Just one year out of law school, former accounting major Adam Coleman is living the dream.
From his office in Philadelphia’s City Hall, the ’15 alumnus negotiates multi-million dollar contracts with investment fund managers across the globe.
“I just finished a private equity deal headquartered in the U.K.,” said Coleman, who had also recently been on the phone with a fund manager’s counsel in Switzerland.
As an assistant solicitor in the Pensions and Investments Division of the City Solicitor’s Office, Coleman also interacts with colleagues from the City Treasurer’s Office, the City Health and Commerce departments and even the Fire Department.
The job not only allows him to practice in the profession he was inspired to pursue since visiting the U.S. Supreme Court at age 12, but it’s given him high-level responsibilities at the very start of his career.
“I wouldn’t get this kind of hands-on experience in the private sector,” Coleman said. “You get to dig into this legal practice.”
Coleman and his colleagues make sure that some $4 billion in pension investments are managed in the best interests of some 66,000 pensioners.
Much of Coleman’s attention is focused on ensuring that the city’s contracts clearly spell out the fiduciary role and responsibilities borne by the fund managers.
“That’s where the legal and financial meet: the fiduciary duties,” Coleman said, adding that the city owes it to its pensioners to look out for their future financial interests
Coleman was well prepared to step into the role, having learned about fiduciary responsibilities from Professor Norman Stein, a leading expert on the topic who organized an entire symposium to mark the 40th anniversary of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
As an editor of the Drexel Law Review, which published a symposium issue on ERISA’s history in 2014, Coleman gained a thorough immersion in the topic.
The former Business and Entrepreneurship concentrator also credited Professor Karl Okamoto with giving him the analytical and negotiating skills to hammer out details of 100-plus page contracts with fund management companies.
“I feel like I was well prepared for everything I see,” Coleman said. “I don’t think there are any other law schools that have a business program quite like ours.”
Coleman also helps decide whether or not to ask outside counsel to pursue securities litigation matters on behalf of the city, and he serves as counsel to the pension fund board during benefit appeals hearings. He also fields right-to-know information requests from the public concerning municipal operations.
“Everything we do is public,” he said. “Everything we do has to be on the up and up.”
Coleman enjoys the camaraderie and mentorship he finds in the solicitor’s office, the regular and predictable hours and the lack of pressure to complete billable hours.
“I’m really excited to be where I am,” he said.