Andrew Finkelstein, Esq.
“You don’t know what you’re doing until you’re with me for five years.” Andrew Finkelstein, Esq.
“We are constantly testing people out.”
“I deter corporations from doing bad shit to people like you.”
Our culture is “care, compassion, and concern for our colleagues, our clients, and our community.”
Assess annually with self-assessments.
We have salary reviews on their anniversary. They do a self-assessment and a supervisor’s assessment.
- What are your top 6 principal responsibilities?
- Of those 6, what do you view as most important?
- Have circumstances have helped or hindered you?
- List notable accomplishments over the past year.
“I want to surround myself with overachievers who will help others.”
“Culture is easy to talk about, hard to implement.”
“The number one thing I’ve learned is authenticity.”
“If you are not totally transparent and honest with the people who work with you, they know it.”
“I am a huge believer in the art of delegation. I micro-manage delegation.”
How am I doing? “I do anonymous surveys on myself.” “Just the fact that you are holding yourself out, and not taking them personally, is a huge statement as to who you are as a leader.”
“Conflict is king. You make no progress as an organization without conflict. I am not into the social shit. I do not need to find my friends at work.”
“One firm. Five different entities.”
“I’d like to have 15 brands in the marketplace. That is 15 chances to get the case. All of my cases aren’t in one basket. If one of these blows up, I’ve got the others.”
“There is a P&L for each firm.”
What person has had the biggest impact on your career?” “I want to work in a firm where everyone’s goal is to get their name on another person’s piece of paper.”
“I give everyone the opportunity to work once a week at the not-for-profit of their choice.”
“Who’s not lucky in this room?”
Define your culture.
“If the people in your organization believe you are truly committed to them, they will stay for 50 years. It’s not about money. It’s totally about how they’re treated.”
Book recommendation: “The Marine Corps Way”. “I embraced it and let everyone know.”
“My responsibility is to make everyone else better.”
“You have to lead by example if you want to build a long-lasting institution.”
“If you are just in it to make money and retire, you’re not building an institution. I want to build a generational firm. That’s one of my goals.”
“You have to know your why.”
“I wrote a book that I give to every single client. I get connected to my clients.”
“Presume positive intent. If you presume positive intent with everyone in your office, you’ll live better.”
“I encourage you to evaluate every one of your systems. It may be the system or communication, then turn to the person.”
“Is every decision being made in the best interest of our firm and our client?”
“You have to be willing to accept some level of mediocrity.”
“If they were you, they wouldn’t be working for you.”
“How is that consistent with our culture?”
“Is there something I can help you with? We will take care of this together. They don’t get punished. Life happens.”
“I care about you and I want this to work out for everybody. You have to tell everybody that you care about them. I will be vulnerable.”
“It’s about sacrifice.”
“I say this to everyone. I work for them. My job is to make their job easier.”
“We are all stretched thin. You think I’m not stretched thin? Think about the problems that you have and magnify it one hundred times.”
“When you give something for nothing, you get multiples in return. You are giving of yourself.”
“Always evaluate your opportunity cost. Am I giving up a bigger opportunity for what I am about to do? You should evaluate everything as an opportunity cost.”
“You take care of the people in your charge.”
Leadership Amplification: “Things that you say and more importantly, things that you don’t say are constantly amplified.” Words and expressions of leaders have a large impact on others.
“If you look the other way when someone does something improper, you’re endorsing it.”
“I don’t have lawyers work on a ‘piece of the case’. Everyone has a straight salary. That doesn’t mean I don’t give salaries. I definitely do.” “The higher the stakes, the greater the risk of unethical behavior.”
“I embrace negative client reviews. The number one thing I do is apologize.” “Getting feedback and asking how I am doing is a very valuable thing.”
“How is Tom doing in your communication?” “It becomes part of their annual review.”
“I recognize that I get screwed plenty of times.”
“Someone has made a choice to dedicate their career to me and my firm. I certainly owe them, thank them, wish them well, and offer them my service. I just want you to know that you are in a very special office. If you want to rise up with us, we welcome it.”
Bonuses are discretionary and not at a set time. It’s not just lawyers; I give [bonuses] to paraprofessionals too. “I did away with all bonuses 20 years ago.”
Has 23 offices.
“You can always ask for an increase. You can always ask for a bonus. As long as you’re prepared to hear ‘no’. I hope the expectation is not an automatic ‘yes’.”
“I don’t want people to feel like we’re taking advantage of them.”
“Not everyone can be a superstar. Those who aren’t superstars actually know it.”
“It’s as simple as this: it’s the way that they are treated. They talk about how they were treated. ALWAYS.”
“Just because someone shows up and does their job,
“I want to surround myself with overachievers and people who are trying to put their name on someone else’s paper. Did you help everyone else around you? Because that is what it is about. I want to reward people for who they are as a person.”
“There is a lot of connectivity.”
“No such thing as reaching their ceiling. Here’s another thing to keep in mind: Gen Z they are going to have 15 different careers. Part of the reason I keep people so long, I give them different careers [move to a different department]. If they are good, you find the work for them.”
“People want to learn and not get stuck in a rut. Thrown them into the deep end.”
Three words on my computer: “Autonomy, mastery, and purpose.“ That is what drives motivation. It is not money.”
“The goal of good trial work is to listen to the answer. What is it that they’re actually saying?”
Autonomy: Self-directed.
Mastery: Constant improvement through feedback.
Purpose: Doing something important.
The most important skill for a trial lawyer is the ability to listen.
Interview question: “Why should I invest my time in you? My opportunity cost, that is what I am really asking about.”
“I want to see if they can give me constructive criticism, and they can handle constructive criticism.”
Bring people in to speak to your team. “INVEST IN THEM. When people feel valued, that they are being invested in. I want you to take the lead on this.”
Inventory Analysis: “The number one mistake is that trial lawyers settle their best cases and try their worst cases. You have to turn that around. Don’t settle your best cases unless you get a premium.”
“I’ve to 240,000 cases over the years and I’ve got all of this data.”
40% of your revenue will come from cases worth over $2.5M.
“Just let them know how you feel about them. I really care about you and I want the best for you.” “Nothing bad can come from that.”
“Build a firm that people want to be a part of.”
