25. Charles Strain

Farrell Fritz is one of Long Island’s leading corporate law firms. At the helm is the reserved yet influential Charles Strain, the firm’s Managing Partner and primary face in the community. As an attorney, Strain heads the corporate banking, health care and commercial real estate divisions of the practice, arguably the three most important sectors of the modern American economy. But it is his participation on several major boards, which includes chairing the board of directors of Winthrop University Hospital, that allows him to wield considerable influence in the larger LI community. He often eschews the limelight and seems to prefer promoting the work of his colleagues and associates instead of his own, but Strain’s even-handed guidance can be felt in all areas of Farrell’s practice and organizations, such as the Long Island Association and Long Island Power Authority.