Yesterday, I learned that a friend of mine died early this year. His name was Marvin Lanter. Marvin was a trial lawyer, like me. You can still find his website, his law firm, and YouTube videos of Marvin Lanter online. The first thing everyone noticed was the accent. Marvin was raised in a Jewish New York neighborhood. I met Marvin...
One day, an old man was walking along a beach where thousands of starfish had been washed ashore by a storm. Off in the distance, he noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often, and as he drew closer, the old man could see that the boy was carefully picking up starfish and...
This is a story about our client—a story I wish never had to be told. Last fall, Paul Weber's life changed forever when he was hit while working on the side of the road just north of Spokane. First responders saved his life, but the injuries were catastrophic. Both of Paul's legs had to be amputated. Today, Paul is fighting his...
“Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse. The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the...
"My friends, we are certainly very happy to see each of you out this evening. We are here this evening for serious business. We are here in a general sense because first and foremost we are American citizens and we are determined to apply our citizenship to the fullness of its meaning. We are here also because of our...
My baby sister is a lot cooler than me. And smarter. And generally better at everything. My brother and I would tell you that Jamie developed her savvy from having to put up with the two of us growing up. Jamie had not one but two protective older brothers. But the truth is Jamie has always been the talented...
Everyone knows it takes money to go to trial. I'm here to tell you that you don't need a bunch of money to have excellent counsel or to have experts with lots of experience on your side. But you do need some things. First, you need courage. Second, you need to be able to trust...
"Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again. Liberated a day earlier by American...
Every day, we wake up to a world that feels more chaotic, more divided, and—too often—more unjust. The headlines bombard us with stories of pain and suffering, voices silenced, rights trampled. Injustice, when left unchallenged, does not fade. It grows. As a trial lawyer, I confront these harsh realities head-on. I've been in this fight for awhile. Behind every case,...
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?~ Langston Hughes
