LAWYERS 7
Andreas Koutsoudakis: His passion to help people legally
By Stavros Marmarinos
Andreas Koutsoudakis is an attorney at the large firm of Koehler & Isaacs LLP, whose offices are located at 61 Broadway, in Manhattan, Tel. (917) 551-1317.
Among this company's clientele are many unions. The firm serves thousands of individuals with a variety of cases, both of personal and business nature.
The company employs 24 lawyers. Mr. Koutsoudakis is an attorney in the firm’s litigation division, which undertakes matters involving personal injury, employment-discrimination, civil rights, and other business matters.
Mr. Koutsoudakis had worked as a Legal Intern at this law firm about a year before attending Law School, and is working as an admitted attorney almost three years now.
He studied law in Miami and returned to New York thereafter.
"We have a lot of Greek clients," says Mr. Koutsoudakis. "I have grown up in restaurants, and I do know their issues well. That is why I have many clients from that industry. Some of our clients include restaurant-, diner-, and nightclub-owners, while others are employed by them."
Mr. Koutsoudakis’s father owns a restaurant in downtown Manhattan. "I worked at the restaurant with him, and that's where I learned what hard work stands for. From age 12, my father used to take me with him to open up the store in the morning". Both my parents come from Chania – a city in Crete, Greece. Mr. Koutsoudakis has lived in New York his entire life, and recently celebrated his first year of marriage.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
At the church of the Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas, he attended church on Sundays and went to the after-school Greek program where he learned to read, write and speak Greek.
"My teacher was Mrs. Emily Antonopoulou, whom I haven't seen for several years, but I do respect her very much, and I will always keep her in my heart." "She was an excellent teacher and a very nice person. In the beginning, us, the children, we thought that she was very strict, but later we realized that her only intention was to teach us everything about Hellenism and the Greek language appropriately. She corrected me often so that I learned Greek in the approved manner. She loved her students very much."
On this occasion, Mr. Koutsoudakis emphasized that he considers family a very important part of life, and that he has great respect for Greek traditions and customs. "These are important assets that do not lose their value with time," he argued. "There are other values that do change with time, but not these." “Nevertheless, the families, traditions, and language, unite us and give us a purpose in life. It is important to me that my children learn Greek, the Greek traditions and history, and also visit Greece during regularly in order to get to know the country and love it."
The name of Mr. Koutsoudakis's wife is Alexia, and she is Greek as well. Her father is from Athens and her mother from Crete. She is not a lawyer, but she works in the Brooklyn Criminal Court as a stenographer.
He regularly goes to Greece for vacation. In fact, he has been to Greece 13 times! Before he began his studies and work, he used to visit Greece every summer but his obligations later prevented him from traveling there as much as he wanted to.
How did Mr. Koutsoudakis decide he wanted to become a lawyer after all? "I was drawn to this profession from when I was a child, and I always believed that I wanted to become a lawyer, without having any particular reason for this preference.
Eventually, the desire to become a lawyer became clear. When I finished college, I considered the option of going to law school very seriously. I also considered the fact that my family owned a restaurant, and as an only child, I could easily work there. After all, I did like the restaurant business very much.
“Before going to Law School, I thought I‘d try Finance, since that is what I had studied in College. After doing so, I decided to find a job at a Law Firm, to see up close how this work is done, since we had no lawyers in our family, and I knew no lawyer whom I could ask any details about it. Consequently, I found the firm for which I currently work for. In less than a year, I was certain that this is what I wanted to do.
This was all after September 11, 2001. Having seen how my father's restaurant suffered following the attacks, and how in one day you can lose everything in that business, I decided I did not want my business to be dependent on factors outside my control. I knew I would not feel secure in my ability to provide for my own family.
I thought, at least if I went to law school and became a lawyer, I would always have my degree. If anything happened, my firm could relocate and continue to stay in business. This way, I would be able to offer everything my family needs.
I also thought of how my parents made it to the USA. My father came at the age of 14 with his sisters. They had nothing, as many Greeks did, who immigrated to the USA. However, due to his strong will-power he managed to progress.
He wanted to do something with his life. He managed to raise a family. We had a nice house. We traveled to Greece during the summer, and we were not deprived of anything. I thought that since my life has been easier than my father’s has, I would have no excuse not to achieve something better in my life.
Mr. Koutsoudakis is passionate about his work, and considers it an opportunity to help others.
"When I realize that somebody is experiencing serious difficulties and his life is depending on me, I do everything I can to handle his case the best possible way," he said. "I see large restaurant chains, for example, that do not face the same problems that small restaurant owners do, many of whom happen to be Greek. The large chains own dozens of restaurants and can afford many lawyers to solve their cases, something that is not achievable by small restaurant owners in case of misfortune. We see quite often small restaurants that are facing serious difficulties due to labor, immigration or IRS issues.”
“Personally, when I see a family is about to lose the business they have worked so hard for, it feels like somebody is going to prison without having committed any crime. When I handle such a case, I sometimes wake up at night and think about ways I could defend my client best. Since we also have a restaurant at which I have worked as well, I know first-hand what hard work is and what those people have gone through in order to achieve what they have. The new generation has a lot to learn from these hard-working people.”
Mr. Koutsoudakis wants to raise a proper family himself. "I hope, when the time comes for me to leave this world, to be able to say that I have done some good for the Hellenic-descent people and the Greeks," he underlined. "But since I live in America, this is the place I need to focus on and try to support this land as much as I can so that my parents and kids may look up to me with pride. I hope to have contributed to the Hellenic society myself."
Mr. Koutsoudakis is very happy with his profession and hopes to progress further in life, both as a professional and by helping others.
Mr. Koutsoudakis is also sits on the Board of the Cretan Association, Omonia Chapter, based in Astoria, as Second Treasurer and Legal Advisor. He is also a member of the Hellenic Lawyers Association of New York, as well as a member of other local and national bar associations.
When asked if he has any advice to young people, he stated, "If they have a goal in their lives they should not wait any longer but go for it! They should move forward while they are young and not wait until they get old. Greeks are strong. They have the support of their family, the Church, their community and associations. They should have no fear.”
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