Recently, I came to realize that many clients seem to view JEWISH LAWYERS as something special, something to search for on the internet, when looking for an attorney.  Of course, being myself a Jewish attorney, I became very curious about this, and after some inquiry, followed by a bit of research, here’s what I found.  Many of my clients view Jewish lawyers as being some – or all – of the following, but with a wide variation in how they rank these attributes:

ATTRIBUTES

• - Highly intelligent and capable professionals;
• - Very assertive, even aggressive, with some clients saying going so far as to say, “I’m looking for an attorney that’s a shark, a pit bull, or [fill in the blank] … I need someone who knows how to ‘go for the jugular’… “ 
• - Or on a less controversial note, someone who really knows what they’re doing, with many years of experience, whether that be as Trial Lawyers, Criminal Defense Lawyers, Real Estate Lawyers or Transactional Lawyers, to name a few;
• - Someone who takes the job 100% seriously; and
• - Someone clever, who will “out-smart” the lawyers on the other side.

Of course, it’s quite possible that these statements are all a bunch of nonsense, with absolutely no basis in fact, but, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that there is some truth to them.  If so, why would this be?

POSSIBLE  BASIS

• Talmudic Scholars. As far back as History books go, Jewish Rabbi’s, scholars and students have studied the Torah (Jewish Bible / Old Testament), carefully examining every single written word, with lots of debate and commentary as to the meanings and interpretations of the Torah, and what it teaches us.  (Written commentaries about the Torah are referred to as the Talmud, and scholars who study the Talmud are referred to as “Talmudic Scholars”); certainly this History would provide a solid basis for the scholarly study of law, which in many senses is similar; at most American law schools today, students are taught by what is commonly referred to as the “Socratic method,” named after the Greek Scholar Socrates, in which the professor poses a number of difficult questions, and then challenges the students to figure out the answers, rather than just teaching them the answers.  It is worth noting that many of the Torah Scholars discussed above, lived many generations before  (Socrates lived in Athens, Greece, from 470 BCE to 399 BCE)  Whether you refer to it as Socratic, or Talmudic, certainly the ability to debate important issues skillfully, comes in handy in court, in front of a judge;

• Jewish Diaspora. At some point around the Sixth (6^th) Century BCE, beginning with the Babylonian exile, as a result of armed conflict and the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Jews were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire, and to Babylonia.  As early as the Third (3^rd) Century BCE, Jewish communities sprang up in the Aegean islands, Greece, Asia Minor, Cyrenaica, Italy and Egypt.  Later, Jews settled in North Africa, Spain, and then both Western and Eastern Europe.  In many of these countries, Jews were seen as different than all of the indigenous people – despite other variations in religion and culture – and were prohibited from owning land.  (Ironically, many of today’s most well-known Real Estate Attorneys, Real Estate Developers, and Builders are Jewish.)  Since they could not feed their communities as farmers, many Jews became craftsmen, such as tailors or silversmiths or teachers, which tended to encourage the acquisition of knowledge, “know-how” and skills.

• Tradition of Higher Education. For many generations, Jewish families have stressed education, and for many reasons, Jewish parents encouraged their children to study and get good educations.  This likely has something to do with the fact that in America, a relatively high proportion of Jews are teachers, attorneys, doctors, and skilled engineers and scientists.

• Immigrant Mentality. There have been a number of studies about the surprising educational and career success of Immigrants in America, whether they be Jewish, Asian or otherwise.  Apparently, the feeling of being a bit different, combined with fear of failure, as well as family encouragement, have certainly had some effect on Jewish and Asian immigrants to America.  One thing I know for sure, from experience, that in Jewish Culture, as well as in most Asian Cultures, the success of a parent is judged not so much by that parent’s career, but by the careers of their children.  So, a Jewish parent may work all of their life as a “presser” in a laundry or dry cleaning shop, but if one of his children gets into Medical School, then the parent is viewed as a tremendous success.

AS A CONSEQUENCE, JEWISH LAWYERS ARE VERY POPULAR

So, day after day, I get calls seeking Jewish Lawyers, whether it is Trial Lawyers, Divorce (Family Law) Lawyers, or Transactional / Real Estate Lawyers.  Sometimes the requests are even more specific, such as for Ashkenazi Jewish Lawyers, which – roughly translated – means Jewish Lawyers whose ancestors lived in Europe, or for Sephardic Jewish Lawyers, which means Jewish Lawyers whose ancestors lived in the Middle East or North Africa or Spain.