[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/firm-news\/gross-mcginley-co-founder-and-namesake-malcolm-j-gross-to-retire-after-56-year-legal-career\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/firm-news\/gross-mcginley-co-founder-and-namesake-malcolm-j-gross-to-retire-after-56-year-legal-career\/","headline":"Gross McGinley Co-Founder and Namesake Malcolm J. Gross to Retire After 56-Year Legal Career","name":"Gross McGinley Co-Founder and Namesake Malcolm J. Gross to Retire After 56-Year Legal Career","description":"Dedicated Litigator, Lecturer, Historian, Mentor and Community Leader Leaves Lasting Impact December 15, 2021 \u2013 Malcolm J. […]","datePublished":"2021-12-15","dateModified":"2021-12-15","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/author\/deb\/#Person","name":"Deb Faulkinberry","url":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/author\/deb\/","identifier":46,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/MGMT-Deb-Faulkinberry-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/MGMT-Deb-Faulkinberry-150x150.jpg","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Gross McGinley, LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/logopng-00436945-e1531508982151.png","url":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/logopng-00436945-e1531508982151.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Malcolm-J-Gross-headshot.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Malcolm-J-Gross-headshot.jpg","height":800,"width":800},"url":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/firm-news\/gross-mcginley-co-founder-and-namesake-malcolm-j-gross-to-retire-after-56-year-legal-career\/","about":["Firm News"],"wordCount":1092,"articleBody":"Dedicated Litigator, Lecturer, Historian, Mentor and Community Leader Leaves Lasting ImpactDecember 15, 2021 \u2013 Malcolm J. Gross, who co-founded Lehigh Valley-based firm Gross McGinley, announced his retirement from legal practice. He will remain active at the firm in a mentorship role, as well as in the community as a lecturer and public speaker.After graduating from Muhlenberg College in 1962, Mal earned his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. He served as a law clerk for Justice Egan in 1965-1966, then completed his post-law school preceptorship with Allentown attorney Ray Brennan for two years. He started the law firm Gross & Brown, where he brought on Paul McGinley as an associate attorney. A few years later, Mal and Paul partnered to form the law firm of Gross McGinley & McGinley in downtown Allentown in 1976 with now Judge Carol McGinley. In 1985, they moved to the firm\u2019s current location in Crown Tower on Seventh Street in Allentown, where Mal has continued to practice as a counselor and litigator to hundreds of businesses and individuals.\u201cMal\u2019s reputation as a great litigator is well known.\u201d says Gross McGinley Managing Director Deb Faulkinberry. \u201cHe took on causes that weren\u2019t attractive or very profitable, because he believed wholeheartedly in them. If he believed in it, he fought for it.\u201dWithin the legal community, Mal was an active member in the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Bar Association of Lehigh County (past member, Board of Directors), Lehigh County Court Mediation Panel, Donald E. Wie and Barristers Inn, and Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (past member of the Hearing Committee and Disciplinary Board). In addition to several milestone cases, he won two of three appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout his career, he was named multiple times to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers lists, as well as selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America\u00a9. Honored by The Legal Intelligencer with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication and work in First Amendment and Media Law, Mal may be best known in the Lehigh Valley for his counsel and defense of the Morning Call.\u201cMal was responsible for pre-publication clearance of articles,\u201d recalled Paul McGinley co-founder of Gross McGinley. \u201cHe would review a journalist\u2019s content prior to publishing, to ensure it complied with the law, and spent many nights in the newsroom, checking facts and helping get articles ready for the next day. Mal was passionate about fair and accurate publishing. He was deeply and intellectually involved with First Amendment Law, as well as Right-to-Know requests, making sure the community had the information it needed.\u201d\u00a0In the Lehigh Valley, Mal was also deeply involved and connected with the non-profit community. In 2000, he was court-appointed to serve as a Trustee of the Harry C. Trexler Trust. He completed two 10-year terms before stepping down in 2020. He\u2019s also served in a leadership capacity with Lehigh County Historical Society, Da Vinci Science Center, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Sacred Heart Hospital, Muhlenberg College Board of Associates, and Lehigh Valley Business Partnership Coalition on Health Care. He and his wife Janet continue to support The Baum School of Art.\u201cHe was always part of community organizations, and instilled that mindset into the rest of the firm\u201d Gross McGinley Managing Partner Jack Gross. \u201cThat means you have to give up some of your time to do those things, but it\u2019s important. It\u2019s something Mal has stressed as a leader of Gross McGinley and that\u2019s embedded in our firm culture.\u201dAn avid reader and lover of history, Mal has lectured in law at Muhlenberg College, Cedar Crest College, and Lehigh University as well as in front of multiple Bar and community organizations, including the Lehigh County Historical Society, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Sigal Museum, and many others. In 2013, Mal published \u201cTwo Mayors and a Lawyer\u201d detailing the history and politics of Allentown through his eyes and his recollection of his grandfather and father, who both served as Allentown mayors.While Mal may not have served as an Allentown mayor, he made himself known in the downtown area. He served as a public defender and ran for Lehigh District Attorney twice. He used his experience and influence to provide mentorship opportunities to those inside and outside Gross McGinley.\u201cMal was a huge mentor to me and so many young attorneys,\u201d says Sam Cohen. \u201cHe would always take a meeting with anyone. He was never too busy to make time for someone in need of guidance, listening to others and building relationships in the community. He says hello to everyone, and he\u2019s been committed to being engaged in the community. He built his career on this.\u201dMal has served as a mentor to many lawyers and was an\u00a0inspiration for his son Jack Gross, the firm\u2019s managing partner, to become an attorney.\u201cI never wanted to be a lawyer,\u201d recalls Jack. \u201cAfter college, I started working at the firm and my dad had me involved in two big trials and when I saw what he actually did and the way he did, that\u2019s when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. He\u2019s interested and caring, and his clients know how much he cares about them. He\u2019s always recognized the key to success is having a relationship with his clients, so even if he didn\u2019t know the answer, he would find out and provide the best counsel he could. He\u2019s the best lawyer I know.\u201dIn his retirement, Mal will stay on as a mentor at Gross McGinley and will continue to lecture at tri-country bar events, as well as the Lehigh County Historical Society. He also plans to spend more time in his personal library, which contains a collection of approximately 5,000 books.\u201cOne of the best things about retirement is not having an alarm clock anymore,\u201d says Mal. \u201cI look forward to spending time with my family and giving lectures.\u201dGross McGinley gives Mal our deepest and sincerest thanks for his many years of faithful service to the firm and the community and wish him a long and fulfilling retirement!~~~Gross McGinley, LLP has served the Lehigh Valley and beyond for nearly 50 years. The firm\u2019s 35 attorneys provide sophisticated legal services to businesses large and small as well as individuals. With offices in Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon counties, Gross McGinley has steadily grown into one of the most comprehensive law firms in the region while remaining a consistent and reliable source of trusted counsel.Learn more about Gross McGinley, LLP at www.GrossMcGinley.com"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Resources","item":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Firm News","item":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/\/firm-news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Gross McGinley Co-Founder and Namesake Malcolm J. Gross to Retire After 56-Year Legal Career","item":"https:\/\/www.grossmcginley.com\/resources\/firm-news\/gross-mcginley-co-founder-and-namesake-malcolm-j-gross-to-retire-after-56-year-legal-career\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]