When I enrolled in law school I had just one job in mind: a state prosecutor. Since then a lot has changed.
I wanted to be the man of Justice, bringing criminals to pay a price for their crimes resulting in a change in society and teaching those criminals in fact that “crime doesn’t pay”.
Since those old and faraway days my personal approach has been altered as I have changed my mind drastically. The first change was when I came back from the US and decided to dedicate myself to my new organization. It was only after my divorce that I could understand why I could never work for the prosecution – I am a natural public defender (even if I don’t work – and never worked – for the public defender’s office).
Rabbi Elimelech Lizensk teaches us: “On the contrary, Let our hearts see everyone else’s good traits and not their faults and let all of us talk (relate) to each other in a respectful way before YOU, and exceed our hearts any hatred forbid one of his friend …”. It’s obviously much easier for us to judge others and see their faults and bad traits than look at the positive and good side of others and this is why we all have to strive to do so, because it’s not so “natural and easy”.
For me, the hardest part of my work is to bring people down to earth – to realistic expectations – especially in a divorce case or when serving as a mediator. Henrik Ibsen wrote: “Marriage! Nothing else demands so much of a man” and the same Henrik Ibsen also wrote: “Castles in the air – they are so easy to take refuge in and so easy to build too.” I’ve learned that to bring good people out from their refuge is the hardest part in my daily work as a lawyer.
I don’t exclude myself from the list and as a lawyer I am always doing a double check with myself to make sure I am not letting my emotions take over my professional approach. It’s not easy when I am dealing with new immigrants who hope that Israel will answer all their personal dreams, their religious aspirations, their vision of a Jewish State or whatever they are looking for when they come on Aliyah – The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointments.
The legal system is by nature an anti-emotional system. Emotions are not allowed. As a result it’s easy to understand why emotional people are the most vulnerable and why they need a “non-emotional guide” in the form of a good lawyer who knows to separate emotions from facts, chances from hopes, and be realistic enough to know when to retreat in order to save whatever can be saved.
When approaching me or any other lawyer, a client should know how to separate the emotions from the real issue. The first question to be asked by the client is “What do I want to achieve?” or “What do I really need to accomplish?” All the rest is to be left to the lawyer who knows how to achieve your goals. Remember that you set the goals but the lawyer sets the way to achieve them.
Israelis can be very rude, lawyers and judges are in general “rude”, highly focused people with one purpose in mind: They want to end the case as fast as possible AND as satisfactorily as possible. The problem is the clash of interests. The judge wants to find a best solution where everyone is happy and the case ends fast. The lawyers are in charge of their client’s best interests and as you understand: Their interests clash.
You will need to trust people here in Israel. You will need to let professionals do their job in what they believe is the best way to achieve your goals. It’s impossible to always fulfill a client’s wishes and as a lawyer I must never make promises! My job is to guide you through the system and find the best viable solution for your problem using my experience and my expertise.
It’s not easy to trust others, especially if you don’t know the system well or if you can’t master Hebrew, but you must trust the person you are asking for help or paying to help you, otherwise your lawyer will try to solve your problems using your approach just to achieve some peace between you and him (or her) – and that is the best recipe for disaster.
