Town Attorney Reflects On Growth Of Region And Firm

Town Attorney David Grogins has watched the steady growth of Newtown over the past two decades since he opened the Danbury office of Cohen and Wolf, PC.

“The growth issues we face in Newtown are the same as other towns – open space, educational challenges, building initiatives, economic development and balance,” Mr Grogins said. “These problems require that we confront increasingly complex legal issues which are important not only to the towns and businesses of our communities, but also to our families.”

This year Cohen and Wolf, PC, is marking its 50th anniversary of its founding in Bridgeport. Mr Grogins joined the law firm in 1977 and established its Danbury office along with Neil Marcus, at a time when other, bigger firms ignored the area. At the time, Danbury was still part of the Bridgeport judicial district.

 Cohen and Wolf, PC, saw the opportunity to bring multiple expertise into the region and expanded the traditional practice areas, tax and estates, litigation, real estate, and corporate law, to fulfill the needs of the communities of the Housatonic Valley.

David Grogins was no stranger to the area. A native of Danbury previously involved in a family plumbing supply business, he completed his law degree at Boston College Law School and, after a few years of practice in Hartford, joined Cohen and Wolf and settled in Newtown with his wife, Suzanne. Here they built a house and raised two children, daughter Alison, now 25, a fashion designer in NYC, and son Jonathan, soon to be a medical student. Suzanne Grogins, an interior designer, retains a few private clients after recently selling the family business in Danbury.

Dave Grogins has been part of the town’s government and community life in Newtown for most of the past two decades. His positions include appointment as a member of the Board of Education, election to the Board of Tax Review, and membership in the Newtown Democratic Town Committee, as well as numerous charitable organizations. But it is in the area of town counsel where his contributions and those of the law firm, Cohen and Wolf, have made the greatest impact in Newtown, and various towns in the Housatonic Valley and the state.

 “Municipal practice goes hand in hand with change,” Mr Grogins said. “As a specialty it requires breadth of knowledge. Towns cannot afford to hire specialists in employment, land use, regulatory matters, and litigation. They are best served by hiring a firm that can accommodate the diverse requirements of municipal practice. We have been honing this expertise for years. The value of Cohen and Wolf’s work, where I practice law, is demonstrated by the fact that we are the town attorneys for Newtown, Ridgefield, Weston, and Wilton and handle special matters for Stamford, Westport, Meriden, and Easton.”

“I started out in the mid-80s in Newtown, then progressed to doing work for Jack Rosenthal’s administration,” Mr Grogins said. “I served through the Democrat and Republican administrations of 1990 and 1992, a fact which I think demonstrates that the benefit of a professional, experienced town counsel is greater than party affiliation. Cohen and Wolf stayed on for the administration of Herb Rosenthal, where we continue to serve the needs of Newtown. We look at the position of town attorney as a professional, impartial, and knowledgeable advisor to the town, not as a political job. Towns are better served with this approach.”

At Cohen and Wolf, PC, David Grogins also handles commercial real estate, planning and zoning, and corporate law, in addition to the municipal practice area. Founded in 1951 in Bridgeport, Cohen and Wolf has offices in Danbury, Bridgeport, Westport, and Stamford. The firm offers services in the areas of business transactions, commercial litigation, employment and labor, family and matrimonial, land use, municipal, personal injury law, physicians’ practice, real estate, securities, taxes, trusts, and estates.