Mario Ciano’s “why” was to solve problems. He taught me that that was a lawyer’s fundamental job.
“The quicker we can get to the root of the problem,” he’d say, “the quicker we can resolve it and the quicker our client can move forward.”
Mario Ciano took over as the managing partner at a firm called Reminger and Reminger and grew that firm from 20-something lawyers to well over 100.
Mario was a kind, caring, compassionate lawyer who expected one thing from other lawyers who worked for him: to solve their clients’ problems.
If it was a good case, defend it to the end. If there was a problem, tell the client upfront and work to get the problem resolved.
Mario did not believe in work for work’s sake. Mario would always say, “We know the problem, now I leave it to you.” Everything had to have a purpose, and that purpose was to solve the problem. If what you were proposing would not help solve the problem, then don’t do it.
If you have had people in your life that lived with a singular clear purpose, that purpose cannot help but rub off on the people around you. I have rarely met people with such a singular clear purpose as Mario Ciano, and I can truly say that his purpose made an enormous impact on me in my life and in my career.