Century-year-old law firm supplier still on top form.

Before the advent of subways, Julius Blumberg used to forge the frozen Hudson River on foot during the frigid winters of the late 1880s while en route from his home in Hoboken to his then fledgling two-room law firm supply store on Division Street in Manhattan's lower eastside.

Now helmed by Julius's grandson, Bob Blumberg, over 100 years later, the firm--which came to be known as Blumberg Excelsior in 1961--is still going strong but has changed from a small one-man operation to a leading national provider of legal forms and software, both of which are much used by the real estate industry.

Fortunately for Bob, who lives in Brooklyn, the commute has gotten a little easier as well.

"My granddad started out rolling tobacco and had only a fourth grade education," Bob said. "But he was very involved in politics and made his connections in the law industry that way.

"He built this business totally by himself and, through his hard work and dedication, he definitely embodies and serves as an example of what this firm strives to achieve and provide for its customers."

Innovation has been a common trait among the Blumberg clan and has played an integral role in the company's longevity.

Julius was one of the first to offer printed standardized law forms back in the late 1800s, a valuable new service for law office's that, in those days, were typically without typewriters.

Bob has continued in his grandfather's vein of timely and useful advances in the industry of law office supplies and was eager to take the company's plethora of different standardized law forms into the digital age.

Bob has made the firm's catalog of proprietary forms available online and has overseen the development of software packages that guide users through the step by step process of completing everything from divorce documents, to HUD-1 forms, to bankruptcy filings, to the formation of legal entities such as limited liability corporations.

The latter, which is a common entity in the commercial real estate industry, can be especially complicated and, according to Bob, using Blumberg Excelsior software assures that easily overlooked steps are adhered to.

"Our LLC software assures that organization minutes and bylaws are created," Bob said. "Directors and members of the board must be appointed and issues of governance must be established and the first thing that the IRS will ask for is to see the minute book which shows an LLC's adherence to of all these requirements. Often however, such steps are overlooked, so having software guide the user through ensures that the creation of the LLC will be disciplined and by the book."

If it wasn't for Bob's grandmother, Blumberg Excelsior might never have been. According to Bob, Julius was so involved in city politics, he was prepared to put his business on the backburner and indulge his civic mindedness full time.

His then fiance insisted that he didn't and made it a condition of their marriage that he stay out of politics and focus instead on his thriving law form business. Julius, in turn, attempted futilely to dissuade his son Edward from taking over the firm.

"He wanted my father to become a lawyer," Bob said. "But my father told him that if he wanted grandchildren, he'd have to hire him."

Edward's entry into Blumberg Excelsior marked an amazing period of growth for the firm during which it achieved national prominence.

After earning a law degree in the 60s, Bob however, seemed ready to follow the career path his grandfather had wanted for his father.

But his interest in business compelled him to join the firm, too, and ushered in yet another successful term of leadership that continues today.

"I have several children who are lawyers," Bob said. "None of them have said they would take over the business at this point but with our lineage I guess you never know."