On the heels of a large Prince George’s County law firm’s dissolving, a Calvert County lawyer plans to follow his dreams of being a “small-town lawyer.”

Dan LaPlaca began his solo practice in August from his at-home office on Blue Grass Way in Owings after his Upper Marlboro firm, Knight, Manzi, Nussbaum & LaPlaca, broke up this summer. Some attorneys left to pursue other opportunities; Bill Knight passed away last year and the remaining attorneys decided to go their separate ways, LaPlaca said. There was no dispute among the partners, he said, and he had been a partner for 25 years at the 54-year-old firm.

At his new business, LaPlaca will continue to practice business and corporate law, state and federal procurement, nonprofit governance, administrative law, estates, trusts and guardianships, elder law, condominiums and homeowners associations, commercial transactions, veterans’ benefits, arbitration and mediation and real estate law, and he said he was only too glad to be able to bring the practice to a Calvert location.

“I have this fantasy of being a small-town lawyer where everybody knows everybody,” LaPlaca said. “For whatever reason, in Upper Marlboro we tended to get a lot of people from Calvert County ... and every attorney I’ve worked with in Calvert County has been delightful and courteous. I can’t say that about Prince George’s County.”

LaPlaca called it a “freeing experience to be down here working for yourself, getting to know people. I tend to meet my business clients at their place. I meet some people at church or after church. It’s quite a nice hometown feel. I think it’s going to be a good thing.”

What makes it even better, LaPlaca said, is that he continues to work with his father, Raymond G. LaPlaca, who retired about five years ago but who had worked as a practicing lawyer with his son for 27 years and now serves as the legal counsel to his son’s solo practice.

“My father and I went to law school together,” LaPlaca said. “He went nights and I went during the days and we even ended up taking a class together.” Laughing, he added, “But he graduated a year ahead of me.”

At age 42, his father switched careers from real estate to law, which he said he always wanted to do once his children were grown. LaPlaca graduated in 1981 from the University of Virginia, went onto the University of Maryland to complete his schooling and has been practicing since ’84, first in Washington, D.C., then in Greenbelt and then in Upper Marlboro.

Raymond called his experience working with his son “the 27 happiest years of my life. We had a great working relationship. I probably went to him more for advice than him to me. He’s really the smartest lawyer I ever met.”

He said he wishes his son the best of luck with his new business venture and added, “He’s probably one of the most honest lawyers one will ever come in touch with and works with each client like they’re the only one. He just does a phenomenal job.”

With a team of 22 lawyers at its peak, Knight, Manzi, Nussbaum & LaPlaca was one of the largest law firms in Prince George’s, LaPlaca said. Its biggest client was the county’s Board of Education, and LaPlaca was able to learn and practice a wide range of law, which he will bring with him to Owings.

“We had some deep discussions there and decided it was time to wrap things up,” LaPlaca said of the old firm. “It was sad and a little scary to leave my comfort zone, but all good things must come to an end. I toyed with the idea of changing firms, but in the end I decided I want to try going out on my own, and I have been since August 1.”

LaPlaca said the advances in technology have made it an easy transition. His secretary can work from home most of the time, and with new Internet-based software, he can set up a case, scan documents into it, make notes to it and access it anytime, and clients can access it 24 hours a day.

“Think about the change that does,” he said. “One of the biggest complaints about lawyers is that they don’t do any work. But now clients can look and see if you’re really doing nothing, or if you’re doing something at 3 in the morning.”

Plus, working from home is “very relaxing,” he said, even if he is living in a house with seven other family members, a growing combination of children and grandchildren.

“I’m finally where I want to be,” he added.

To reach LaPlaca, call 301-651-9247 or email laplacalaw@gmail.com.

mrussell@somdnews.com