This podcast is for all of you out there who have ever read about a court case, seen a court case, been involved in a court case, went to court, thought about court, and wondered, “What the hell is going on in courts?” Seems like every day we have these kinds of questions and get asked them. In this podcast, we will pull back the curtain on the mystery that sometimes surrounds the court and what happens there and hopefully give you some answers. Some interesting, some humorous, some surprising. Stick with us on Pulling Back the Legal Curtain.
Podcast Transcript
What is the reason for starting this podcast?
Paul Edelstein:
We thought it would be a good idea because we get asked all the time by clients about how the legal system works and how you pick a lawyer and what goes on in court. And there seems to be a lot of mystery about it, even us getting asked all the time. We thought it would be a good idea if we explained what really went on in the legal system and we call pulling back the curtain. We want people to know what’s behind the curtain and there really is no great Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. There’s just real people and you need real trial lawyers to do that for you. So that’s Glenn and I. So that’s what we’re setting out to do through this podcast.
Glenn Faegenburg:
Definitely. I think that there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors in the legal profession on both sides, both for people that get hurt and the people that are defending those cases and the legal system that most of the public is probably not aware goes on. And hopefully we can give you some insight as to what’s really important and get you the real scoop on what you can anticipate if you get involved in an accident, God forbid.
I think everybody thinks everything’s out of a TV show, where the plaintiff’s lawyer, that’s the person who got hurt, and the defendant’s lawyer, that’s usually going to be some insurance company’s lawyer, hate each other and they want to kill each other. There are times when we don’t get along with the other side, but there are other times where we’re congenial. You’re in court, you’re fighting for your client. Outside of the court, Paul and I have friends that on the other side of the business and we consider them good friends.
How did we end up being lawyers?
Glenn Faegenburg:
Well, it’s funny, I should have even taken a little further step back. I loved the law. I always loved personal injury law. I got exposed to it in high school. I was taking all these premed things thinking I wanted to be a doctor, but I took a legal studies course, and we had a mock trial and it was actually in National Supreme Court, which I’ve now tried many cases since that time and it was an incredible thrill. I got to cross examine a witness, it happened to have been personal injury case, and I was like, “You know what? I think I really have a knack for this.” And I saw that my boss was very bright, and he had a very good career.
I didn’t think I was ever going to be anything in his shadow. I knew that Adam was an amazingly bright and interesting guy. I knew that he would end up being he done ultimately, he was not doing the personal injury, but that he did matrimonial and that he had been working for his father. And his father had many years of working as a matrimony attorney and is considered probably one of the most famous matrimonial attorneys in New York history. I also knew that I was going into a very solid family. Family that really cared about the law, a family that cared about their clients and I thought it would be a good match.
Paul Edelstein:
I am the son of a lawyer. A grandson of a lawyer. I have aunts and uncles that are lawyers, cousins that are lawyers. Everyone’s a lawyer in my family. My little kids who are 13 and 15 apparently are lawyers too. Better lawyers than me at home. Everyone was a lawyer, and I was the opposite. I’m like, “Boy, I don’t want to do this.” I wanted to be a doctor, but I couldn’t do chemistry, I couldn’t do math, I couldn’t do any of that stuff. I was a biology minor in college, but I really loved anatomy and medicine and all that. And I became a lawyer somewhat by default and then out of law school not knowing what to do. Met you and obviously were partners with my brother and you were the one that explained to me, hey, this whole personal injury field, the more medicine, the more anatomy you know.
And I knew a lot because of my experience in college and really loved it. The more about medicine, the more you know about that, the better attorney you could be in this field. For me it was a no brainer. When I interviewed with you guys and of course I know you guys were very wise in hiring me because one of your close friends, a very prominent lawyer in New York as well, was the only other interview I ever went on who offered me a job on the spot.
How we work:
Paul Edelstein:
We sat across from each other, facing each other for about two years, sharing a desk, right?
Glenn Faegenburg:
There was about one foot of space to actually walk in that office. It was incredible and I think I’ve said it before, but you and I, we never fought during that entire period of time. So that is pretty telling to be in our type of high stress business and to spend two years not at each other’s throats, but the opposite, learning and pushing the ball for our clients. It was pretty great.
Paul Edelstein:
it strikes me that now when we have our own grand lovely offices and we’re next to each other and our own desks that we spend most of our time when we’re in the office, when we’re not in court and doing court related things, sitting on the opposite side of each other’s desk just like we did back then. I mean that’s what we do.
Glenn Faegenburg:
It’s been working for all these years. Back then we were able to share ideas and also have fun. It’s a combination. It’s nice to have that and it still is as helpful now, maybe even more so now than it even was back then.
Paul Edelstein:
Obviously, we have many other people that we sit with do that, and that’s sort of the secret of the success, I think. But it’s interesting to think that’s how we sort of started you and I as lawyers and partners. We were physically at the same desk. Now we have different desks and different offices, but we end up migrating to the same place the same time anyway. We could have saved a lot of rent if we just kept going at the same, with one desk. I really don’t know why we didn’t just stick with that.
Conclusion:
Thanks for joining us on pulling back the legal curtain with Paul and Glenn because we get so many questions over so many years about what goes on behind the legal curtain in the legal world. We tried to put this together so it would be entertaining and interesting and hopefully educational. If you liked it, come join us again or visit our website at edelsteinslaw.com. Either way, we’re always going to be here in front of and behind the legal curtain doing the only thing that we know how to do, which is proceed. Take care.