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Home State:
Pennsylvania
Undergrad:
University of Maryland
Law School:
University of San Diego
Specialty:
Civil Litigation

Why do you think you are a better lawyer than the other associates?
A good lawyer is the product of both talent and experience. I will take talent over experience any day of the week and twice on Sunday because people can experience the wrong things. With that in mind, I think that I am the most talented of all the associates. What I clearly lack in experience, I make up for in talent. I can adapt and move on the fly - a required courtroom skill and a key to success given the setting of "The Law Firm."

What's your verdict on reality TV?
I enjoy TV. I enjoy some reality TV. I also enjoy TV with real talent. I am (obviously) not an actor, so I evaluated the experience from the perspective of a trial lawyer. The experience, and working for Roy Black, was a career highlight, regardless of whether it was on TV or not. Hopefully, America will say, "that guy can't act, but he is one hell of a trial lawyer."

What, in your opinion, is the biggest misconception people have about lawyers and why is it a misconception?
People think we all share the same values, and those values all revolve around personal financial gain. That is not true. Most attorneys I know care deeply about their clients. They lose sleep at night not because a client has not paid a bill, but because the client is facing an enormous legal challenge that is impacting her entire life. Moreover, many attorneys care deeply about the system of justice and, by inclusion, our country.

Justice is inseparable from democracy and the founding principles of our country. Many attorneys fight hard for justice, sometimes at a great personal cost. Amazingly, this fight can occur on many different levels. From arguing a death penalty case before a state supreme court to arguing with a school board over a much-needed reduction in classroom size - wherever a position of justice is asserted, an attorney is likely nearby.

People think we pursue our own interests because, frankly, many lawyers do just that. However, the vast majority do not. The ability to argue two sides of the same issue is not the result of a duplicitous conscience; it is the result of a proper interpretation of our adversary system.