An indomitable “force of nature,” former judge and luminary in Trucking Litigation, Joseph A. Fried, sweeps us away in The Heart of Law’s podcast debut. Our prolific host, Mirena Umizaj, picks the perfect guest to launch her show. She engages the inspiring powerhouse and discovers the many elements that propel, energize, and move him.
Covid-19 has certainly brought significant changes to Joe’s life and practice. With depositions and hearings done in Zoom meeting rooms, he remarks on the substantial depreciation in the quality of human engagement within his practice. However, he positively accentuates the advantages of time saved at traveling less—how it unexpectedly improved his health and time spent with his family. Despite its many distractions, he remarks on the surprisingly special kind of intimacy and organic camaraderie that an informal internet meeting does for his clients.
Mirena continues to ask Joe thought-provoking questions about his evolution as a litigator and as a human being overall. He shares invaluable life lessons he has learned in three decades of working in such a ruthless, highly driven field. Joe shares his resolution to take candid inventory of his life and his profound decision to live honestly. He reveals deep and meaningful insights, expounding on the hard choices to preserve his family, marriage, faith.
The two subsequently unpack the common, negative stereotypes that plague lawyers. While Joe considers the necessity of emotional restraint for litigators (even doctors) to perform their job effectively, he weighs the value of human decency and meaningful connection with his clients—making sure he builds credibility and authentic relationships with them.
Joe gives homage to his courtroom heroes Gerry Spence, Ben Williams, and Josh Carterton how much their work has influenced him, his thriving practice, and causes close to his heart. With cogent transparency and optimism as motifs throughout the podcast, we find a refreshingly new perspective into the legal world through the eyes of Mirena and Joe.
EPISODE SURVEY:
- 00:04:15 Discover how Joe makes the most out of working remotely & how his practice shifted gears since the global pandemic.
- 00:19:05 Joe expounds on the necessary changes he's made within himself as he became more self-aware in his profession and life.
- 01:16:51 Learn the many benefits of neurolinguistics and psychodrama.
- 01:20:31 Joe discusses everything he has learned and the benefits of Trial Lawyers College for any attorney and living a life of balance and the 80-20 rule
- 01:49:43 Mirena asks Joe about the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, the organization he co-founded with Michael Leizerman.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
- “... the first order of business in jury selection is to create a safe space… for a juror.”
- “The willingness [and] the courage to be vulnerable . . . when you exercise that courage is the opposite of what I thought would happen. I thought that I would be rejected, labeled, ostracized, pushed away. And what I found instead was people were drawn to that courage.”
- “ … in a lot of ways my whole life has been about trying to figure out my place in the world, why I'm here . . . and what's my purpose … I've struggled with doubts about self-worth . . . and I don't think I'm alone.”
- “As people get so caught up on the surface, we forget to see what's underneath it all.”
- “It is all about challenging the paradigms that we were taught in law school.”
- “And there [are] so many filters everywhere . . . trying to appear one way and really be another way.”
- “I believe that the party with the most credibility at the end wins almost invariably.”
- “It's a struggle for honesty in the imperfection that matters.”
LINKS FROM THE SHOW:
ABOUT OUR GUEST: Joseph A. Fried
- Partner with Fried Goldberg LLC in Atlanta, GA
- Specializes in Trucking Litigation and is licensed to practice in GA, FL TN, TX, NY; he has handled cases in about 40 States.
- Former Judge of Fulton County Magistrate Court (1994-2014) and a former police officer.
- Accomplished $1 Billion in recoveries
- Authored 2 books and several Trial Guides DVDs on Trucking Litigation, educating attorneys regarding trucking claims to nationwide; Joe is about to release the third book for police officers on Standards of Care for Safety Driving Trucks
- Attended Trial Lawyers College in 2002 & joined the faculty in 2005
- Co-founded the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys in 2015
- Lead efforts to get Truck Accident Law to a fully recognized specialty of the ABA (American Bar Association) in 2017
- Former Department Chair of National Board of Truck Crash Attorneys and National Board of Trial Advocacy
- Credited with developing many of the Best Practices used by lawyers nationally in Truck Accident Investigation and Truck Accident Litigation.
