We interrupt your programming for an update from New York, where we publish a robust real estate publication. We thought we'd do a crossover episode since we found a firm with a recession survival tale. Don't knowDuval & Stachenfeld?With the addition of a50threal estate attorney, they believe they're now thebiggestconcentration of such lawyers in New York City. Managing partnerBruce Stachenfeld(above with real estate chairTerri Adler) started building the firm 15 years ago with fellow Latham alumPatrick Duval. But Bruce says the biggest driver of its growth was a"gut-wrenching"decision during the recessionnot to downsize, but to wait it out andpreserve the talentthey had taken so much time to assemble and train. By 2009, he says, they were expanding again, stealing a march on firms that hesitated. Fast forward four years and they've doubled in size.

The firm's culture is fun and spirited: regular evenings devoted to ping pong,karaoke, and bowling; a"wine committee"to pick best labels for clients; and an innovation committee to"attack complacency." There's alsonimbleness in structure, including an "opportunity associate program" for recent law gradswithout the pedigreeof top schools: They can try out at a lower starting salary with the potential after a year or two to become afull associateat full pay. (And, of course, the right to join the rest of the firm at its yearly retreats inFlorida.)