Monday Mentors with Houston Personal Injury Lawyer Anna Greenberg
Anna Greenberg, a personal injury lawyer with Blizzard Law in Houston, talks about moving cases forward during COVID-19, not underestimating yourself, and becoming a creative problem solver.
COVID update -
- Still maintaining a full case load and moving cases forward
- Staying on track with current deadlines
- Regular Zoom calls with the staff to stay on the same page
- Clients have been reassured their cases are moving forward; still filing things; still pursuing remote discovery; still taking their calls
- Everyone has perseverance when it comes to the law; staff has been so committed; the care for their clients doesn't stop with COVID-19
Anna's firm and practice
- Blizzard Law handles mass tort pharmaceutical and medical device litigation and some personal injury cases and some medical malpractice cases
- trans mesh
- Talcum powder
- IVC filter
- Her focus is more on medical malpractice cases
- tough in Texas because of damage caps on non-economic damages
- Human trafficking cases against the hotel industry
- Lots of statutory hurdles to clear in medical malpractice cases; quick deadlines to prove up your case
- Ed Blizzard (her dad and founder of the firm) is so well respected in this area of the law; they have tried a case together now and she is learning so much from working with him and watching him
Practicing law and raising a family
- Challenging but doable!
- recruiter ruled her out for partnership at a firm because she mentioned wanting to start a family...made her so mad!
- Very efficient at work and don't waste time so she can get home to see her daughter
Advice for young lawyers
- Don't underestimate yourself; can be inexperienced but also valuable
- You can become the expert in certain aspects of the case and be a go-to person
- Did this in her first MDL case and led to her being able to attend the prestigious/exclusive Rodney Jew sessions
- Hard work always stands out
- Take initiative; don't do the bare minimum; offer ideas; demonstrate leadership
- creativity and problem solving is key
- For business development, networking can only get you so far
- Get familiar with how to gather cases through the internet
When looking to get hired at a law firm
- Strong writing is key, so either in the cover letter or writing sample it is important to showcase this skill
- If a writing sample isn't asked for and you are a strong writer, volunteer to submit one
- In an interview it's important to show that you care about the work and that you want to be there; don't be arrogant and act like you are interviewing the firm
Future of work
- Work with trial director programs that can be used in depos and at trial
- if you can run it yourself during the depo it will benefit the firm and client
- also good to be able to respond if there is an issue at trial
Rapid Fire Qs
- One trait you want to see in an associate: attention to detail
- Key Habit: over-preparation
- Favorite App/Tool: Adobe!
- Favorite Social Distancing Activity: playing with water balloons with her daughter
- Favorite Legal Movie: A Few Good Men