Many law schools tout the value of collaborative learning within their schools, but outside of the proverbial foot in the door for interview purposes, many lawyers do not utilize their law school connections to their full capacities.
When looking for quick information regarding unfamiliar details in the law, most practitioners turn to more experienced attorneys within their firms. When the internal pool of knowledge comes up dry, attorneys generally look to legal search engines and treatises as a means of learning areas and processes of law with which they are not familiar. A few law school classmates and I stumbled upon an alternate means of finding information: our WhatsApp chat.
The Brain Trust Evolution
What started as a few friends discussing plans to grab drinks on Stone Street developed into an extremely valuable tool for quick legal information and a great place for colleagues to point each other in the right direction for information.
While I was working for a landlord-tenant firm in 2017, my law school classmate and friend who specialized in real estate litigation found himself scheduled to go to 111 Centre Street on a landlord-tenant matter the next day. Despite having thoroughly researched the relevant laws to his case, he was entirely unfamiliar with the realities of housing court and the internal processes. After learning that none of the attorneys in his firm were familiar with Housing Court, he reached out to me via our group chat for information regarding general procedures and customs.
I happily talked him through the process and gave him a heads up about what he would experience outside of what is written in blackletter law. This interaction set a precedent within our group and we have been regularly reaching out to each other when anyone stumbles upon a situation or question of law for which an answer is not readily available.
Unique Knowledge
Over the years our group has grown and includes practitioners experienced in real estate transactions and litigation, employment law, labor law, bankruptcy, criminal prosecution and defense, trials and investigative work, corporate law, nightlife law, complex civil litigation, sports and entertainment practice, and maritime law.
While far from all encompassing, our areas of knowledge make up a generous subsection of legal practice in New York. As most of us work in related areas, we often find ourselves helping one another on subjects varying from legal standards and procedures, to experiences with judges whom we have appeared before. Part of the benefit of a group of friends collaborating is that no one is embarrassed to ask each other “silly” questions and we regularly celebrate one another’s successes.
Client Confidentiality Never Waivers
While the members of our group regularly discuss concepts of law and details of legal practice, we have always made sure to maintain the highest level of security for our client’s identities and information. Over the years, we have discussed hundreds of nuances of law, but none of us has ever mentioned the name of a client or details of a case. This has always been a sort of unspoken rule to which we all abide based on our responsibilities as attorneys and is, of course, required by the rules of professional responsibility.
Fringe Benefits
As we continue to gain more experience and progress through our legal careers, our group has become more valuable and more able to help one another. Many of us switched our areas of practice over the years, we have won cases, lost cases, received promotions and at times lost our jobs. Throughout it all we support each other and help one another succeed, all while navigating the ever-perplexing world of the United States legal system.
Andrew C. Bershtein is an attorney at Balestriere Fariello who represents clients in in all stages of litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He focuses practice on complex commercial litigation, contract disputes, and real estate law. You can reach Andrew at andrew.c.bershtein@balestrierefariello.com.