Before I look at any case as a lawyer - gather information, analyze it - I start on the human level. In every case that we look at there is painful loss - someone is maimed, someone has died. We talk to a survivor. A terrible, traumatic event has been suffered. We don't lose sight of that.

I very much enjoy representing the people who need our services. Unlike most firms serving plaintiffs, ours has the resources to commit to a worthy case. In that sense we can stand up to the state's major firms, which are backed by the largest insurance carriers and institutions. Given our staff and its talents, and the resources we can bring to bear, we are truly on an equal footing with the largest defense firms.

I believe in sharing information among attorneys. And in keeping with that, I was an early member of the Attorney Information Exchange Group, which is dedicated to making case information and research available to other plaintiffs' attorneys. It's another way the plaintiffs' bar can strengthen itself.

For the same reason, I have published articles on crashworthy and medical malpractice issues in peer reviewed legal publications and lectured extensively on legal topics. (See Trial Magazine, "Black Box Technology in the Courtroom," April 2002; and "Turn the Web into a Research Assistant (Medical Malpractice)," May 2001 and see Lecturer: Evidence, Medical Malpractice, Death Cases, Crashworthy Claims, 1990-2010 (N.J. I.C.L.E., A.T.L.A., A.I.E.G., Inner Circle, and multiple state Bar Associations))

And we often share our information with our adversaries as well. I speak and attend lectures at medical-education conferences. Often it's to highlight a trend or development that we have cited as cause for concern or potential liability - it's really so we don't have to sue them over it later on. (28th Annual Obstetric and Gynecological Conference, April 13,2003, " Decreasing the Risks for Costly Errors in Prenatal Screening and Prenatal Diagnosis Update, Drexel University College of Medicine, June 12, 2009, Legal Considerations in Prenatal Diagnosis.")

Using new technologies, such as videoconferencing, has made a big difference in the way we do our work. We don't have to fly out to California for a deposition - that's the kind of thing that obviously keeps costs down. But no one wants technology to overtake us - it goes back to the human element. Sometimes technology will come across as slick or cool, and that's not even in the interests of those of us working on the case, much less our clients.

Ultimately our work is about people - we invest a great deal of time and resources in people. This is not some commodity business, like trading pork bellies or stock futures. Our work is about making a difference in people's lives.