Costello becomes CSG’s first female managing member

Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi named Patricia Costello managing member. She succeeds Daniel Schwartz, who after six years at the top post transitioned to chair of strategic planning and development.

Costello is the first woman to serve as the leading executive at the firm since its founding in 1972. In her new role, she will oversee CSG’s 285 employees, including 175 attorneys who bring in $90 million in revenue to offices in New Jersey and New York.

Schwartz will now manage some of the firm’s most pivotal projects, including the custom design and build-out of the firm’s new headquarters, dubbed as “the largest project” in its history.

Costello joined the firm in 2015 after serving as the assignment judge in Essex County for 10 years, where she supervised the county’s trial and municipal courts including more than 100,000 filings per year, 1,000 employees and a $55 million annual budget.

Though Costello is the firm’s first woman managing member, female leadership is common at the firm, as 58% of the firm’s practice group leaders are women, 50% of its C-suite management team are women, and 40% of the attorneys promoted to member in 2020 are women.

“I am tremendously honored to be chosen for this role at such a pivotal time in the firm’s history,” Costello said. “CSG’s growth has been the product of a focused and dedicated management team, and I look forward to leading the team as we continue our expansion in the coming years.”

“The Executive Committee is pleased to name Pat as the new managing member of the firm, and we are immensely thankful to Dan for his leadership through the past six years,” said Executive Committee member Frank Giantomasi. “We believe Pat’s management style and ability will help the firm continue to grow and thrive.”

In the last six years, Schwartz has led CSG through a period of growth in revenue, headcount and geographic footprint.

He transitioned the firm to a corporate management model, formalizing practice groups, firm leadership and key committees; and focused on bringing administrative talent in to support the firm’s growth.

“The development of the firm’s new state-of-the-art headquarters requires the full-time leadership of someone with a strong financial, operations and management background,” said Executive Committee member Jeff Chiesa. “We believe Dan is uniquely situated to bring this vision to fruition.”

Schwartz said that his more enjoyable and satisfying achievement in his 44 years of practice “beyond all of the noteworthy transactions I handled, has been serving as managing member of CSG.”

“The combination of addressing the business and financial issues of the firm, and working with our talented lawyers, administrators and staff on a daily basis, has been the highlight of my career,” he said.