We at Hartman Simons are thrilled to announce that Abbye Dalton has been made an equity partner. Abbye is a tremendous asset to our firm, and this designation is well-earned.
In today’s Four on Friday, we chat with Abbye about her practice, her decision to become a lawyer and what the summer may hold in store. Many thanks to Abbye for her time.
Tell us about your practice at Hartman Simons and what you do for the firm.
Dalton: My practice is focused primarily on development work, both on the retail tenant side as well as the developer side. On the retailer side, I’ve developed somewhat of a niche practice for restaurant and entertainment uses, and on the developer side, the majority of my clients are “preferred developers” for certain national retailers who focus on site development for those specific retailers with the goal of selling the property shortly after the tenant is open for business.
How did you originally decide to become a lawyer?
Dalton: I had a psychology degree — what else would I do?! I ended up going to law school when I found out it was much harder to get into a Ph.D. program in psych than it was to get into law school (and if I’m being honest, at 21 years old, spending three years in law school in Florida seemed like a good option compared to lots of others!).
Once in law school, Hartman Simons’ predecessor firm, Altman Kritzer & Levick, was the only firm I interviewed with for a summer job during my first year because I’d never been to Atlanta and it seemed like a fun place to spend a summer. Lucky for me, my now partner Jeremy Cohen came down to Gainesville to interview me and thought I’d be a good fit — turns out he was right. The rest is history, as they say!
You’ve been with Hartman Simons nearly your entire career, and now that you’re an equity partner, what do you like best about the firm?
Dalton: I’ve been with Hartman Simons and its predecessor firms my entire career actually, and now that I find myself owning part of this business, it sure seems likely that I will be here for the rest of my career as well. It’s pretty amazing in this day and age to be able to say that you’ve spent your entire career in one place.
People certainly come and go, but the core group of real estate attorneys has remained the same since the beginning, and the people are what make this firm a great place to work. Of course, in addition to great colleagues, I truly enjoy my clients (who have also become good friends), so as long as I’m doing this whole law thing, I couldn’t ask for better people to do it with.
Any vacation plans for this summer?
Dalton: Only in so far as I know I want to take one! In typical fashion, however, I haven’t gotten around to actually planning one. I’m sure we’ll end up at the beach somewhere — though with a 3-year-old and 1-year-old, “vacation” is a very relative term!