Every Lawyer Should Aspire to Practice Law Like Irwin Kramer
I reached out to Irwin for an initial consultation regarding an attorney grievance matter and ended up retaining him for the remainder of the attorney grievance process. Irwin is an excellent attorney because he is not only capable of providing thorough, high-quality, and nuanced legal advice--he is also capable of recognizing the tremendous burden in the form of personal guilt, shame, and embarrassment that accompanies clients undergoing the lengthy and unpredictable grievance process. The attorney grievance process is very overwhelming for perfectionist lawyers like myself who have a hard time moving on from past mistakes, even though mistakes can teach us very valuable and important life lessons that would otherwise escape us.
In fact, the first time we met, he told me that I needed to disclose the matter to at least a few of my close friends/family members because they would provide critical and necessary emotional support during this difficult time in my life. I had been torturing myself for over 6 months with overwhelming feelings of guilt and regret because I thought I deserved to suffer indefinitely but Irwin told me that it was okay to forgive myself for making a terrible mistake. When I was ready to give up the practice of law, he told me that I needed to keep going because it wasn't over yet. When I thought about giving up my license instead of waiting for the AGC to come down on me with severe sanctions, he told me that I shouldn't put the cart before the horse. When I began to feel as though every penny I had invested in my legal career was a total waste and I would end up homeless without a job, he told me to focus on existing client matters for the time being rather than future scenarios that may or may not happen in real life.
Irwin also provided me with necessary “reality checks” due to his extensive experience in the area of legal ethics violations, including the need to prioritize my mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing for purposes of survival. Many attorneys are all "Doom and Gloom" but Irwin is unique in that he recognizes the importance of demonstrating empathy, compassion, and support for his clients during very difficult times. Irwin did not judge or shame me for what happened, and he fought for me even when I began to doubt whether I was truly "worthy" of practicing law. All this to say, he is truly one of the most outstanding and inspirational attorneys I have ever met, and I would highly recommend him to any attorney undergoing the attorney grievance process.