FEATURES / SEPTEMBER 1999

BIG FIRM, BIG CITY, BIG LIFE

By Bayard Stern
Managing editor
Florida State Times

Chris Jaskiewicz (B.S. '89) has landed a job at the law firm Proskauer Rose LLP in New York City - and he's thrilled.

"In my opinion Proskauer Rose is the finest law firm in the country," Jaskiewicz said from his office overlooking the Hudson River. Founded in 1875, Proskauer Rose is one of the nation's largest law firms with 500 attorneys in five U.S. offices and Paris. Jaskiewicz, 32, majored in communications and minored in business administration at Florida State. He was elected rush chairman at Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and started a voter registration drive for FSU student government. He was also in the Golden Key Society and Scalphunters. He worked in the successful Senate campaign of Republican Connie Mack.

"I absolutely loved Florida State," Jaskiewicz said. "It was an experience that has engendered long-term loyalty ... I felt confident coming out of Florida State that I could deal with real-world situations. I was prepared to go to court and be an advocate based on my experience in the Greek system and in student government."

Jaskiewicz

After Florida State, Chris went to Paris for a year and studied international business at American University. He came back to Florida and worked for Pepsico for two years as a district manager and decided to start law school.

"I was accepted to several good schools and chose St. John's University of Law," he said. "I wanted to study law in New York, and I have a lot of respect for St. John's Law graduates such as Bill Casey, Ron Brown and Governor Mario Cuomo." In law school Jaskiewicz had to compete with many law students from Ivy League schools, but he wasn't intimidated.

"Not only was I proud of Florida State - I think it prepared me the right way," he said. "After St. Johns I worked for a corporate and commercial litigation firm in New York City," he said. "It gave me the opportunity to go to court for trials, arbitrations, and other oral arguments. I've had the opportunity to make over 200 court appearances over the past three years, doing summary judgments and oral arguments."

His performance impressed the Proskauer Rose lawyers enough to check him out - which they did - thoroughly. Three months later, he's theirs, getting settled into his new firm. He likes it for many reasons and is particularly excited about its depth in entertainment and sports law. Proskauer Rose has clients such as Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the NBA, the New York City Ballet, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Shania Twain and Madonna.

So what does Jaskiewicz do at his new job? "I'm in the litigation department," he said. "We handle cases ranging from banking law to sports law and entertainment law. We deal with IPOs (initial public offerings) and mergers and acquisitions.

"It's a wide range of work. I serve as general counsel to three companies in the computer, financial service and Internet industries. I have a particular specialty in drafting personal service contracts."

Jaskiewicz is engaged to be married in September to another NYC attorney he met in law school, and he's showing her the way to become an FSU fan.

"Although she graduated from Villanova University, she loves Renegade," he said. "She watches all the FSU games with me and I've taken her to a game at the Meadowlands. Next year I will take her to Tallahassee, and the conversion will be complete."

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