PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
BOLINGBROOK, IL
PERMIT NO. 1818
By Haley Freeman
WHITE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
M
otor vehicle and
marine dealers across
the nation recognize
Leonard A. Bellavia as
a champion of small
business. Founding
partner of Bellavia, Blatt
& Crossett, PC, he is
a pacesetter in dealer
franchise law. The son
and grandson of auto
dealership owners, Bellavia
has leveraged his legal
expertise and knowledge
of the auto business to
advocate for small business
owners and franchisees
who are underrepresented
against industry giants.
BELLAVIA WITH HIS COUSIN FRANK BELLAVIA AT FRANK’S AUTO DEALERSHIP, ARNOLD CHEVROLET-BUICK IN WEST BABYLON, NEW YORK
B
ellavia came from a hard-working family of entrepreneurs
who built one of the most successful dealer groups in New
York. His experience selling cars enhanced his legal training, preparing Bellavia for the business world and instilling in him exceptional people skills that would eventually lead to momentous
victories in the courtroom.
“My father insisted that I learn about human interaction through
sales,” Bellavia recalled. “He believed it was something you could
only get talking with the public. Little did I know I was being
groomed to be a trial lawyer. He told me, ‘The only difference between a lawyer and me is that I sell a car and they sell a point of
view.’ I still believe being in sales is the best possible training for
the legal profession.”
Bellavia also had the “very high honor” of working as an intern
for former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. “He gave the greatest
political speech I’ve ever heard in my life when he presented the
keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in San
Francisco. I say that even though I am not a Democrat. In my approximately 30 years as an attorney, I have never seen anyone with
greater advocacy skills than Mario Cuomo. I learned a lot from
attending his speeches.”
Throughout his youth and career, Bellavia has admired the determination and business savvy of the small business owners he
has known. “These are people who know how to build something
out of nothing. When I say I represent the little guy, I’m referring
to the franchise or a business licensed by a manufacturer or distributor. I represent entrepreneurs who have put their life savings
on the line along with years of sweat equity – people who didn’t
follow the routine of corporate America. They have a stick-to-itiveness and strength of character that I hold in the highest esteem.”
Bellavia’s firm is set apart by the kind of innovative business
strategies that mark all successful, entrepreneurial ventures.
“When I started my own practice in 1987, I had to meet a high
overhead. It made me find ways to be competitive and encourage
clients to recommend me. I developed a cutting edge fee structure. I offered to represent clients for only $100 a month, hoping
to encourage new clients to at least give me a try. Then I would
have the opportunity to take on more specialized work for them
at normal rates. As I had more and more successes, it became
easier to market my firm’s successful outcomes.”
Bellavia continues to offer flat-fee and performance-based options and has pioneered the mass action litigation model. He explained, “I come from a different mold than most attorneys. Our
firm has gotten where it is by thinking outside the box. I come
from a sales and marketing background where I learned with a
high element of risk comes a corresponding potential for reward.
WHITE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Leonard
A.
Bellavia
Dealer’s Choice
WHITE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH
BELLAVIA DISCUSSES OPERATIONS WITH FRANK BELLAVIA (LEFT) AND GENERAL MANAGER BILL TUCHLER (CENTER).
I am more than happy for clients to pay my costs and then reward
me with a success bonus. I work harder and prepare more to win
the case. That is how I got into the mass action field.”
“In a mass action suit, hundreds of aggrieved parties share a
common adversary. It is a way of levelling the playing field and giving people a voice who might not otherwise be able to redress the
wrongs done to them due to economic constraints. When there is
a global problem in a particular industry, similarly situated people
can fight as a group and achieve the same economic and political
strength that their Fortune 500 adversary has.”
Bellavia and his firm are representing approximately 200 clients
who have filed suit against the largest adversary in the world – the
U.S. Department of Justice. “When the economic crash occurred
in 2008, I had already spent 20 years representing auto dealers.
Part of the outgrowth of the crisis is that Chrysler filed for bankruptcy and attempted to terminate 25 percent of the dealers across
the United States. Along with GM, it was the biggest bankruptcy in
history. I was hired to represent the interests of those dealers. An
offshoot of the case is that we have initiated a lawsuit against the
U.S. government on behalf of those dealers who were terminated,
alleging that the government violated their rights under the 5th
Amendment for seizing private property without just compensation. The U.S. Court of Appeals recently upheld a decision denying
a motion to dismiss the case, stating that we had come up with a
valid theory of liability.”
This case has placed Bellavia and his firm in the national limelight, followed closely by political and industry leaders. “People are
intrigued by the auto industry and any case against the government,” he said.
“We are a boutique law firm with only eight lawyers, but we are
all dedicated and willing to go the extra mile. I always wanted to
be a professional baseball player, so I have borrowed the saying,
if you want to play for the Yankees, you have to be the best of the
best. The team I’ve put together over the last seven years are Yankee
caliber. We are a small firm, but I am very proud of the work we
do here.”
Bellavia and his team are also leading the charge in the highlypublicized mass action, anti-trust litigation against Carfax. “The
case represents a pushback against monopoly abuse. There are now
1,000 clients in that one lawsuit. Carfax makes its entire revenue
from auto dealers, but trashes those same customers in all of their
advertising. A company can’t do that unless it has an unfair advantage. Without competition, there is no incentive to build a better
mousetrap. Because their process is not state-of-the-art, their data
is often inaccurate and out-of-date. Consumers are also the victims. We expect to achieve a very good result for the dealers which
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