The many careers of Michael Mandel

He tried his hand at numerous jobs before becoming a pioneer in the distressed-loan market. He joined the merchant marine, taught sailing and even owned a peculiar little restaurant called Rabbi Guido's Jewish Delicatessen and Italian Café. Now Michael Mandel is leaving Wall Street for yet another unconventional pursuit: working for a battered-women's shelter. Since founding law firm Mandel, Katz, Manna & Brosnan in 1993, the 46-year-old native of suburban Tarrytown, New York, has been at the center of some of the corporate world's most contentious restructuring battles, including those for the U.K.'s Wembley Stadium and the Eurotunnel. He also invented ClearPar, an electronic platform that has emerged as the industry standard for the paperless settlement of distressed-loan trades. Mandel, who describes himself as "foremost an entrepreneur and secondly a lawyer," sold ClearPar last month for an undisclosed amount to Fidelity National Financial, a provider of outsourced services to financial firms. He's forsaking lucrative clients like Angelo, Gordon & Co.; Lazard; and Oaktree Capital Management to help out at the Rockland Family Shelter, a refuge for abused women in New City, where he has been a director for two years. Having profited nicely from the sale of ClearPar, Mandel wants to devote his time to family and charitable pursuits, of which the shelter will be a big component. "I have a lot to accomplish in both areas before -- if ever -- moving back into entrepreneurial mode," he says.