At an age man when most men are into their third decade of retirement, this particular attorney decided to start his second law firm. His characteristic nerve and verve allowed this 87 year old man who is one of the nation’s best known personal injury lawyers to march down to his longtime office with half a dozen guards. In a decision fueled by a dispute he had with his partners he emptied out his desk and pulled his name from the door while his men stood patrol.
He has a new partner and prot?g? who is a no nonsense lady lawyer and former assistant Queens district attorney and she is the one handling the day to day cases in his firm for he only visits the courtroom every so often. Unheard of settlements and millions for himself not to mention victories in unwinnable cases have been possibilities for this lawyer because of his passion for perfection, endless energy, gift for showbiz glitz, and enormous ambition.
In court he was The Equalizer and he got $740,000 for the family of a heart attack victim after arguing how a car frightened the victim to death by driving onto his lawn. For him it was an Acapulco hotel that caused a guest to be attacked by a shark. He said that the hotel neglected to warn the guests about how the garbage they are throwing into the ocean could attract sharks.
According to him, he is one of the main reasons why there are 120 full time personal injury lawyers in New York City not to mention by settlement payments from the city in one year amounted to $175 million. Just like him, lawyers involved in tort or personal injury law receive a contingency fee which is equal to about a third of the final settlements. Most of the time people say that the aggressive personal injury lawyers are responsible for the skyrocketing costs of insurance and a waste of the people’s money in suits against the city governments and he despises these statements.
The vilest of all prisons is probably a hospital bed and he easily uses things like these to manipulate the emotions of people as he mentions how someone has become the victim and appears to be the criminal. At his finest, he handles the emotions of a jury with the finesse of a symphony conductor. When a jury becomes bored expect a decision against you.
Because of research, he was always the victor in court. What he is obsessed about is not being proven wrong or made fun of when he is trying a case. Bringing ambulance chasing to a whole new level is his line of work which enable him to get on the pages of Time Magazine and Wall Street Journal.
Modesty has no place in his vocabulary when he speaks of himself or his practice. When it comes to their practice, vanity gives them leverage. There are times when vanity, confidence, and respect make for a good team. Considering the details of his personal and professional life, these are being overseen by the 33 year old woman he and his wife adopted. As said by his former partners, the wedge that drove them apart resulted from this owner of a Mexican restaurant and ever present assistant. Without her he may not have realized certain things.
At 6 years old his Ukrainian family immigrated to New York and he graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1929 but sadly the good legal work all went to the politically connected Irish firms. It was either a minor criminal case or a personal injury lawsuit that aspiring Jewish attorneys like him were entrusted with.