i like to help people and i like to

solve complicated problems early on when

i was growing up

my mother told me i’d be an excellent

lawyer because i can analyze and i can

argue

now after high school i didn’t go

directly into college i worked

instruction but after a while i thought

what am i doing here my mother said i’d

be a great lawyer so i went to college

went straight a’s through college and

law school

and then became a lawyer in a large firm

i went to two large firms and i found i

could really help the clients even more

if i had my own office so my objective

is to find out what the needs are of a

given client and try to find a creative

way to satisfy those needs

and make the client pleased with the

service

[Music]

well the philosophy that guides my work

as a lawyer is rather simple

hard work and preparation

i don’t put things off until tomorrow

that i can do today because you don’t

know what’s going to pop up tomorrow

that you have to deal with and i’m a try

a lawyer right so i get prepared for all

trials uh in advance i will do all of

the

depositions the summaries the

interrogatories i will summarize them or

prepare the opening statement the

examinations both direct and cross

and my closing argument in draft before

i even walk into the courtroom i also

prepare my notes for jury selection so i

can find

the best jurors for my given case

not all jurors are good for all cases so

you have to

be careful in the selection process and

really to be honest when you’re picking

a jury what you’re really trying to do

is make friends and establish a

relationship

you do the opening statement

and my opening statement is almost more

like a closing argument i try not to

cross the line too much but by the time

i’m done with my opening statement that

jury is going to vote for me

[Music]

what it takes to be successful in a

courtroom

is

preparation

and respect for the jury by example a

jury gets a juror gets a notice to come

he comes but he or she doesn’t really

want to be there they’re just ordered to

be there so you want to thank them for

their service in advance recognize it’s

hard on them

to be present and then be respectful of

them one thing i do

is i will memorize all the jurors names

before i ever get up

the jurors come in usually there’s 18

you initially will examine

and i will while the judge is talking to

him i’m just telling the jurors what’s

going to be happening i’ll be memorizing

their names then when i get up i will go

and ask mr schwartz how do you feel

about this and ms ramirez how do you

feel about that you heard what mr short

said you agree or disagree but now i’m

calling them by their name

and first it amazes them because how did

i memorize all the 18 names in such a

short time

but

it’s respect when you call a juror by

their name so from the moment you walk

in that courtroom you’re on stage and

even in the parking lot you have to be a

gentleman wherever you are because you

don’t know

where the jurors are and you sure as

heck you don’t want to cut off somebody

in the parking lot or be rude in any way

shape or form and only find their jury

right there you are looking at them in

the jury i truly enjoy what i do i enjoy

the practice and i believe to be

successful yet for the jury you have to

be personable respectful

polite and you have to also ask them

questions that will get them to give you

responses so you can really assess

whether or not they’re biased or not

some people just ask routine questions

get yes or no’s and sit down

and that’s terrible i don’t do that