Top Lawyers: Alex Talcott Of The New Constellation Capital Companies On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law

An Interview with Eric L. Pines

Be confident enough in your ability to navigate new challenges by saying aloud when people ask how work’s going, “What I’m trying to figure out is….” Laws of attraction will establish you as a problem solver.

The legal field is known to be extremely competitive. Lawyers are often smart, ambitious, and highly educated. That being said, what does it take to stand out and become a “Top Lawyer” in your specific field of law? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law”, we are talking to top lawyers who share what it takes to excel and stand out in your industry.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Talcott.

Alex Talcott is a real estate and private equity attorney in New Hampshire with investments in 16 other states and three foreign countries. He is an adjunct instructor at the University of New Hampshire’s business school and a graduate of Dartmouth College and Notre Dame Law School. Talcott serves on his State Housing Council and as a senior fellow for a community economic development nonprofit.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is the “backstory” that brought you to this particular career path in Law? Did you want to be an attorney “when you grew up”?

My mom has a photograph of me in fourth grade with my grandfather’s legal briefcase on my way to a mock trial competition. I take my thinking about a legal career back to third grade, when my state assemblyman in New York visited class. He showed us a piece of paper that was the bill he introduced in the legislature to clean up a local pond. I was the one student who asked for his autograph, and I have that signed bill to this day. It was an aha moment about how big things can get done around us. I already enjoyed writing, so that was a connection of how writing something could impact the real world. After college, it was either law school, editorial writing for a newspaper, or divinity school. My entire practice life has been in different capacities related to fair, lucrative financial deals.

Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?

I figure out contracts to build trust and teams for business ventures. Contracts were challenging courses for me in law school, taught traditionally by reading appellate decisions about prolonged disputes among parties to an obviously failed business arrangement. I prefer thinking about contracts as organizational steps to mark progress on doing something really worthwhile. There are a lot of ways to combine people’s investment of time, treasure, and talent toward an enterprise. Improving a piece of a land or a market take people working together.

You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1) I consume a large amount of information, driven by curiosity. I’ll credit a lot of that back to my mom, who’d bring my sisters and me to the public library for hours. We’d pleasure read a lot, and when it came time to doing research for a school project, we’d err on the side of over-reading. It wasn’t about finding “the answer” swiftly. We’d read the books to the left and right and all around the most on-point one on the shelf and wound up with better context and understanding of the topics.

2) I’ll self-ask critical “So what?” and Who/What/When/Where/Why/How questions to brainstorm implications and next steps.

3) My superpower is speed-reading. I taught myself how to do it from an ’80s infomercial and didn’t have to buy the course. Three decades later, I brushed up by learning “photo reading” techniques. It’s an unfair advantage, but I can read for comprehension faster than anyone I know.

Do you think you have had luck in your success? Can you explain what you mean?

My dad attributed his big break with a big accounting firm to luck, but he seriously showed up at an information session for a summer assistant position and was the only one there. I’m involved in a lot of civic causes and regularly meet people who are successful in their professional lives and giving back to the community. There was one political event where I put a prominent attendee I recognized on the spot in a parking lot about maybe loaning money for an affordable housing project; he became an equity partner within a week.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

Public schooling in an affluent New York suburb surrounded me with a lot of good nature and nurture. My classmates were highly ambitious and enriched. In college, I met and later married a prestigious prep school alumna And today we homeschool our three kids! Dartmouth and Notre Dame Law absolutely surrounded me with ever curious self-starters.

Based on the lessons you have learned from your experience, if you could go back in time and speak to your twenty-year-old self, what would you say? Would you do anything differently?

I’m thirteen years sober and could be twenty if I quit drinking then. I’d also go hiking and enjoy the great outdoors more.

This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?

My favorite Catholic hymn is “City of God.” I feel called to do my part to make my society as just and glorious as possible.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

With interest rates so high, I’m finding fewer worthwhile real estate acquisitions. I’ve chosen to instead develop some less capital-intensive projects, primarily tech startups that I found or join. I am general counsel, corporate counsel, or a Board member of a number of companies. They sound wide ranging but share private property rights and duties as key considerations: a program for beginner investors in alternative assets, two digital collectible collections (space and sports-themed NFTs), a nut farm in Africa.

Where do you go from here? Where do you aim to be in the next chapter of your career?

I want to be Willy Wonka and literally turn over the keys to my children, my students, and other bright-eyed people. I’ll help them get ready to take over.

Without sharing anything confidential, can you please share your most successful “war story”? Can you share the funniest?

I’ve studied and cared deeply about public policy. The times I’ve been called upon to brief senators, governors, members of Congress on areas of expertise in housing, finance, and political strategy have made me feel like I’m living up to my purpose.

My first courtroom appearances were before a senior, cantankerous judge in Chicago. If he didn’t like the law you were petitioning under but knew you were right and orderly, he’d sign the paper order and chuck it down at you from the bench in disgust. It was funny because I got the result for my firm’s client and it toughened me up to face any future unpleasant dispute settings.

Ok, fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing some advice for aspiring lawyers. Do you work remotely? Onsite? Or Hybrid? What do you think will be the future of how law offices operate? What do you prefer? Can you please explain what you mean?

I do my best thinking and advising on the move — walking or driving. I maintain a few offices and regularly visit with collaborators over meals and coffee. I like to have enough going on, and enough people in place to support, that I can wake up each day and work on any of a variety of projects. For the profession at large, I’d like to see more lawyers in-house, with ownership interests. I don’t like the idea of lawyers being called in reluctantly and late. Aligned interests by corporate structure mean that the lawyer is only raising issues calculated toward minimizing downside risk or maximizing upside earning.

How has the legal world changed since COVID? How do you think it might change in the near future? Can you explain what you mean?

COVID allowed asymmetric advancement by smaller practitioners. We didn’t have to wait on a policy from on high to allow us to travel. We went where and when we wanted and began and deepened relationships. Entrepreneurs and “intrapreneurs” within organizations are increasingly able to demonstrate whether they can be productive with greater freedom privileges.

Based on your experience, how can attorneys effectively leverage social media to build their practice?

Attorneys have the tendency to psych themselves out of making known to any social circle what they’re up to generally or how they might be helpful. Ask yourself whether you’re avoiding marketing because of genuine compliance or ethical concerns, or if it’s some other kind of anxiety or barrier.

There is straight-to-the-top networking happening on LinkedIn. You need not solicit legal clients; ideally you have other forms of business value-add to offer or other reasons to connect with a particular person. On Twitter, you’ll see pithy insights into values and pain points, as well as beat reporters. Twitter Spaces are wonderful for getting to know passionate creators in certain industries. Don’t do a Facebook page or a website blog unless you can commit to populating it with content regularly. Instagram allows you to tease out some projects with an image.

Excellent. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law?” Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Out-read the competition. People spend a lot of money on forced reading in school. There’s no excuse to not keep up on current events as reported through largely free media outlets. I’ve seen business students unaware of major employers moving into or out of their town and law students who can’t name the local congressman.
2. Socialize with business owners. You’ll get there without being sharky by becoming a frequent doer for whatever’s meaningful to you locally, like youth athletics or scouting. In New England we say, “If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.” Somehow the most successful business people are leaders in other domains. Winners!
3. Be wary of limiting your professional development and conference attendance to those where the attendees are precisely of your job title or immediate industry. Are there other places where you can go and stand out as resourceful to a group without so many lawyers?!
4. Invest in private equity when your personal portfolio has room for that sort of diversified allocation. Show that you believe in the types of businesses you service.
5. Be confident enough in your ability to navigate new challenges by saying aloud when people ask how work’s going, “What I’m trying to figure out is….” Laws of attraction will establish you as a problem solver.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

I would pray with the Pope for wisdom. In the small, First in the Nation Primary State of New Hampshire, I make it my business to meet most of the leading national political figures. So I’d go sacred with Pope Francis.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!

About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.

While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.

Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.

Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.