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Corporate,
Business & Tax

In Practice : Christine Parise Cordes

Multiple Authors
Nov 4 2026 8 min read

In Practice is a series in which Rubin Rudman attorneys speak candidly about the experience and judgment that shape their approach to client work.

In this installment, hear from Christine Parise Cordes, Co-Chair of Rubin Rudman’s Corporate, Business & Tax group and a 2026 Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law honoree, on serving as outside general counsel, navigating family dynamics in high-stakes negotiations, and why helping clients understand what they sign has become central to how she defines success.

Beyond M&A, you’ve built a real estate niche structuring joint ventures between developers and institutional or private investors. What makes that kind of deal fundamentally different to negotiate than a straightforward business sale?

First, there is nothing straightforward about the sale of a business! I approach M&A matters and real estate joint ventures the same way—by listening to the client to learn what is important to them in the deal so that I can tailor my advice accordingly. I think it is a mistake to approach any deal with a “one size fits all” approach to legal advice. There are certainly similarities and “customs” that are critical to know and understand when guiding a client through either type of transaction, but recognizing the nuances is what sets me apart.

You serve as outside general counsel for many of your clients, which means you’re in the room for both the everyday questions and the career-defining transactions. How does that ongoing relationship change the advice you give compared to being brought in for a single deal?

Knowing a client inside and out allows us to reach the right recommendations faster and more efficiently than we can with clients who have retained us for a single transaction. Getting to know a client is a process, which is difficult to compress into days or weeks. Ultimately, the advice should be the same advice we would give a client we know well, so the difference is less about the type of advice we give and more about how quickly we can get there with a new engagement.

Family-owned businesses bring a layer of dynamics that pure economics doesn’t capture—sentiment, history, unspoken expectations. How do you know when to push a family toward a hard decision versus give the process room to breathe?

When family dynamics are part of a transaction, you always need to allow room to breathe and approach difficult issues with those dynamics in mind. Often, however, the family has hired us to push them toward that hard decision, and that is what they need more than room to breathe.  It’s a balancing act and no two clients handle hard decisions the same.  I need to know how to read the room, and having experience handling matters with many different family-owned businesses has given me the tools I need to be able to do that.

You’re known for keeping clients grounded in what matters most during high-stakes negotiations, even as deal terms get complicated. What does that discipline look like in the room when emotions run high?

It means remaining calm, listening intently, and steering a dispute back toward collaboration. When tensions are running high, I will often say something to opposing counsel like, “How are we going to find a way to help our clients achieve their shared goals?. I also always remind my clients that collaboration goes both ways, and I work with them to identify what is truly important to them so that we can go back to the other side with compromises on our own positions where appropriate.

For example, I’m currently working on a matter where a new partner is coming into a business. When the negotiation got tough, I asked my client what things would look like if we couldn’t agree on terms. When she told me that not reaching an agreement wasn’t an option for her, we were able to identify some compromises of our own and better frame our needs for the other side. When I communicated those needs, I started by telling opposing counsel what I’d heard from my client about getting the deal done. As it turned out, he’d heard the same thing from his client, and he came back to the table with compromises of his own. Together, we found our way back to a path that would achieve our clients’ shared goals.

PRACTICAL GUIDANCE

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Christine Parise Cordes

Boston

O 617.480.7678
You’ve built a reputation for finding common ground with sophisticated opposing counsel when deals hit friction. Is there a common moment in a negotiation—a specific type of impasse—where you find that skill matters most?

A reputation for finding common ground matters most when my client has reached the limit on compromise. Because I am transparent with opposing counsel about when I think my client can bend, I’m taken seriously when I say my client cannot. When we take a stand in a negotiation and use words like “non-starter” or “not negotiable,” we should mean it. That is when those words are most effective. Lawyers who use those words out of the gate and at every opportunity aren’t taken seriously when it actually matters.

 

You’ve spent real time mentoring younger lawyers at Rubin Rudman. What do you find yourself telling them that you wish someone had told you earlier in your career?

I had amazing mentors early in my career—Neal Splaine, Tom Brantley, Denise Murphy, and Bill McDiarmid to name a few, all of whom are Rubin Rudman alumni and active attorneys—so I find myself passing along the wisdom they gave to me rather than wishing I’d had better guidance. Lessons like: “read every word” (thank you, Tom); “give the client real advice and options on how to solve a problem, rather than just analysis” (thanks to Neal’s approach); “take command of the room” (from watching Denise); and how to juggle an impossible workload while remaining a top go-to in our corporate department (I’m still in awe, Bill!). My mentors have also reminded me to remain grounded and balanced, because we cannot effectively represent our clients if we ourselves are stressed and unable to focus. These are the same lessons I share with my mentees today.

You’re being honored as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s Top Women of Law in 2026. Looking back at two decades in this practice, what changed most in how you define success for a deal—for your clients, and for yourself?

When I first started practicing, my focus was on not making mistakes. As my career progressed, it became about getting the deal closed on terms the client viewed as a success. Today, while I still focus on closing deals without mistakes, I also prioritize how well my client understands the deal. Over the course of my career, I’ve realized that sometimes clients are hesitant to ask questions. I want my clients to trust the advice I am giving them, but I also want them to understand why we are choosing one road over another.

Recently, a client referred me to a business colleague of his for a sale-of-business transaction and he paid me one of the best compliments I’ve received. He told his colleague that, in his experience, the cost and result would be the same regardless of which lawyer is chosen but, with Chris, you actually understand what you signed. So, I would say that being approachable, and imparting understanding as part of the services I provide, is how I now define success.

Christine Parise Cordes
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