有料盒子

An office on South Street in the village of Cato is joining Chirco's firm of more than 38 years on Genesee Street in Auburn, and his daughter, Elizabeth Chirco, is joining him at the helm.聽

The Chircos recently sat down with 有料盒子 to talk about the past, present and future of what's now the first father-daughter law firm in Cayuga County.聽

Elizabeth said she was ready to step into her father's world after graduating from the聽Michigan State University College of Law in 2020.

"She got out of law school and said to me, 'Dad, give me a year, and I鈥檒l come back and take over, OK?'" Norm said.

"I said, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don鈥檛 you think I had something to say about who鈥檚 gonna take over my business?'"

Instead, he encouraged his second-oldest of four children to do something else for five years. She served three and a half as an intern and assistant district attorney in Broome County, then returned to the Auburn area in December 2023. So she ended up joining her father a little earlier than planned.聽

Between their family banter 鈥� Elizabeth said she's also there to make sure her father eats his lunch 鈥� she lauded Norm for his legal career, calling him "the hardest-working man" in the area. They will maintain that same balance between professionalism and familiarity at the office, and joked that they haven't argued nearly as much as they anticipated.

On several occasions the pride and respect they have for each other showed as they exchanged glances and smiles while the other was speaking.聽

"Since she's been here, she's given me new energy," he said.

"There鈥檚 no retiring," Elizabeth said. "He鈥檚 amping up."

'A voice for those who don't have a voice'

Both Chircos knew they wanted to be lawyers at young ages.

A lawyer, according to Norm, is a resource. People come to them for advice, and he wanted to be that person. But it wasn't an easy profession to get into, he said.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 not the smartest guy in the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a kind of average guy who somehow stumbled his way through law school.鈥�

Elizabeth, dismissing her father's self-deprecation, said that he took on as many cases as he could because he had a family to support. Instead of specializing in just one legal service, he learned several. Their firm continues to offer services in criminal law, family law, probate, real estate, workers鈥� compensation and more.

It's commonly believed that lawyers should have all the answers, the Chircos said, and some of Norm's clients have wanted to hire him for other legal issues. That led to a lot of on-the-job training, which is why his peers have called him "a dying breed," he said. Now, his daughter will continue that legacy.

Elizabeth said one of her father's custody cases is what convinced her to become a lawyer. The children were able to stay with the parent they wanted, a happy ending she wanted to provide to others.

鈥淵ou get to be a voice for those who don鈥檛 have a voice,鈥� she said.聽

Expanding to a second office in Cato will help the Chircos do that, they said, giving residents of the northern part of the county a closer option than Auburn, Syracuse or Oswego.聽

Norm described his daughter as 鈥渢ough,鈥� in no small part due to her growing up with three brothers.

鈥淚鈥檓 there if she needs support,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like when she was learning to walk. If she fell, she fell. She鈥檒l get back up.鈥�