Your Business Is Their Business
Led by Vincent Carosella Jr., the legal team of Carosella & Associates P.C. offers informed solutions to the concerns that keep business owners awake at night.
As the owner and founder of West Chester-based law firm Carosella & Associates P.C., Vincent Carosella Jr. has what he considers a dream job. Technically he’s an attorney with a practice focused on business and corporate law, but he sees himself as something much simpler: a business owner who’s able to help other businesspeople solve the problems that keep them awake at night.
“I’ve seen just about everything a business owner can see,” Carosella says. “People often come into our office wrestling with situations that have them frustrated and on edge, and I’m able to see their problems from a different perspective. My job is to give them solutions and peace of mind.”
Carosella knew early on what he wanted to do with his life. As a young man, he found himself drawn to the business world—and, like every hungry entrepreneur, he also had the moxie to go out and get what he wanted.
Shortly after earning his undergraduate degree from Temple University, Carosella went looking for an established business he could purchase and grow into something greater. He found it in the form of a solid-waste company in Philadelphia, which he steadily built into a thriving enterprise. Early on, he found himself playing the dual role of “chief cook and bottle washer,” not only running the business at its highest level but also doing whatever other job was necessary—dispatcher, driver, mechanic, etc.—to get through the day. He learned by doing, but he was also smart enough to take advice from people he knew he could trust.
“I was 26 at the time and I knew nothing, so I learned however I could,” he recalls. “I appreciated the advice I was given, and some of that guidance I received back then was instrumental in helping me to grow the business and make it more profitable. I wound up selling that business for a significantly higher multiple compared to when I bought it.”
Carosella has run other businesses besides his law firm and the solid-waste company, including a plumbing, heating, and air conditioning outfit he purchased to “keep me occupied” while he was going through law school. Some of the most important lessons learned along the way came from a business attorney who wound up becoming an invaluable mentor. Now, as the owner of Carosella & Associates P.C., he’s happy to do the same for his clients.
“I enjoy talking about business,” he says. “I like it when an individual comes in here with an urge to grow their business but they don’t know how. I know how to do it, because I’ve lived it. The commodity may differ from one business to another, but the principles of every business are almost always the same.”
Carosella and his team of attorneys—some of whom previously ran firms of their own—help clients address business matters of every sort, ranging from mergers and acquisitions to estate planning and business succession, from zoning and construction to license transfers, and from immigration to intellectual property law. Besides business-specific concerns, the firm’s legal team can also assist clients with other legal needs, such as family law, criminal defense, bankruptcy, and foreclosure, as well as social security disability and general litigation matters.
Carosella & Associates’ legal team includes attorneys Christopher J. Amentas, Timothy J. Trott, and Gary E. Thompson, as well as attorney of counsel John J. Leary, plus longtime paralegals Katarina Tkacova and Diana Chryst. Carosella says each member of the team is committed to providing professional legal services, advice, and counseling of the highest standard. Each attorney works hard to accommodate clients’ hectic schedules, meaning late-evening office consultations and Saturday-morning conference calls are commonplace.
Carosella sees his firm as offering large-firm experience at a small-firm price. In the 25 years since founding Carosella & Associates after starting his career with a large Philadelphia firm with more than 130 attorneys, he and his fellow attorneys have served the needs of more than 5,400 clients.
“My past experience with a big firm was very helpful, but I think my greatest assets are my background in business and the unique skill sets of our associate attorneys and paralegals,” Carosella says. “Whenever a business owner comes into this office, I know how to help them because I lived it. Whether it’s a landscaper, an HVAC company, a plumber, or whatever business they may be in, I can put myself in their position, because I’ve been in their position before.”
His best advice to any business owner: If you’re unsure about the ramifications of a particular business decision, take a few minutes to consult an attorney like him before proceeding.
“It’s much less expensive to ask an attorney for advice than it is to hire one after you’ve gotten into trouble and now you need someone to fix it,” he says. “You’re talking about a few dollars for some solid advice versus spending a lot more time, energy, and money to have someone clean up a mess.”
Carosella & Associates P.C.
882 S. Matlack Street, Suite 101
West Chester, Pa.
(610) 431-3300
Photograph by Jody Robinson
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Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, July 2020.
