“Our legal services are delivered with a principle centered philosophy that includes character, ethics, integrity and a passion for getting results. Our office culture values compassion, hard work, a commitment to excellence and a sense of humor. Understanding and communication are at the core of helping clients ascertain and meet their legal needs.”

The following stories, are some of my favorites, and help further explain my practice philosophy . . . I like this particular story because it captures the essence of so many decisions that a client has to make. Which type of lawyer do you hire? How do you tell what kind of lawyer you are hiring? And after that lawyer is hired you have to frequently decide is this or that matter really worth fighting for. It also demonstrates how having a mature lawyer may help you avoid unnecessary and expensive fights.

  THE SEASONED SAMURAI WARRIOR

The story is told of a seasoned samurai warrior in Japan who was known to be the best swordsman in all of the land. The mature warrior had defended his home, his family, his religion and his way of life against conquering invaders for years. But now, he sought to have peace and rest as he managed the affairs of his farm and gardens.

Every year, however, young warriors hoping to make a name of themselves would come into town and challenge him to a fight. The mature warrior tried to avoid these upstarts as he felt it a dishonor to have to kill those who foolishly fought him for no reason. He would even endure insults before unsheathing his deadly sword.

One day a young warrior came into town breathing out threats against the Samurai warrior. Eventually, the mature warrior found himself face to face with the young warrior. “I hope you are ready to die because I am going to cut you to pieces!” the young warrior boasted.

The seasoned warrior calmly responded and pointed to a distant shoreline, “We should not fight here. Let me take you to that Island instead.” he said.

"I'll fight you anytime anywhere!" shouted the young warrior, quickly commandeering the first boat he saw from a helpless fisherman.

As the mature warrior rowed the boat the young warrior continued to threaten him and boast about how quickly he was going to beat him. The mature warrior just smiled and kept on rowing. When they approached the shoreline, the young warrior jumped out of the boat even before they got to land. He walked through the surf and as soon as he was able, unsheathed his sword and began thrashing it about, shouting out more insults.

No sooner had he done this than he looked out to the ocean only to see the mature warrior smiling all the same, calmly rowing back to the mainland.

I have had an occasion to review the files of prospective clients who are shopping for a new lawyer only to see pages and pages of unnecessary pleadings or argumentative letters written back and forth between the lawyers. Often the letters begin to be arguing about what was meant or said in earlier letters, without a mention of actual client matters. These lawyers are just fighting to fight. I often have a prospective client tell me they want an aggressive lawyer or ask if I am an aggressive lawyer. I even see some attorney's boastfully advertise themselves in those terms. Yes, I can certainly unsheathed the sword when I have to, but when others threaten, boast or thrash about their sword, I just smile and keep on rowing.