Senior Viewpoint
Dick Steinberg has resided in the city of Brookfield for 35 years. He served 34 years as municipal judge and has been an attorney for 50 years. He enjoys tennis, golf, biking and creative writing, which includes legal issues, sports, government and people.
He'd love to hear from you. Click here to send him an e-mail.
LAWYERS
LAWYERS. My ambition was to be a baseball player, with an education to boot. After getting my B.A. degree My family was adament that I be the first professional person so I gave it a try. Not too long after enrolling in law school my competitive instincts kicked in and I became determined to learn the law as it was taught. Then came an interruption with military service and after an honorable discharge I returned to law school and graduated from Marquette University. All this time I was working to raise and save money for my legal education without any federal or state benefits. I was not interested in working for someone else so I opened a law office on 35th and W.Vliet St., moved my location a few times and now am an 50+ year member of the State Bar of Wisconsin still working in my profession.
My law practice included personal injury, criminal law, real estate and property law, corporation law and a general field of almost any other subject. The courtroom was my favorite place and I was a trial lawyer for my entire career. My story is quite common amongst my peers and also with my son and daughter, both lawyers, who are still paying off student loans for their legal education.
To be a solo practitioner is amost impossible today. The cost of operating a law office is very steep with equipment, secretarial, rent, advertising and numerous other expenses to pay. In addition the solo lawyer does it all, faxing, copying, phoning, word processing, running errands, research and whatever it takes. The only satisfaction is that you are your own boss and personally service your clients, which for someone like me has been worth the efforts.
Collecting attorney fees is the biggest problem for a lawyer. Lawyers have no insurance coverage like physicians, cannot withhold (mostly) advice once a client is taken in, and because many clients have financial issues take on cases that may or may not gain financial return. The US Supreme Court years ago decided that lawyer advertising was legal which led to the promotional ads now seen on TV, phone books, mailings, web sites and all other forms. There are many efficient lawyers who do not advertise,as such, and I have been one of them. Unlike most business instutions lawyers are subject to punishment for unethical behavior.
For a lawyer the hours are long, the cases are complex, the clients are already in trouble, the learning process is never ending, the adverse system is either win or lose, and their creditors want to be paid like anyone else.
Over time many young people and their parents have asked me if I recommend a legal education. My answer is always YES. President Lincoln said: "a lawyers time and advice is his stock in trade".
76 COMMENTS
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the subject of appointed judges was an editorial in the JS which posed the same issue as I. no response either way from my readers.
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as a final word on your subject, my wife drives a honda accord, not new, which serves her well. from the days of the model t to the present time cars have had defects, some apparent and some not. the fact is that my family had a used car biz and i drove them all. no particular model had the advantage. mostly, the owner/driver made the difference.
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Say Dick, If the little lady wants to motor over to Pick n Save this week, do have her use the Sears 1909 Economy Motor Buggy.
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So how do you see the world cup Dick: Estonia vs. Sudetenland ending nil - nil after regular time plus 30 minutes of timeouts followed by two overtime periods of course. But who do you think will win the match in the 112th round of penalty kicks?
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brewers look much better. mgr macha lets pitchers go more innings and weeks, hart and fielder are starting to cut down their swing and let the bat do the work. the young pitchers are throwing hard and lucroy is a throwback catcher. he can run too. doug davis return gives me fits. gomez was a bad deal. ryan braun is the real thing.
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Dick, call Jack Safro and have him drive over and pick up your lady love's 2010 Lexus immediately. Turns out the thing is a potential Elk Ida fire bomb.
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Say Dick, I meant to ask you, have you gotten caught up in World Cup Fever? I'll tell ya, this stuff ain't for folks prone to strokes or cardiac events. What could be more exciting than 90 minutes of non stop play ending in a nil - nil tie?
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Dick, did you read about the Oregon doctor who is opening the first 'Kevorking Parlor'? Yep, read here:
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Dick, having too many pitchers is way different from having too many good pitchers. Which is our problem?
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my attention in the news is that the brewers may now have too many pitchers.
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Load more comments View all comments Back to topDICK STEINBERG - Jul 06, 2010 7:36 PM - Report Abuse
DICK STEINBERG - Jul 06, 2010 7:33 PM - Report Abuse
Santas Elf - Jun 30, 2010 11:33 PM - Report Abuse
Seems that Toyota announced Thursday about 270,000 vehicles sold worldwide, including luxury Lexus sedans, have faulty engines, and we wouldn't want her to break down on the road now would we?
Santas Elf - Jun 28, 2010 6:45 PM - Report Abuse
What a raucous brawl that envisions!
This is like Sarina battling Latrina to see which bedroom in the house will display the cup.
Yawn...
DICK STEINBERG - Jun 28, 2010 5:06 PM - Report Abuse
Santas Elf - Jun 25, 2010 7:27 PM - Report Abuse
Toyota is recalling 17,000 of these wrecks because they spilled too much gasoline during crash tests. Nice of them to test these self propelled napalm bombs by dumping them on the American market!
Frankly I'd let her use the 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom for these short trips till this thing is cleaned up.
If she's going to continue driving this vehicle over to the ladies social hour at church each week, at least have her open the window a block or so away and begin yelling "Allah Akbar" as she approaches the parking lot. That would be fair warning that death is imminent.
Peace!
Santas Elf - Jun 24, 2010 10:53 PM - Report Abuse
This sort of excitement ranks second only to watching 18 innings of baseball in which each team manages a single in the first inning. All eyes are glued on the head ump, hoping beyond hope that he'll call the game for some humane reason; a credible reason; any reason at all!
And how bout that clay court thriller that ended the other day after 72 hours of watching two totally non dominant players make fools out of themselves trying to beat the other? Whack - pack, whack - pack, whack - pack until every neck in the stadium was fully conditioned for millions of dollars of trips to the chiropractor.
Dick, you don't get to see the likes of World Cup action often enough to really appreciate what an idiotic game it can be. Perhaps the unending tradition of players swapping shirts with opponents after the game says it better than I can. Following 90 minutes of relentless exertion producing no significant result, what could be more appropriate than swapping your smelly old tee shirt for some stranger's smelly old tee shirt.
That, as they say, is what it's all about!
Santas Elf - Jun 24, 2010 4:02 PM - Report Abuse
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,595252,00.html?test=latestnews
I'm predicting that this one will be the first of a nation-wide chain of such. You'll be able to get decimated, cremated and packed in your urn in one seamless operation. They might even make it a drive through, though you'd have to bring someone along to drive your car home!
Have a good day now!
Santas Elf - Jun 23, 2010 6:23 PM - Report Abuse
Perhaps we could sent our excess down to Arizona to throw fast balls at drug cartel members camped just south of Tucson!
DICK STEINBERG - Jun 23, 2010 5:31 PM - Report Abuse