Featured Lawyer: Alfred W. Coleman
Alfred W. Coleman
Principal
Gray Plant Mooty
What is your area of practice?
My practice primarily focuses on three areas; General Corporate representation where I provide sophisticated advice and counsel to emerging businesses and established domestic and multi-national companies on a variety of revenue generation and risk management projects; complex Mergers & Acquisitions; and Private Fund representation, generally leading fund formation activities for angel and venture focused funds, followed by ongoing outside general counsel representation of the funds.
How did you do it?
I have been fortunate to learn from excellent lawyers throughout my career who made significant sustained investments in my personal growth and development. Many of these attorneys not only provided opportunities for me to work on a variety of challenging projects, but they also took time to share practical tips and pointers on client counseling, practice management and business development. The culmination of the wisdom shared has allowed me to become a successful partner.
What do you do outside of the law?
While I greatly enjoy what I do, I try to spend most of my time outside of the office with my family. My wife Crystal and I enjoy traveling when our schedules permit. We recently visited Jamaica for our 10th wedding anniversary and have a family trip planned this spring to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Our kids are fairly active in scouting, and both my wife and I lead their troops. It’s a nice way to introduce them to the great outdoors, while giving back to our local community, and teaching skills that will last a lifetime.
When I get those rare moments of personal downtime, I enjoy trying to improve my terrible golf game at one of the public courses near our home or at a golf dome if it’s cold outside; or I try to find my way to a home game to cheer on the Vikings, Wolves or Gophers. I’ve got a growing collection of sports memorabilia from notable games and sporting events that I’ve attended, and hope to frame and add to my man-cave, someday.
Who were the people critical to your success?
No person is successful on their own. One of my favorite African Proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone; If you want to go far, go together.”
I’ve been blessed with a wonderfully supportive family that allows me to do what I enjoy. I spend a significant amount of time sharing my time, talent and treasure with others, and the support and encouragement of my loving wife Crystal makes that all possible. Our children provide daily inspiration to positively impact our community through my skills as an attorney. Because of them, I look forward to leaving this place a bit better than I inherited it so that they can go farther and do more than I ever imagined.
In addition to my family, I’ve also been blessed with numerous mentors, teachers, and great friends along the way that have invested in me, put me in the path of successful opportunities and relationships, and who also reminded me not to take life, nor myself, too seriously. I have tried to take the best traits and lessons learned from each of those talented individuals and incorporate it into my journey.
Last, but certainly not least, there are countless individuals at Gray Plant Mooty that support the amazingly rewarding projects that I assist clients with. From my assistant Stacy, who keeps me on task, to our amazing group of attorneys that work collaboratively to consistently seek ways to help clients achieve their goals and objectives. I have been blessed to “go far” with those that not only work extremely hard, but those who try even harder to have some fun along the way!