madison Avenue.
2004
Litigation practice launched
Sarah Mitchell joins as senior counsel; the firm begins taking on commercial trial work.
2011
Real estate group formed
David Thornton brings the real estate practice; first $100M transaction closes in year one.
2017
International tax expansion
Robert Chen joins as Of Counsel, opening the firm's international tax controversy practice.
2022
Park Avenue offices
Firm relocates to 450 Park Avenue. Headcount grows to 18 attorneys and staff.
§3 · Reputation
Over the years, the recognitions have come — Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Chambers, AV-Preeminent — but the only ones we hang on the wall are the ones our clients told us mattered to them.
Super Lawyers
Best Lawyers in America
Chambers USA
Martindale-Hubbell AV