Chief Operating Officer · Professional services
I help professional services organizations put the financial controls, systems, and people in place to support their next stage.
Benjamin S. Abel IIChief Operating Officer · Conn Maciel Carey LLP
01 Finance at the foundation. Operations in focus.
My path to executive leadership began in law firm accounting. That foundation still shapes the questions I ask: Where is value being created? What is making the work harder? And can the organization handle what comes next?
Accounting roles at Morgan & Morgan and NeJame Law led to broader operational leadership at Reifkind, Thompson & Rudzinski and financial oversight as Controller at Oliff PLC. Together, those experiences gave me a view of the business from both the financial and operating sides.
Today, as Chief Operating Officer at Conn Maciel Carey LLP, I oversee firmwide operations and financial strategy across multiple offices. My focus is connecting leadership’s priorities with the capacity, controls, and daily execution required to deliver them.
Career path
02 Selected work
My work sits where growth creates operational pressure: financial oversight, coordination across offices, and the systems people depend on.
I introduced common processes across multiple offices so leaders could see performance more clearly and teams could work with greater consistency. The goal was an operation that could grow without multiplying avoidable complexity.
I led conversions of core operating systems, improving reporting accuracy and reducing manual effort. The value of a system change is in the work it makes easier—and the decisions it makes better informed.
My work in vendor strategy and financial oversight includes optimizing cost structures and mitigating cost increases. I examine spending in the context of the capability, service, and capacity the business needs.
I aligned hiring and infrastructure with longer-term growth objectives, helping the organization expand its capacity and coordinate execution across business functions.
03 My operating perspective
Useful reporting should show leaders where to act. I focus on making financial and operational information understandable, timely, and connected to the decisions at hand.
A sound process still needs someone accountable for it. Clear responsibilities and expectations help turn a leadership priority into coordinated action.
Hiring, systems, and infrastructure need to move together. I consider how today’s operating decisions will hold up as the business adds volume, locations, and complexity.
04 Looking ahead
I’m particularly interested in founder-led and lower middle market businesses: organizations where a stronger operating foundation can make a meaningful difference to performance and long-term value.
That interest builds on the work I know best—understanding the numbers, improving the way work gets done, and preparing the business for its next stage.
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