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45 November 2025 F E A T U R E S T O R Y November 2025 » focusing on providing legal services in an extraordinarily challenging state such as New York has many benefits to our clients. When you have a team that is ded- icated to focusing on all of the nuances of New York law, it translates to excellent performance and work product. At my firm, we not only teach our staff how to do certain aspects of their job, but we also want them to fully understand "why." Many times, we tell them to read case law—and this doesn't only apply to our attorneys. Even paralegals and legal assistants are taught here as if it were a law firm setting. I think the benefit for our clients is that we know the rules inside and out. Peter always teaches his staff when handling a file, "Imagine this is your own money—if settlement is not possible, how could you get your money back as soon as possible?" We're taught to zealously represent our clients, and where there is no settlement possible, to process the file by focusing on getting their money back as quickly and efficiently as possible. We are, of course, also taught to work with homeowners to ensure the best result in loss mitigation efforts. Q: As the one who supervises day-to-day operations, how do you balance managing client expectations while implementing your conditioned legal knowledge? As I mentioned, when no settlement is possible after exhausting all loss mitigation efforts, our goal is to get our clients' money back as soon as possible and as efficiently as possible. For us to do that, we have to know the law inside out and always think "outside the box" so we can expedite a foreclosure action. To meet our clients' expectations, we must know the law very well and use our experience to say, "We've done this in this other case," or "we've tried this before," or "we know what the title in- surance company is looking for," so that we are always aware of all options. Q: You are fluent in Chinese, Taiwanese, and conversational Spanish. How does this multilingual ability enhance client relationships, particularly in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world (New York)? I'm very grateful to be able to have a different cultural background, a differ- ent linguistic background. It helps me understand people in different ways. Multilingual ability helps, for example, when I'm pitching an idea to a Chinese-speaking bank, and they want to feel comfortable working with somebody who may understand their culture and background. However, our work product must always be excellent and top-notch. As for languages, it can help when you're meeting with different personnel or executives that might have similar backgrounds, or on the other hand, they might appreciate the fact that you are influenced by a variety of cultures. That, I think, is a great conversation piece. I love that I can encourage and moti- vate people of all backgrounds because I want them to come out of their shells. I want them to be empowered. That's a big thing for me. You have to work hard, and if you don't, somebody will come and take that place. It will not matter that you are multilingual, a minority, or female—if you don't work hard, you don't earn that place. Q: How do you foster strong working relationships? Communication is key. Our office puts a tremendous emphasis on being respon- sive. We have an internal rule that staff must respond to clients within 24 business hours, up to a maximum of 48 business hours, only if there's a valid reason. Q: What are the biggest lessons you have learned during your career? Be grateful. I am so grateful for every opportunity that I receive, and for every friendship that I've developed in this industry and in this field. Be genuine. Be a good person. Just being a good human goes such a long way. Again, I'm just so thankful—every opportunity, every person I speak with, I don't take it for granted. I did a panel for St. John's Law School where 500 students were there, and the topic was on race and leader- ship, amongst other things. I shared that I've been very blessed in my life—I've wanted to be an attorney since seventh grade. Because of my background, I feel that I can motivate people. Performance and work speak for themselves. If I can motivate somebody, then that's my biggest source of happiness. "Our office puts a tremendous emphasis on being responsive. We have an internal rule that staff must respond to clients within 24 business hours, up to a maximum of 48 business hours, only if there's a valid reason."

