Page 12 - NYLS Magazine • 2016 • Vol 35, No. 1

In addition to developing programming internally, NYLS is branching out into new and unique relationships to expand offerings and opportunities beyond traditional legal study to its students and alumni. Last summer, New York Law School launched an agreement partnership with the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business enabling the upstate school to establish a home base at NYLS, close to New York City’s financial district, technology corridor, and civic center. By uniting institutions dedicated to business and legal education under one roof, NYLS is breaking the mold: these are the only co-located law and business schools in New York City. Never before
has there been a stronger need for law students to learn the fundamentals of business and finance, and NYLS is working with the Simon Business School to harness the synergies that exist between them and capitalize on NYLS’s prime location, with direct access to Wall Street, the City’s government offices, and the tech corridor.
When looking at the range of innovative programs and partnerships underway at New York Law School, it is readily apparent that entrepreneurship is as important as it has ever been. Not only are lawyers helping entrepreneurs, they are becoming entrepreneurs themselves.
Featured here are more extraordinary alumni accomplishments and successes.
Mark lapidus ’12
Head of Real Estate at WeWork
When he was in law school, Mark Lapidus came to a realization: “I realized that practice wasn’t for me.” He continued, “I can’t sit in a room behind a desk and review documents all day.”
So during his third year at New York Law School, Lapidus began a full-time job at a small, new company, WeWork, which provides shared office space and support for start-ups and other entrepreneurial workers. When Lapidus started WeWork it had four locations, but has now grown exponentially to include 66 locations in five countries. The company was recently valued at $10 billion.
Lapidus is responsible for WeWork’s global real estate portfolio. “I handle site selection in every market and oversee the lease negotiations between our counsel and the landlord’s counsel,” he said.
The education he received at New York Law School “was priceless,” Lapidus adds. “It really changes the way you attack a problem and come up with a solution. For me, the education was much more important than the practice of law.”
When Jeffrey Mullen began studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon, he expected to become an engineer. Instead, he joined a law firm. He worked as a patent agent, writing patent applications and working on patent office actions.
At night, he attended law school. “What’s so cool about New York Law School is you learn everything, from tax law to IP to torts to litigation,” Mullen said.
Soon after becoming an attorney, he thought it would be cool to start his own tech company.
He founded Dynamics Inc., a start-up that provides better, more secure credit cards. “Every time you swipe the card, the number on the card and its magnetic stripe changes,” he explained. Mullen patented his technology and overall has 150 patents for a variety of inventions.
10 NEw York Law ScHooL magazINE • 2016 • VOL. 35, NO. 1
Jeffrey Mullen ’05
Founder and CEO of Dynamics Inc.
David A. napp ’86
CEO of Carefree RV Resorts
After four years at a large and respected law firm, David Napp left the law and, in 1990, started his first real estate business. “I made some real money for the first time in my life,” he said.
Napp began his second real estate business in 1996. A 93 percent stake in it sold, in 2004, for a reported $69 million.
Napp’s current venture, Carefree RV Resorts, started with three RV parks in 2005. It now owns one hundred RV parks and senior manufactured home communities, with a projected 2015 revenue of $150 million.
Napp’s education at New York Law School and his experience practicing law have played a big part in his success. “It helps me to analyze fact patterns as they arise, focus on relevant matters, and put aside all the noise,” Napp said. “It helps me to run my business every day.”