Ryan Alekman and Robert DiTusa

Partners, Alekman DiTusa, LLC

Beyond Helping Clients, They Have Created a Culture of Giving Back

Rob DiTusa (left) and Ryan Alekman    Photos by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

While talking about the culture of giving back that permeates their Springfield-based personal injury law firm, Ryan Alekman and Robert DiTusa brought up a new tradition — one that has been part of their last two Thanksgiving potluck lunches, and will continue going forward.

“Every staff member gets $100 with a letter that says, ‘you can do whatever you want with this $100. You can put it in your pocket, no shame; everyone’s got their own needs. But we ask that you consider paying it forward,’” Alekman explained.

A month later, at the firm’s holiday party, employees are asked to share, if they’d like, what they did with the money.

“Invariably, everybody has done something to give back to another person. Somebody will say, ‘I took that $100 and added my own $100 and I gave it away.’ And everybody’s clapping because they’re so excited that they work with people who think that way.”

DiTusa added, “it always shocks me, the diversity of things that people do. Somebody gave it to a stranger; they literally saw a stranger in need at a store, who didn’t look like they had much, and they paid it forward right there on the spot. They said the person was in tears. Other people say, ‘my church has a charity drive, or a toy drive.’ Somebody else said, ‘I brought my kid to Target and told him we’re buying toys today, but none of them are for you.’ They were showing their kid how to give back.

“The community has really embraced us; we have a very successful business, we help a lot of people, and that, by itself, is great. But watching everybody who works here have that same value set of wanting to make the world a better place … that’s fantastic.”

“It really does warm my heart to know how many lives you’re able to touch just by sending people out with $100 to do some good,” he said — just one way in which giving back to the community has become firmly embedded in the company culture.

“We’re very fortunate,” Alekman said. “The community has really embraced us; we have a very successful business, we help a lot of people, and that, by itself, is great. But watching everybody who works here have that same value set of wanting to make the world a better place … that’s fantastic. These are incredible people that we work with.”

That emphasis on giving back is something potential hires understand before they join the firm, Alekman and DiTusa told BusinessWest; it takes many forms, and it’s something that has been honed over time. And because these two partners set the tone, they’ve earned a spot among the Difference Makers class of 2026.

Rob DiTusa says giving back to the community has become an infectious part of the law firm’s culture.
Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Alekman thought back to the tornado of 2011 as a time when much of this community involvement was coalescing. They were already supporting nonprofits like the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Red Cross, but the tornado threw the need into stark relief.

“The Red Cross reached out and asked me, as somebody who was known in the Latino community because I’ve been on Spanish TV and radio for many years, if I would be a face that people would trust, and go on the radio and explain what the Red Cross was doing for people who had been harmed by the tornado,” he recalled. “So Rob and I did that. We raised a significant amount of money for the Red Cross back in 2011.”

The firm has also been a longtime supporter of the WillPower Foundation, which helps families with different abilities, and Revitalize Community Development Corp. (CDC), not only giving money to the latter, but sending teams of employees to its #GreenNFit neighborhood rebuild days, helping provide home repairs for area residents in need.

Chelsea McGrath — who met Alekman and DiTusa in 2019 when she was executive director of the WillPower Foundation, and is now vice president of Operations & Finance for Revitalize CDC — nominated them as Difference Makers.

“They are extremely financially generous, donating extensively to many nonprofits in the area and abroad,” McGrath said, citing the aforementioned nonprofits as well as Square One, Rachel’s Table, Community Legal Aid, Ronald McDonald House, Suit Up Springfield, and New North Citizens’ Council, a few of the dozens of nonprofits the firm supports.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, when WillPower’s funding was significantly limited, I asked them to increase their already very generous annual contribution, and they did not hesitate to do so,” McGrath added. “However, they don’t just write a check and go about their day. They are extremely generous with their time and commitment to community service as well.”

But the partners are always sharing credit with their team.

“They enjoy it. They feel like they’re part of it. They see what we’re doing, and then they engage in it,” DiTusa said. “When it comes to giving, some people are natural givers — they’ve grown up with it, maybe they knew somebody that was philanthropic and they want to emulate that, or maybe they were helped by a charity at some point in their life and they thought, ‘I’m going to give back when I have my opportunity.’ Whatever drives you to it, you get there.

“But sometimes,” he added, “you can show other people how to give, and it’s really infectious.”

Courting Success

Alekman has been practicing law for 28 years, while DiTusa has been in business for more than 30 — and at one point was renting an office from the former. They found they got along well, so in 2010, they decided to team up.

“When I was renting space, we started to do some cases together, and we discovered that our skill sets were so complementary that we made a really good team,” DiTusa added, explaining that he specializes in litigation, and Alekman prefers negotiating with insurance companies and pressing for settlements.

“So putting those two skill sets together made a whole lot of sense,” he added. “And we both love what we do; not all lawyers can say that.

Ryan Alekman says it’s gratifying helping people who call on their worst days to find fair resolutions.
Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

“When I look back at the past 15 years, the most satisfying thing is the fact that we’ve grown this firm from two lawyers to seven lawyers, and from five people to 25. That’s something I didn’t necessarily imagine. It’s been incredibly satisfying to be able to grow something very small to what I think is a pretty decent-sized firm, and be able to serve as many people as we do.”

DiTusa said he was drawn to personal injury law because he’s always considered himself an underdog and wants to advocate for people like that.

“As a lawyer, I see myself as somebody who stands up for underdogs, somebody who’s willing to fight really hard and for people that have been taken advantage of.”

Alekman encountered the personal injury discipline in a more random way. His mother was a lawyer in Boston, and after his undergraduate studies, he took a job at a personal injury firm, where he developed a knack for the customer service side of the business — communicating with clients in a way that his co-workers did not. He developed a taste for it and attended law school, eventually working in personal injury and criminal defense, but eventually focusing solely on the former.

“Every day, we wake up, and we get to help people. And I’m passionate about helping people,” Alekman said. “I know that sounds cliché, but we literally wake up in the morning, and someone’s going to come to us with a problem, and we we get to solve that problem, and it just feels really good.”

Both were quick to credit their team for the firm’s legal successes.

“Every time that we get a large settlement, every time we do something that’s really good for a client, I make sure I go around to the staff and say, ‘hey, you were part of this. This isn’t just our victory,’” DiTusa said. “If we’re not all rowing in the same direction, we don’t get the results that we’re able to get.”

And that goes for both their work with clients and the firm’s community service, with priorities ranging from food insecurity to anything having to do with children — and sometimes both.

“We’re just one part of a bigger system that gives back to people. And, trust me, there is great need in Springfield, but there are also a lot of great people in Springfield that help fill the need.”

“Nobody should go to sleep hungry. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and people go to sleep hungry. It’s insanity. That shouldn’t be a thing, right?” Alekman said. “We hear from people at Square One about how they provide food to kids to bring home on the weekends because otherwise they’re not sure those kids are going to eat. How can you not want to support an organization that’s doing that?”

Case in Point

Many walls at Alekman DiTusa feature nature photographs that Alekman has taken on trips around the world.

“I share my photos on Facebook, and a friend of mine said, ‘hey, you should do a calendar,’” he recalled. So he did — but he wanted to use the proceeds to give back, so for the past four years, he has sold those calendars of his international photos to support Mara United School in Masai Mara, Kenya.

The first year, he donated $1,500 from those sales to get the school tied into a nearby village’s well, the first time the kids were able to access fresh water. Other years have funded electricity at the school, a small tractor to help with agriculture, and, most recently, 48 triple bunk beds, mattresses, and other items for a new girls’ dorm.

“I’d love to be able to fund every project,” Alekman said. “One of the things that we don’t get to do very often is to see how our support makes a difference, and going to that school — I’ll actually be back in October, and I’ll get to visit the kids again — it’s amazing how much they do with so little and the difference a small amount makes to change lives over there. So Rob and I are fortunate because we get to do what we do — we get to help people.”

And so does their staff, he added. “They put us in a position of success every day. They come to work with the same attitude — to help somebody. And we’re helping people on their worst days. I mean, nobody’s like, ‘yay, I get to call a lawyer.’ No — someone got injured, or something horrible happened to a family member.”

With their success, he added, comes a responsibility to give back, which is why the firm’s success in its legal cases is so tightly interwoven with its work in the community.

“We’ve worked hard and been fortunate enough to be in a position to be able to give back, so we do,” DiTusa said. “We’re just one part of a bigger system that gives back to people. And, trust me, there is great need in Springfield, but there are also a lot of great people in Springfield that help fill the need.

“I always think, if you’re in a position to be able to give and you do it, you make yourself a better person,” he added. “I think it’s called selfish giving. Giving is good for everyone, and we have to do it as a community. But it’s also selfish in a way because, by doing it, you also feel good. The moment you make that gift, you feel better about life, about everything. And the more you do it, the better you feel.”

McGrath, who has been on the receiving end of the firm’s generosity in more than one setting, doesn’t see it as selfish at all.

“Their honesty, integrity, and dedication shows in their commitment to service,” she said. “They truly embody every aspect of what it means to be a Difference Maker.”