David Mahlowitz
Title: Managing Attorney, Law Office of David J. Mahlowitz LLC
Age: 37
Experience: 8 years
Q: How did you go from being a loan originator to a Realtor to a conveyancing attorney?
A: I graduated from the University of Miami School of Business in 2002, just after September 11th. The financial markets all took a hit and all the firms enacted hiring freezes and I lost my job offer. I had a friend in Boston who was in mortgages and thought I’d be good at it. So, I interviewed and got hired on the spot and never looked back.
I did that for several years, and then in 2004 my friend and I started our own mortgage company. We had seven offices in four states and about 100 employees. In 2006, I started law school because as an entrepreneur I wanted to learn more about the legal side of things. I went full-time and I was a little older than the other students. I was working full-time also. In 2007, I sold out to my partner because I was so overwhelmed with school. It was a mutual decision. By 2008, after the crash, unfortunately things had gotten so bad, he shut the business down.
I graduated [from] law school in 2009, which was the single worst year to graduate from law school in Boston. The market was flooded with new grads. All the firms favored the Ivy League schools and I went to New England School of Law. I couldn’t get a job. I couldn’t even get an interview!
My wife’s parents live in Shanghai, so we moved to Shanghai. I didn’t speak a word of Chinese. I struggled my way in and around Shanghai, made some friends, did some amazing things and ended up working for a startup online game company as head of legal counsel and head of business development. They wanted me to help arrange and build a contract for a $20 million investment for the firm. It wasn’t what I liked to do and I was getting frustrated, so I came back and worked in New York City for a year doing foreclosure review work for J.P. Morgan Chase. I had come from all startups and mortgages. It made me want to go back into real estate and do things my way, maybe go back into real estate sales, which I did at Tai Tung Realty in Chinatown for several years in between doing mortgages. Nick Chau was a mentor for me. I sold a few houses here and there, learned a lot about customer service and how to show a property without being pushy.
Someone introduced me to an attorney named Lisa K. Morla, who said she’d help me out. She’d been doing it for 30 years and she wanted to give back and wanted to pass the torch. She is my mentor. She’s honest, ethical and does everything herself. She’s one of the best attorneys I know. She’s a great attorney. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. She taught me how to run my business. I didn’t realize how good she is until I saw what other attorneys are doing. She is amazing.
A lot of attorneys have paralegals on staff. The newer ones don’t have the experience of reading a title, entering information for the bank, understanding what a title commitment is, making sure you’re balancing for your IOLTA account, which is one of the most important things in our business. All that makes me a better attorney. When a client comes to me with a question, I don’t have to go back to my file to figure out what happened. I know everything that is going on with every client at all times. My phone number is my cell phone because I want people to be able to reach me whenever they need to. If I’m up, I answer the phone.
Q: Do you find it difficult to compete against the larger firms?
A: No way. I’m lean and mean. Those guys are 18-wheelers and I’m a Ferrari. They get a ton of business and make a ton of money, but they don’t have control. They have processes and protections and people making sure as best they can that they are compliant, but you never really know because it’s not you. I have low overhead, so I can charge less. I know everything that’s in my files. If I make a mistake, I can correct it very easily and it won’t come up in an audit three months from now. I want to grow my business, but I don’t want to grow it unless I can control it and know my people are fantastic. Your reputation is everything. If you don’t specialize, you’re never going to be the best at what you do.
Q: How do you differentiate yourself from all of the conveyancing attorneys out there?
A: Working well with others and doing a good job and being courteous is going to come back to help you in the future. That’s really important. I know who the good attorneys and Realtors are. It’s good to be a positive deal-facilitator, as opposed to being a deal-breaker. Your clients want to buy this property, so it’s not my job to throw a monkey wrench into the works. My job is to advise. To explain to them the risks. It’s up to them to make the decision. My job is to make sure it’s an informed decision. Attorneys who don’t specialize in real estate are often adversarial.
It’s really important to understand that the attorney you hire is a problem-solver who understands the law and is someone you can get in touch with at any time and someone you can work well with. You want someone who will represent you and your values. You want someone who will represent you in such a way that other people want to work with you.
Mahlowitz’s Five Favorite Activities:
- Hanging out with his wife, Jessica Harkiewicz, and his toddler son, Alexander
- Volunteering
- Eating
- Hiking (a must considering the amount of time spent at #3)
- Playing with his two Italian greyhounds, Loki and Enzo
