Involvement in sports helped sharpen lawyer’s career focus
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Attorney Spotlight
Involvement in sports helped sharpen lawyer’s career focus
By Brian Cox
Attorney Michael Senft-Greenberg has learned to appreciate the role of rules and the value of teamwork.
He also knows from experience that hard work produces results and strong leadership inspires perseverance and motivation.
It’s a lesson he’s carried with him from his days as a high school athlete when his soccer team won its first-ever Class 2A Florida state championship as underdogs.
“It was a lot of work,” he says of the undefeated season. “It was one of the hardest years of practicing I’ve gone through. Our coach worked us really hard. He believed – and he made us believe – that we could win the state championship.”
Senft-Greenberg says the mindset and competitive nature he developed playing sports, primarily soccer, when he was younger prepared him for the challenge of law school.
Attorney Michael Senft-Greenberg is in his third year with Bivins & Hemenway, P.A. He and his wife, Steph, have an 11-month-old son named Harrison. Steph is an accountant with KPMG.
“Sports played a huge role in my upbringing,” he says. “I always liked being part of a team. I feel having great coaches and being in that team environment really shaped who I am. I like to engage with people. That’s sort of how I approached law school as well.”
A lifelong Floridian – who “doesn’t like sand that much” – Senft-Greenberg grew up in Indialantic, a small town on the barrier island of Florida’s Space Coast. His father owned and operated a third-party logistics company, and his mother was a teacher before having children. Senft-Greenberg often helped his father at the business and remembers being intrigued by the legal issues that occasionally arise around running a small company.
But it didn’t occur to him until much later that law might be his calling.
Initially, his ambition was to hitch his love of sports to a career and become a sports agent. At the University of Florida in Gainesville, he majored in sports management with that goal in mind and found that he was drawn to the contract aspect of the work. He pursued experience by interning at the Florida High School Athletic Association and working as an on-site supervisor for i9 Sports, managing a youth sports league. At the university, he was a competitive sports supervisor all four years of school.
After graduating with a degree in sports management, Senft-Greenberg considered his career options and concluded the next best step to becoming a sports agent would be law school.
At Stetson University College of Law – which holds the distinction of being Florida’s oldest law school, Senft-Greenberg welcomed the positive, collaborative environment, but the academic demands were challenging, nonetheless.
“Law school was like a foreign language,” he says. “I had to really get involved in it and really focus on it. I like to see what I’m capable of, though. I knew I could do it if I really tried it.”
He continued to find the parameters and less-hypothetical nature of contract law more to his liking than litigation. He received the DSK Law Group Book Award for Contracts, which is presented annually to the Stetson Law student who has the highest grade in contracts.
“I worked hard and it worked out and I felt validated,” he says of the achievement.
An externship with the University of South Florida’s compliance department was truncated when COVID hit and shut down college sports.
After graduating in 2021, Senft-Greenberg interviewed with Bivins & Hemenway, P.A. and immediately felt he’d found a fit.
“I felt we jibed personality-wise,” he says. “All three partners were at the interview and took me to lunch. It was very much a team effort, and I liked the team aspect of it. They’re also very knowledgeable and I enjoy the expertise they have. I’m hoping to soak that all in.”
Bivins & Hemenway, P.A. is a commercial law firm with offices based just east of Tampa in the heart of the fast-growing greater Brandon area. The firm has been a Primerus member since 2007.
Away from the law office, Senft-Greenberg tries to spend as much time as possible with his wife, Steph, and their son, Harrison.
Senft-Greenberg enjoys fall festivities with his son Harrison at the young boy’s first pumpkin patch.
Now an associate in his third year with the firm, Senft-Greenberg’s practice largely centers around business and real estate concerns, working with small to mid-size family-run companies and individuals. He is also involved in commercial and corporate law, title insurance, leases and leasing, and trusts and estates.
He and his wife, Steph, have been married 1-1/2 years. The couple met in college when they both worked for the intramural sports department. She has a master’s in accounting and is an accountant with KPMG. They have an 11-month-old son named Harrison.
As he works to expand his practice and establish a broader network of contacts and clients in the coming years, Senft-Greenberg still has his eyes set on future aspirations in sports.
“I’m looking forward to coaching my kid’s soccer team at some point,” he says with a grin.