Taylor Colicchio LLP

Focus and practice areas

The work here splits in two: business transactions on one side, litigation on the other. Taylor Colicchio LLP keeps offices in Princeton, New Jersey and in New York City, and it describes itself as a full-service commercial and litigation firm. In my opinion, that pairing shapes how matters move, because the same firm that sets up a deal can also defend it if the deal goes to court.

The firm sorts its work into a handful of divisions. Three carry most of the load: Commercial Transactions and Finance, General Corporate, and Litigation and Appeals. A Restaurant and Hospitality group sits alongside them. Each area names a clear set of matters.

The transactional side of the firm's work

Commercial Transactions and Finance handles commercial real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial lending and mortgage banking. On the lending work, the firm represents lenders. That places the firm on the creditor's side of these deals, where the job usually means drafting loan terms and holding security for the money once it goes out. Real estate deals in the same group run on their own timelines, with title work and closings that a lender's counsel watches closely.

Mergers and acquisitions run through several stages, and a deal firm tends to touch each one. A buyer starts with a letter of intent, moves into due diligence on the target's books and contracts, then works toward a purchase agreement and a closing. The firm lists this work on both its transactions side and its corporate side, so a client can handle a purchase and the entity changes around it in the same place.

General Corporate covers the day-to-day legal needs of running a company. The named matters include business formation and entity selection, shareholder agreements, confidentiality and non-compete agreements, and commercial leases. The group also reaches securities law, environmental compliance, business franchising, intellectual property, and business succession and estate planning. A company can begin with entity choice and stay with the firm through its later contracts and planning.

How the firm handles disputes

Litigation and Appeals represents companies as defense counsel. The named categories include employment, railroad, creditors' rights, commercial, bankruptcy, and insurance matters. The group also takes civil rights, product and premium liability, environmental and toxic tort, and construction defect cases.

Defense work has its own rhythm. A company gets served, answers the complaint, then moves through discovery and motions before any trial date. Most business disputes settle along the way, so much of a defense lawyer's work happens in motions and negotiation. Appeals belong to the same group, so the firm can carry one matter through trial and then handle the appeal. That breadth of case types covers many industries, railroads and construction among them.

Who the firm represents

The client base spans private and public companies. The firm names Fortune 200 companies among them, along with non-profit organizations, financial institutions, and individuals. A client list at that scale usually brings steady transactional work, and the firm pairs it with matters for individuals. As a reviewer, I read that mix as a firm comfortable with both large corporate files and smaller individual ones.

Geography follows the offices. The firm's clients sit mainly in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and the firm serves clients elsewhere across the country. With a Princeton office and a New York City office, the firm covers two active commercial markets that sit about an hour apart. Work that crosses the state line between them can stay with one firm.

Franchising and business formation in practice

Business franchising and formation both sit under General Corporate, and both follow fairly set paths. A new owner usually picks an entity type first, such as an LLC or a corporation, then files formation papers with the state. Franchising adds a layer, because a franchisor works from a disclosure document and a franchise agreement that set out fees, territory, and brand rules.

The firm also keeps a Restaurant and Hospitality group. That focus lines up with the franchising and leasing work, since restaurant owners often sign commercial leases and buy into brands under detailed rules. These are general features of such matters, offered here as context for the practice areas the firm names.

Business succession and estate planning also sit in the corporate group, which fits a firm that forms companies. An owner who builds a business often needs a plan for passing it on, whether to family or to a buyer. That work ties back to the entity documents drafted at the start, so keeping both under one roof can save a later handoff.

The attorneys named on the site

Three attorneys appear by name on the firm's pages: Paul C. Taylor, Philip M. Colicchio, and Stephen B. Silverman. Two of those names, Taylor and Colicchio, also form the firm's name. The site does not list a founding year for the partnership.

The material adds up to a commercial and litigation firm with a New Jersey base and a New York office. In my opinion, the clearest thing the pages show is range: one firm that both forms companies and defends them in court. Paul C. Taylor and Philip M. Colicchio lend the firm its name, and Stephen B. Silverman rounds out the three attorneys it lists.

Individual attorney backgrounds

Paul C. Taylor earned his B.A. magna cum laude from Seton Hall University in 1981 and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984. He is a partner in the Princeton office and has also held an Of Counsel position with Korngut Paleudis LLC. His profile connects business law with commercial and residential real estate. It also identifies land use and zoning, securities and investment fraud, corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, and mortgage banking. I find the land use and zoning work worth noting because it adds a regulatory dimension to his real estate practice.

Philip M. Colicchio received his B.A. from Seton Hall University in 1981 and his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1984. He is also identified as a Princeton partner. His profile places mortgage banking beside debt restructuring, while his disputes practice includes commercial and real estate cases. Environmental and insurance litigation also appear in his record. Restaurant and hospitality law gives his business practice an industry-specific component.

Appellate and securities depth

Stephen B. Silverman earned his B.A. from Bucknell University in 1964 and his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1967. He is listed as a partner in Princeton. His profile covers litigation and appellate practice, with commercial and corporate law on the advisory side. Securities matters and mergers and acquisitions are also part of his stated work.

Silverman's combination of trial-level disputes and appeals is a distinct part of the attorney record. Appellate work requires close attention to the existing record, written briefs, and questions of legal error. The facts do not identify particular courts, reported decisions, or representative cases, so those details cannot be assessed from this listing.

How the attorney profiles fit together

The individual profiles give a clearer view of how files may be allocated. Taylor's record is closely tied to property transactions and business ownership matters. Colicchio's work joins finance-related matters with restructuring and several forms of litigation. Silverman's profile links appeals with corporate and securities law.

There is overlap among the lawyers, especially in business matters and mergers and acquisitions. Their profiles also identify separate concentrations that are easy to distinguish: Taylor has land use and zoning work, Colicchio has debt restructuring and restaurant law, and Silverman has appellate practice. The record does not state staffing arrangements, billing methods, or which partner leads a particular type of file. A prospective client would need to ask the firm how responsibility is assigned.