Page 21 - BusinessWest August 31, 2020

Mike Fenton
Attorney, Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin; Springfield City Councilor
He Has a Passion for the Law, and for Serving His WConstituents
hen he was running for the Ward 2 Springfield City Council seat in 2009 while attending law school
at Western New England University, Mike Fenton, who was competing in a deep, well- credentialed field, didn’t think he’d win.
“And when I did win ... I didn’t think I’d stay,” he told BusinessWest, figuring that, in time, maybe a few years, he would be immersed in his law career and essentially done with his service to the city.
Suffice it to say Fenton was wrong with both of his projections. Indeed, 11 years later, he is still representing Ward 2 while still building that law practice — he’s a partner with the Springfield- based law firm Shatz, Schwartz, and Fentin, specializing in commercial real estate, busi-
ness planning, commercial finance, and estate planning.
“A few years into it, I just fell in love with it,” he said of his multi-faceted work with the City Council. “I fell in love with all of it — with helping constituents, the city budget, and some of the more complicated aspects of city government; it’s very rewarding work.”
These sentiments explain why Fenton is now a multiple-year finalist for the Alumni Achieve- ment Award, previously known as the Continued Excellence Award. He hopes that 2020 will be the year he’ll break through, but he admits to having other things on his mind right now.
Mike Fenton has now spent more than a decade representing Springfield’s Ward 2.
That list includes the now
nationwide focus on police-community relations — “we’re taking steps to increase accountability and transparency within the department” — and especially COVID-19. The pandemic is impact- ing both his law practice — there’s been a general slowing of the commercial real-estate market, but an understandable surge in estate-planning work — and the city of Springfield, which is impacted in many ways, especially within its business community.
As Fenton talked about the changing land- scape, one can hear the concern in his voice and the passion he has for serving the city he grew up in.
“The biggest casualty to this pandemic, after you take in the public-health and human cost, which is obviously first and foremost, is commer- cial real estate and the economy,” he noted. “The
Fenton
Continued on page 26
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ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
AUGUST 31, 2020 21
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