1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,240 How's it going everybody? 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,680 Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Bronx Attorney Broadcast. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,000 Today I talk about networking with Aaron Fine. 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,960 Aaron Fine is a personal injury attorney at Edelman, Krasin and Jay. 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,840 And for personal injury attorneys, the reason why networking is so important is because 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,320 you have to build your own book of business or a firm within a firm as Aaron puts it so 7 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:28,000 you can continue to earn more money as you progress through your career. 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,680 It's a little bit different from some other areas of practice where you don't have to 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,560 bring in your own clients as much. 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:40,240 So it's really important to us and I think that this is something that can also translate 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:45,120 across practice groups, real estate attorneys, estate planning attorneys. 12 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,200 They're always looking for new clients as well. 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:53,240 So here's the episode with Aaron about networking. 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,200 Hey Aaron, how's it going today? 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,480 Thanks for taking the time to chat with me tonight. 16 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,000 Yeah, my pleasure. 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:03,000 Happy to be here. 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:04,000 Talk to you as always. 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,720 Yeah, and I'm typically underdressed but today I had court so I'm actually in a suit like 20 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,280 everybody else is. 21 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:11,760 All right. 22 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,840 I mean, I'm always on court. 23 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:15,840 You never know. 24 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,280 Sometimes these judges call, gotta show up. 25 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,000 And now they got Zoom so they can get you when you're not ready for it too. 26 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:23,760 You gotta keep a jacket at the office. 27 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:25,160 Has it happened to you? 28 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,400 It's happened to me twice in the last one. 29 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,480 Every once in a while. 30 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:36,240 So it's that I forgot and then I have to put the tie and the jacket on. 31 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,680 So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself. 32 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:40,920 What firm do you work at? 33 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:41,920 Where are you from? 34 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,600 Give us your name and your quick little bio. 35 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:45,600 Sure. 36 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:46,600 Aaron Fine. 37 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,000 Went to St. John's as you know will. 38 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Go John. 39 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,760 We're for Elman Crescent and Jay, a personal injury firm, offices in Westbury. 40 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:01,840 We have offices in Bronx, East, somewhere in Suffolk. 41 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,680 But we handle cases all over New York, New Jersey. 42 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:08,840 Any type of PI case, we handle it. 43 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:14,280 MedMal, labor law, trip and fall, slip and fall, whatever you need. 44 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,440 And you started there straight after law school, right? 45 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,240 Yeah, actually interned here as a 2L. 46 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,320 I clerked here as a 2L and never left. 47 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:24,320 Okay. 48 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,720 So they must have been good to you when you were an intern so that you didn't run away 49 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,120 and go somewhere else. 50 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:30,520 Go to the defense side. 51 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,520 Well, it's a funny story. 52 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,160 I always told myself I would never want to do PI. 53 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,600 The whole ambulance chasing and whatnot. 54 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:44,840 I applied to this firm as a law student looking for a summer job. 55 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:51,720 I was really looking for some litigation experience and I knew PI very heavily in litigation. 56 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:57,720 As you know, I just want to be a trial attorney, but I didn't care which area, but I knew not 57 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,040 PI, but just wanted to get some experience. 58 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:07,880 So I interviewed, they told me here that I'd be doing motions and going to court, all that 59 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,320 great stuff that I wanted to do. 60 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:16,440 And then once I started working, it's like, wow, people actually got hurt and never left. 61 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:17,920 I really liked it here. 62 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:18,920 Okay. 63 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:24,360 And so what I wanted to talk about today is, I think that you had a similar introduction 64 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:32,320 when you started working, but I know for me, it was the initial salary offer and the personal 65 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:38,760 injury plaintiff side is a little bit lower than some other areas. 66 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:46,800 But what happens is, the firm will say, you have the ability to control your own destiny 67 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:52,040 and you'll make more money when you bring in your own work. 68 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:57,400 And I remember for myself sitting there and thinking to myself, well, that's great and 69 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,920 I would love to make more money, but I don't know the first thing about how to build a 70 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,360 book of business, where to find clients. 71 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,920 You're not going to go hang out at the hospital and with your cards, right? 72 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,720 You got to find a way to build this business. 73 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:19,080 Is that something that your experience interviewing and getting the offer as well? 74 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:20,240 Absolutely. 75 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:25,600 So I knew that I wanted to work here for the environment, for that type of work, but of 76 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,520 course none of us work for free, right? 77 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:30,520 And you're right. 78 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:35,080 So especially out on Long Island, it's not what we thought going into law school. 79 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:42,040 I think any lawyer knew what actually being a lawyer was like before going to law school 80 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:43,040 to begin with. 81 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,640 It's not making 300,000 out of school. 82 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:53,480 But I do recall sitting in one of the attorney's offices while trying to make my decision, 83 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,000 who happens to not be here anymore because he went out and started his own firm. 84 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,480 That's kind of what I guess we're going to talk about. 85 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:08,080 And he just told me that it's the benefit of having a firm within a firm, which is what 86 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,280 we have here. 87 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:14,640 I handle cases for the firm, but they don't turn me down. 88 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:19,280 If I have a case, somebody comes to me and says, why not? 89 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:21,920 We go for it. 90 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,560 And with that, you really put in what you get. 91 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:29,720 Excuse me, you get what you put in, I should say. 92 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,480 It's about effort. 93 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:37,480 And I'm not here until midnight working, but networking is a big part of it. 94 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,160 And I've had those same thoughts. 95 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,640 I remember sitting in that office thinking to myself, like you said, oh, that's so nice 96 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,240 that you're very successful, but that's you. 97 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,720 How do you know that's going to be me? 98 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,560 He just said, don't worry, it will. 99 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:57,520 And things that just naturally happen. 100 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,640 He put me on this path on how to do that. 101 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,120 And hopefully one day, I'll be giving the same advice as someone else. 102 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:06,120 Yeah. 103 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,520 And another thing is I feel like when you're in law school, you're thinking about that 104 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:16,120 Midtown Manhattan office where you're on the 70th floor and now you're sitting in where 105 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:17,720 in Nassau County? 106 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:18,720 In Westbury. 107 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,480 And you're in Westbury and I'm on City Island. 108 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:26,280 So that didn't really turn out like it was expected to. 109 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:28,800 And I think it's going well for both of us. 110 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,720 I would say what's really cool is that straight out of law school, before I was even admitted, 111 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:33,720 I had an office. 112 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,400 I wasn't in a cubicle, I had an office. 113 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,520 Three months after being admitted, I was trying a case. 114 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:50,160 So yeah, so these are things that our industry, PI, were so litigious that it really allows 115 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:51,840 for stuff like that. 116 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:57,280 And especially with my firm, they're always encouraging bringing in the businesses, always 117 00:06:57,280 --> 00:06:59,400 a big part of it. 118 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:04,120 I really feel like there are two types of people when it comes to networking. 119 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,600 There are those who are just born that they can do it. 120 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:08,600 A schmoozer. 121 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:09,600 A schmoozer, exactly. 122 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,480 And there are those who need to be pushed. 123 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,880 And honestly, I was one of those that needed to be pushed. 124 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,560 I was pushed into a networking group. 125 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,240 That was what I had to hear from day one. 126 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,120 And I really think that's kind of where it has to start. 127 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,520 So when you say you're pushed into a networking group, what do you mean by that? 128 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:32,080 Every attorney in my office is part of a networking group, whether it's B&I or I'm part of IBO. 129 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:40,560 It's essentially a greater business networking organization where IBO, for example, stands 130 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:45,080 for interchanged business organization, where there are different local chapters or different 131 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:46,080 towns. 132 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:51,200 There's a lot of the Baldwin chapter slash Rockville Center chapter known as Alliance 133 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:52,200 of IBO. 134 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:58,680 And essentially, each mini chapter has a weekly meeting, has a weekly group, and each group 135 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,400 can only have one individual from each profession. 136 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:08,400 So one personal injury attorney, one real estate attorney, one finance advisor. 137 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:14,880 And from that internally, we're supposed to be referring, if I know someone who needs 138 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,760 a real estate attorney, right, and over to my real estate attorney, my group and vice 139 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:19,760 versa. 140 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,200 And from there, it starts, and then you meet people through that, not just even referring, 141 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,920 but connectors, connections and whatnot. 142 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,360 And, you know, it just grows out from there. 143 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,520 So that's really where I was always told I needed to start. 144 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,120 And from day one, I've been told I need to, you know, my boss is, when are you in the 145 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:37,120 group? 146 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:38,120 When's your meeting? 147 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:39,120 What's the name of your group? 148 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:40,120 Where's your group meeting? 149 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:41,120 So I'm probably... 150 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,400 And how did you find this IBO chapter? 151 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:50,920 So again, one of the members of my firm, former members who was high-matt before, started 152 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,280 his own firm, he was part of IBO. 153 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:59,200 And he just told me to just go on the website, anyone could do it. 154 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:04,480 And you just search through the different chapters, see if there are any local chapters 155 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,400 or wherever you're willing to travel. 156 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,960 It's once a week meeting that needs someone in your industry. 157 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:16,280 So happens to be Rockville Center was 10 minutes from my house, which was great, especially 158 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:20,440 with a 7.30 AM breakfast meeting. 159 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,480 We needed a PI attorney. 160 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,600 So I reached out to the president at the time. 161 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:31,480 We spoke, did a bit of an interview I visited, so that it worked out. 162 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,320 And I know there are people who, they're always looking for people to start chapters as well. 163 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:43,080 So if you want to be that PI attorney chapter in your local area that doesn't have one, 164 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:44,080 there you go. 165 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:52,600 And IBO, I guess, I run it, Tom Gibson, you'll always help you try to connect with people 166 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:54,440 to start a group. 167 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,840 And so he runs the whole IBO. 168 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:58,760 Is that like a company that he owns? 169 00:09:58,760 --> 00:09:59,760 Right. 170 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,360 So I guess he owns it. 171 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:09,800 And I don't know how many chapters are, isn't necessarily an IBO commercial, but it's what 172 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:10,800 works for me. 173 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,520 So B&I is also very similar. 174 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,280 I know a lot of attorneys do that as well. 175 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:16,280 Yeah. 176 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:23,360 Runs broader IBO events for all the chapters to go to. 177 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,720 So that thing. 178 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,280 Have you found success in that in getting referred cases? 179 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:30,280 Yeah. 180 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:36,400 I would say most of my cases have originated from my IBO group. 181 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:43,040 Maybe not necessarily a direct, here's a referral, although I have a lot of those, but also a 182 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,040 connection to somebody who would refer me to the case. 183 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,560 So a lot from that. 184 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:54,080 And is it like the other professionals, like clients that had something happen that they 185 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,080 couldn't handle, or it's like their family member or friend, or it could be anything? 186 00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,080 Right. 187 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:00,080 Exactly. 188 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:01,600 And that's kind of what we do. 189 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,920 Especially, and I mention this all the time during my meetings, is that it's not as simple 190 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:12,400 as, hey, everyone needs an account, but not everybody needs a personal injury attorney. 191 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,160 It's happenstance. 192 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:16,160 It's accidents. 193 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:17,160 Right. 194 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:18,160 If and when it happens. 195 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:19,160 Call me. 196 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:20,160 Right. 197 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:21,160 Exactly. 198 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,840 That being said, you never know who knows people. 199 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,160 There's also good connections to be made with whether it's with a physical therapist 200 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:34,680 or a chiropractor or a worker's compensation attorney, someone who, other attorneys really 201 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:38,600 who don't do what we do and refer to us. 202 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:39,880 It's all about meeting people. 203 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,160 That's what you need to do. 204 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,520 And so what do you do at these meetings, actually? 205 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:49,280 You go there at 7.30, you sit around the table, you have bagels, and what do you do? 206 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:50,280 Yeah. 207 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:57,640 So we go around, give the same elevator speech week to week, what we do, what we're looking 208 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:03,360 for, hopefully, if you have a good story to tell that happened over the week, think if 209 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,000 there's some member of the group that gave you a referral, you thank them. 210 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:12,360 And once a week, normally one of the members gives some kind of spotlight of what they 211 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,520 do. 212 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,920 Talk about certain part of their industry that you want to talk about. 213 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:24,600 I talk about no fault wall all the time, how it's really important to get UM coverage. 214 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:29,880 So many clients call up and complain about the coverage, but you got to pay up for it. 215 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:30,880 Right. 216 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,000 And so for people who don't know, I know that's not what we were intending to talk about today, 217 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:41,080 but because it came up, the underinsured motorist coverage is when you, on your vehicle, you 218 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:47,080 pay to have a certain policy if you rear end somebody and injure them. 219 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:53,320 But the UM is for if you're injured by somebody else and they have no insurance, right? 220 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:54,320 Right. 221 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:59,640 And I think that also goes into the networking part of it as well is that there are things 222 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,600 that we know that a lot of people don't know. 223 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,480 And many times I talked about the UM topic, it's always something new to somebody. 224 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:08,480 Right. 225 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:13,120 You know, from what you and I do, it's an everyday thing, but it's not for so many people. 226 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,800 And that's part of networking too, just showing your knowledge and standing out when you're 227 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:20,600 amongst other professionals as well. 228 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,160 So what, like, did you have a meeting this week yet? 229 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,560 We usually meet on Wednesday morning. 230 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:28,720 So not this, not yet. 231 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,840 What's your pitch going to be on Wednesday or your elevator speech? 232 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:37,880 Well, this time of year, you know, I like to give the whole, it's icy out, you know, 233 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,920 watch how you drive and all that, and that should be all. 234 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:45,680 But I haven't had much snow, so I gotta think about it. 235 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:46,680 Okay. 236 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,840 Not only where you drive, but where you step too, because, you know, especially in the 237 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,680 New York City area, people do a really terrible job of cleaning off ice and snow. 238 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:58,320 It's like they do the bare minimum. 239 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:03,920 And then you see also where you have the six inch wide kind of path to walk down in front 240 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:05,400 of some places. 241 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:06,400 Right. 242 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:11,360 And even more so in Nassau County, where we have all these, you know, the prior written 243 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,560 notice laws are so much stricter than in New York City. 244 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:17,080 But that's another topic. 245 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:18,080 Right. 246 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:19,080 Yeah. 247 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,520 And that goes off from the main topic for today. 248 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,960 So do you remember what the first case you had referred to you was? 249 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:26,960 I do. 250 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,040 Do you remember how you got it? 251 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:30,480 It was from my networking group. 252 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:31,480 Okay. 253 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:32,480 And what happened? 254 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,480 Somebody just called you up and was like, Hey. 255 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:35,480 Yeah. 256 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:42,760 He called me up, told me that his girlfriend was injured in a diner, fell off one of those 257 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:49,560 raised steps that didn't say, watch your step blended in with the floor below and broke her 258 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:50,560 shoulder. 259 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:51,560 Wow. 260 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:53,200 So that's pretty severe injury. 261 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:54,200 So she was just walking. 262 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:55,600 She didn't even know there was a step there. 263 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,880 And then all of a sudden she plunged downward. 264 00:14:57,880 --> 00:14:58,880 Right. 265 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:03,520 And our expert went in there, showed that the step itself was way too close to the booth 266 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:04,520 as well. 267 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,680 So there wasn't even room to, to get up, take a step and then walk down the step. 268 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,720 It was almost like you take a step straight out of the booth. 269 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:13,200 There's a step there. 270 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:16,160 Nothing says, like I said, no, watch your step. 271 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,240 Nothing to differentiate the step from the floor below. 272 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,600 So yeah, that was my first case there. 273 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:22,600 I got it. 274 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:23,600 Yes. 275 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,200 I think that, you know, I was pretty apprehensive of these networking groups. 276 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,160 A lot of times I go and it's like, it's like a real estate agent, a mortgage broker 277 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:31,160 and insurance guy. 278 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,320 And it seems like they're all just trying to do like deals together. 279 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,040 And I'm like, where do I fit in here? 280 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,200 But more and more, it seems like people are having some good experiences. 281 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,880 And now I'm like, I definitely got to sign up for one. 282 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,400 And what I, what I first did was I just, I started with like giveaways. 283 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,480 So I made like 500 keychains with my phone number on it. 284 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,760 And I just had to say like will Ferraro injury attorney and my phone number. 285 00:15:55,760 --> 00:16:00,440 And some kid I went to high school with that I didn't really like, we were friendly, but 286 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:01,440 we weren't like friends. 287 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,200 Like I didn't like have his phone number or anything. 288 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,560 I gave him one randomly when I saw him out and he called me like two months later and 289 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:10,280 he was like, Oh, I met a guy. 290 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,400 He needs an attorney. 291 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:13,960 And that was my first referral. 292 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,200 And I was like, I was like shocked that it, it worked so easily. 293 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,920 Like I, like I, you know, you just got to like, it's almost like you just got to get 294 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,320 it out there that here's what I do. 295 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,640 And then people will find you, right? 296 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,640 Is that, are you having that experience too? 297 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:30,800 Yeah, exactly. 298 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:36,720 And that's what that attorney told me way back when was that he got his first case was 299 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:43,520 not exactly who, you know, what happened, but that case turned into his brother turned 300 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:45,600 into his nephew turned into his cousin. 301 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,040 And next, you know, it all branches out. 302 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,960 So you know, the key chains and everything, you know, that's fine. 303 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,640 But really at the end of the day, it's, it's kind of who you know. 304 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:59,720 And, you know, once you find that one person, you never know where it could go. 305 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:00,720 You never know. 306 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,520 You're saying one person could, could turn it could snowball and turn into, you know, 307 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:09,680 that person ends up being like the go to person in their community and everyone's going to 308 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,800 them and saying, you know, I need a personal injury attorney and they know you. 309 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:14,800 Exactly. 310 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:19,280 It's, it's kind of like a, like a family tree or referral type of situation. 311 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:20,280 Yeah. 312 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:21,280 Yeah. 313 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:22,280 You never know. 314 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:23,280 It gets endless branching out. 315 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:28,880 I have a couple of those where I call quote unquote my second generation referrals. 316 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:29,880 Okay. 317 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:30,880 So. 318 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,000 I like these, these, these terms you're throwing out from within a firm. 319 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,120 Second generation referral. 320 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,720 The second one's a trademark. 321 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:42,160 The first one I've been told, but the second one, second generation, that's mine. 322 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:43,160 I made that. 323 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:44,160 All right. 324 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:45,760 So I'll have to, I'll have to let everybody know if I use it. 325 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,840 It's from you. 326 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:53,560 So you know, you mentioned that you, you had a trial right away when, when you first got 327 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,080 admitted, when, how was that experience? 328 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:02,600 Was that, did that reaffirm your desire to be a litigator or did you have a different 329 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:03,600 experience? 330 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:04,600 Yeah. 331 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,080 It's, first of all, of course it was terrifying. 332 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:13,360 It was a ex, it was an expedited jury trial in Nassau County. 333 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:18,000 So it was a one day trial, no doctors, no experts. 334 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:24,200 So the pressure is quote unquote less, although it's not, you know, still a real trial. 335 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,640 And were you the first seat on it or were you a second seat on it? 336 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:27,640 It was just me. 337 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:28,640 Wow. 338 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:32,560 That's, they must have had some trust in you to really just throw you out there. 339 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,800 Just to me, didn't care about the case. 340 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:36,800 Who's to say? 341 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:41,080 Of course, no, we care about all our cases, of course. 342 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:47,000 But yeah, it was, it was, it was terrifying leading up to it. 343 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,080 But of course that fear is what helps you prepare for it. 344 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,200 And then once you do it, it's just so much fun. 345 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:54,200 It really is. 346 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:55,200 Yeah. 347 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:56,680 Well, if you do well, it's fun. 348 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,400 Well, it's less fun if you don't, if you don't do well. 349 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:00,400 It is true. 350 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,760 I mean, I lost because I was, you know, it was going to happen. 351 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:10,880 But, you know, we talked about earlier about going to law school and not really knowing 352 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:12,560 what being a lawyer is. 353 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:13,560 Right. 354 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:18,320 You know, that's all you know, going before law school from all TV shows and movies, being 355 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:19,520 people in court. 356 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,320 So finally, that was cool. 357 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,840 That was, you know, doing that. 358 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:24,840 That was really cool. 359 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:25,840 Yeah. 360 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:30,900 And then I'm really funny because I've, you know, right before law school and during law 361 00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:35,360 school, a lot of people told me this is what being an attorney is. 362 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:40,080 And they all had a different, completely different perception of what being an attorney was. 363 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,800 They're all like, get used to it because this is what being an attorney is like. 364 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,760 And then the next job would be completely different. 365 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:46,760 Right. 366 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:47,760 And you know what? 367 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:48,760 I was thinking about it the other day. 368 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:49,760 Do you know what? 369 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,440 You correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall one class being offering on networking or, 370 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,720 you know, business or anything like that in law school. 371 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:04,800 I don't, I am not aware of any, I do have one of my friends who was on an earlier episode 372 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:10,280 of the podcast, Nick Patrick did have a like small firm management class at his school. 373 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:11,560 And I was like, that's incredible. 374 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:17,080 I would have loved to, although I don't know if I would have had my same mindset back then, 375 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,920 but it would have been an interesting, an interesting class to take. 376 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,880 This episode of the Bronx attorney broadcast was brought to you by me, Will Ferreiro. 377 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,840 I'm an attorney of prior law right here in the Bronx and we primarily practice in personal 378 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:32,840 injury. 379 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:38,280 However, we do also do a variety of areas of practice. 380 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,480 So I can help you with just about any sort of legal issue that you might have. 381 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,240 I'm admitted to practice both in New York and New Jersey. 382 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:51,080 And if it's not something that I can personally help you with, I can connect you with someone 383 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:56,320 in my network of attorneys who is best equipped to help you with your legal issue. 384 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,600 You can find me on Instagram and on Twitter at Bronx attorney. 385 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:08,280 You can send me an email for railroad prior law or call me at the office 718-829-0222. 386 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:09,280 And now back to the show. 387 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:10,280 Yeah, for sure. 388 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:16,200 But at the end of the day, you've got to think about everything as a networking opportunity. 389 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:23,080 Doesn't happen to me, but you hear stories about winning a big trial and your adversary 390 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:24,720 coming over to you, hey, you did a good job. 391 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,600 We should talk. 392 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,080 Everything's a networking opportunity. 393 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:35,080 Maybe you should pitch that class to St. John's and you could teach it at night. 394 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,560 Networking and firm within a firm management with Iron Fine. 395 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:39,560 Sure. 396 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:44,160 And tuition will just be contingent on our students graduating. 397 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,360 Yeah, why not? 398 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:47,360 That's not a bad idea. 399 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:48,360 All right. 400 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,800 Well, you'll have to pitch it. 401 00:21:51,800 --> 00:22:00,000 So do you get cases also from other places than just the networking group or is it pretty 402 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,520 much exclusively the group? 403 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,120 No, friends. 404 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:05,120 Things happen. 405 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:07,200 That's just life. 406 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,440 So I have a really good friend. 407 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:14,720 Unfortunately, he got into a car accident, handling his case, his mom's case, and then 408 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,560 he knows somebody who got into a car accident. 409 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:23,880 So I think about it all the time, thinking about that conversation I had with the attorney 410 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:33,240 who I guess mentored me, thinking to myself, who do I know? 411 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,440 How am I going to grow? 412 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:37,320 Where are my referrals going to come from? 413 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:42,280 And you don't know who you know until it happens. 414 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:47,840 So friends, just meet people. 415 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,320 You just never know. 416 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,520 Uber drivers, so awkward. 417 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:52,520 But talk to every single... 418 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:54,960 You're passing out your card everywhere you go? 419 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:56,880 Well, not all the time. 420 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,120 Sometimes you have to go out. 421 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:01,400 But it's awkward. 422 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:06,320 But yeah, pass out your cards really just, you never know. 423 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,560 You really just never know. 424 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:13,920 And so I've heard people say who are personal injury attorneys, they'll say that, oh, a 425 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:18,080 friend was in an accident and they hired somebody else because they didn't know that we do personal 426 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:19,200 injury. 427 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,640 So how do you make sure that everybody knows you're... 428 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,640 Everybody in your family, your friends, they know that you're an attorney. 429 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:30,720 How do you make sure that they know that you're a personal injury attorney who can take on 430 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,160 all these cases and will go to trial and will do all these things? 431 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,200 That's a good question. 432 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:42,040 So I hate to say it, but a lot of it's just humor. 433 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,880 I'll make a joke about something God forbid happening. 434 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,040 Oh, you should have called me or something like that. 435 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:48,040 Oh, why? 436 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:49,320 Well, because I do personal injury. 437 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,080 I handle accidents. 438 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:56,600 And that kind of starts the conversation because a lot of people, everybody I would say knows 439 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:57,600 a lawyer. 440 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:03,080 But not everyone knows a personal injury lawyer because there is that stigma of don't walk 441 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:04,920 around and say I'm a personal injury lawyer. 442 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,200 And it's a shame because we really do a lot of... 443 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,600 We do good work for people who need it. 444 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:16,280 So just you got to look for opportunities and volunteer at sometimes. 445 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:17,280 Yeah. 446 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:18,280 And you say that. 447 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:24,120 I think that a lot of people don't realize how severe an injury has to be in order to 448 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:25,680 recover from it. 449 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,520 The people do get hurt all the time and never see a dollar because it's not worth it to 450 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:31,520 take that case to trial. 451 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,880 It'll get dismissed. 452 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,240 And there are... 453 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:39,840 There is a pretty serious threshold to recover a substantial amount here. 454 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:40,840 Right. 455 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:47,960 And to show that extreme as well, my friend who was involved in that car accident, he 456 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:52,440 was offered the day after his accident, he was offered $500 from Progressive. 457 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:53,440 And he thought about taking it. 458 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:54,440 Wow, it's $500. 459 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:55,440 And often you're pained. 460 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,440 You don't really feel it until the next day or so. 461 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:07,960 And I told him, don't rush the $500 as case is worth upwards of $100,000 at this point. 462 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:08,960 Oh really? 463 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:09,960 That much? 464 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:10,960 Right. 465 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:11,960 And the insurance companies know that. 466 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,920 They know that for a lot of people, $500 is a lot of money. 467 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,000 And all I did was get into a car accident. 468 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,120 My neck hurts a little bit. 469 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:21,320 It's not a big deal. 470 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:22,320 I don't like lawyers. 471 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:23,320 I don't like lawsuits. 472 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,520 Well, that's why we're around. 473 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:27,520 And then yeah. 474 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,400 And then next thing you know, it's you get an MRI. 475 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:34,440 And you need some sort of surgery or injections or something like that. 476 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,400 And it's worth a lot more than $500, all that pain and suffering you're having. 477 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:39,400 Exactly. 478 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:40,400 Exactly. 479 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,360 And you know, back to, so what I do to make sure everybody knows that I'm a personal injury 480 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:49,520 attorney is like, I kind of almost take it to the point of being like corny about it. 481 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:50,520 Right. 482 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,000 I'll see somebody and I'll have like my t-shirts in my trunk. 483 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,440 And I'll be like, you want a Wilfred O'Hara injury attorney t-shirt? 484 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,440 And they're like, you have t-shirts? 485 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:58,680 And I'm like, of course I have t-shirts. 486 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,400 And like, you know, they got UFOs on them. 487 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,600 And you know, I just did it because I think that it's cool. 488 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,320 And for six bucks, I'm giving somebody a t-shirt. 489 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,480 They're not going to forget that I do personal injury because they got a t-shirt in their 490 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:10,680 drawer that says it on it. 491 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,480 So, you know, that's, that's what's been working for me so far. 492 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:15,480 Exactly. 493 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:16,480 I think that's great. 494 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:21,520 Because I think get asked, I'm sure you get the same, the follow up when I, when people 495 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:22,920 find out I do a personal injury. 496 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,360 Oh, what's your commercial? 497 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:25,360 What's your billboard? 498 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:26,360 What's your jingle? 499 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:27,560 You know, they expect shtick like that. 500 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,280 They expect, you know, you know, something like that. 501 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:31,280 So, that's awesome. 502 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,280 Or they compare you to like one of the, one of the big guys. 503 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:35,280 Right. 504 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,280 They go, you're going to take down so-and-so or are you so-and-so? 505 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,760 And it's like, no, it's not. 506 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,920 It's in the same, you know, same ballpark. 507 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:43,920 It works. 508 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,240 You know, Morgan and Morgan's a big player out here. 509 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,280 Their, their catchphrase is size matters. 510 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:50,280 They know what they're doing. 511 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,280 Yeah. 512 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:52,280 Yeah. 513 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:53,280 Yeah. 514 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,360 So you got to, you got more, more trials on the horizon. 515 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:57,360 I do. 516 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:00,880 I have one on the 18th, a car accident case. 517 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,400 Then I have one on the 25th. 518 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,280 And then I have one on February 5th. 519 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,080 So pretty busy. 520 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:09,080 Okay. 521 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,120 And then when you, when you win those, you got to post some, some nice graphics. 522 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,120 Everybody knows how good you are. 523 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:15,640 All right. 524 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:17,360 And that'll, that'll, that'll keep people coming. 525 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:18,760 They're like, oh, wow, look at Aaron. 526 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,400 He just won this crazy verdict. 527 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,920 Well, that's part of it as well. 528 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:29,720 You know, Facebook groups are also, you know, got to get in those. 529 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,960 There are a lot of business Facebook groups. 530 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:39,560 You know, of course you get into one of these, I mean, what, what's called Long Island Business 531 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:45,040 and Communities run by Buddy and Mine is actually in my local IPO network group. 532 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:49,160 And of course I'm not the only PI attorney in the group. 533 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,200 It also helps to know the admin, but you know, that's where you post stuff like that about 534 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:58,680 Vertex, you know, big wins, motion wins, anything like that. 535 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:05,240 And if you have other people in the group to prop you up as well, you know, that's very 536 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:06,240 helpful. 537 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:12,440 So really you just got to expand your outreach because I wasn't even aware that they had 538 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,280 Facebook groups like that. 539 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:15,360 Yeah. 540 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:23,120 Every town has one, you know, every type of whatever you could think of subgroup has 541 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:24,240 a Facebook group. 542 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:28,560 Is it like, is it like a geared towards networking or is it just like the Westbury Neighbors 543 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:30,200 group or something like that? 544 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:31,200 Both. 545 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:36,440 There's, there's the networking Facebook groups there where you could post about networking 546 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:40,960 events where you could post about your, about your firm, you could post about your business, 547 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:41,960 whatever it is. 548 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:46,720 And then like you said, you know, the Westbury moms, obviously I'm not part of that, but 549 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:52,080 you know, or, you know, Westbury dads or, you know, I'm from West Hempstead, the West 550 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,640 Hempstead Jewish community page, things like that. 551 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:56,680 I got actually got a case from there. 552 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:57,680 Really? 553 00:28:57,680 --> 00:28:58,680 Yeah. 554 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,000 And so you're just, you're just posting in this group or you're waiting until somebody, 555 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:07,120 you know, asks for somebody or what are you doing? 556 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:08,120 Yeah. 557 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,440 So that's actually a good point because there's really two ways of getting a case. 558 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:15,080 There's really, there's a passive approach and there's an active approach. 559 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:19,120 The active approach is going to the networking meetings, going to the networking events. 560 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,520 And then there's the passive approach, like I said, of knowing someone who knows somebody, 561 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:27,080 just being a part of these Facebook groups where somebody posts, Hey, I just happened 562 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:30,680 to get hit by a car while crossing the street. 563 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:35,920 Anyone know who I could call to and it's not even necessarily about looking for a lawyer. 564 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,560 You know, I need a good doctor to refer to. 565 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:39,560 Right. 566 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,880 So, Hey, by the way, who's going to pay for your bills? 567 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:43,800 You have anyone help you out with no fault? 568 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:44,800 What's no fault? 569 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,160 That's what starts the conversation. 570 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:51,320 So that's, that's a really great, you know, passive approach to networking. 571 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,880 And I think there's a value in knowing good doctors too, right? 572 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,640 Because if you're working with, with doctors all the time, you'll know, you know, this 573 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:03,440 guy has a really great facility and it's, you know, and then this other person, you 574 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:04,920 know, it's not so nice over there. 575 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,280 So maybe you want to choose, you know, option number A or letter A rather. 576 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:14,240 I'm finding people will, will like ask me questions about that knowing that they don't 577 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,360 have a case, but they're like, which, who do you like in this area? 578 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:18,360 Right. 579 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:19,360 Exactly. 580 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,120 And it also builds trust as well because, you know, a lot of people aren't thinking lawsuit 581 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,120 after a car accident. 582 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:29,240 They're thinking about their health, which is absolutely the right approach. 583 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:33,440 And if they ask you for help with that, you want to give them the best help because at 584 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,800 the end of the day, if they choose to bring a lawsuit, they want to use you. 585 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:39,480 You want them to want to use you. 586 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:45,360 So, you know, knowing doctors who can, who know what they're doing in terms of treating 587 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:50,840 these type of injuries, you know, a herniation for a 20 year old is completely different 588 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:52,800 than a herniation for a 60 year old. 589 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:53,800 Right. 590 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:59,000 And doctors who understand that you build those through doing what we do, knowing who's 591 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,160 good and, you know, who knows what they're doing. 592 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:05,800 And you also show that you're like a valuable source of information and a trustworthy source 593 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:06,800 of information. 594 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,640 You know, oh, I went to that person and they were, they're really good. 595 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,720 Thank you for, you know, letting me know. 596 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,720 And then, you know, the next time when something happens, they come back to you because they, 597 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:17,960 now they trust, you know, your, your referrals. 598 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:18,960 Right. 599 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:24,760 And I'll tell you why every, all of these networking groups want a personal injury attorney. 600 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:33,040 It's because we touch, you know, we've clients from every end of the spectrum and everybody 601 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,520 needs a financial advisor. 602 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,280 Everybody's going to sell their home at some point. 603 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,280 Everybody's going to need a dentist. 604 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:41,840 Everybody needs an accountant. 605 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:47,520 We are exposed to so many people that people, you know, that these networking groups want 606 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:48,520 us. 607 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,320 And if they want us, they need to earn us and they need to earn us by giving us business 608 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:53,320 as well. 609 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:54,320 So it works. 610 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:59,960 And getting injured isn't something that exclusively happens to one, you know, gender or race or 611 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:01,720 a socioeconomic group. 612 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,400 It could happen to anybody, you know, at the drop of a hat. 613 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:06,400 Exactly. 614 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,080 Which is why you just need to meet people and give out your cards. 615 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:11,080 It's awkward. 616 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:12,080 I know. 617 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:13,080 Talk to your Uber drivers. 618 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:14,080 You never know. 619 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,360 Worst case you never hear from these people ever again, they take your card, they throw 620 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:18,760 it in the garbage. 621 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:19,760 You never know. 622 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,440 All you need is that one big case, right? 623 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:22,440 Yep. 624 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:23,440 Yep. 625 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,160 I got a call one time from an Uber driver, but it was like something completely crazy 626 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:30,680 that, you know, you know, you get those, they want you to take on a case that doesn't 627 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:32,080 make any sense or something like that. 628 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,120 And you got to explain to them. 629 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:38,200 Yeah, but my craziest call also was from an Uber driver. 630 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:42,120 He got hit by a stray bullet. 631 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,360 And wants to find the guy who shot him for negligence. 632 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:46,360 Oh my God. 633 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,720 I mean, I mean, that would, that person probably was negligent. 634 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:51,720 Right. 635 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,600 And then I had to explain the likelihood of first catching the guy. 636 00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:58,600 Right. 637 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,000 Second of all, that person having any type of assets. 638 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:02,000 Yeah. 639 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:07,240 You don't get an insurance policy for negligent gun usage. 640 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,200 But thankfully that individual never followed up with me. 641 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,480 So I never had to have that problem. 642 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:15,480 Right. 643 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:16,480 Right. 644 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:20,960 Are there any other avenues of networking that you, that you do that we haven't really 645 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:22,400 touched on yet? 646 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:23,480 Sure. 647 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:29,280 So talk a little bit about the networking events, you know, all bar association events, 648 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:34,240 things like that, you know, every, every subgroup of every, whatever you could think 649 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:35,600 of has a bar association. 650 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:44,720 Like I said, IBO has multiple of these broader networking events throughout the year, which 651 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:46,560 are fine. 652 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:53,160 The problem is, is that even time out, IBO or BNI for these broader networking groups 653 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:57,400 is that now you got all the local ones and I'm one of a hundred PI attorneys at these 654 00:33:57,400 --> 00:33:58,400 things. 655 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:04,480 I'm one of a hundred attorneys, you know, at the, at the, you know, NASA bar association, 656 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,840 you know, events, whatever they are. 657 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,000 So, you know, they're good. 658 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,160 You know, it's always good to meet people like I said, but if you're going to go that 659 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:13,400 route, stand out. 660 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:19,280 I mean, I went to the last two years, I went to the Columbia, the Colombian Association, 661 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:25,080 a big barbecue the last two years, but that's the Italian American Bar Association, essentially. 662 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:26,080 Oh, okay. 663 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:27,080 Yeah. 664 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:28,080 Very Catholic. 665 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:34,080 So, the first guy I was telling people, I could filth the fish out of water. 666 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,080 Oh, geez. 667 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,080 So, you know, that's what I was doing. 668 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:43,320 I was making, you know, dumb Jewish puns and whatever that maybe somebody said to me would 669 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:44,840 have insulted me, but whatever. 670 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:46,000 Got to stick out. 671 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:51,920 But the next year, everyone remembered me as the Jew from last year. 672 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,600 If you're going to these things, you want to stand out. 673 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:55,600 Right. 674 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:56,600 That's good advice. 675 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:02,040 Is there any networking avenues you're going to go down that you haven't done yet? 676 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:06,160 Because after having this conversation, I'm definitely signing up for one of these networking 677 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:07,160 groups. 678 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,160 You know, even if I got to get myself out of bed at six o'clock in the morning. 679 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:12,160 Yeah. 680 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:18,280 I would definitely tell you, it's just once a week, you know, you can find groups that 681 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:22,080 will let you join other groups as well, that you're not just beholden to one group. 682 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:26,800 You know, like I said, it's all random anyways. 683 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:31,120 If you're going to wait for somebody to know someone who got hurt, that's one thing, but 684 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:32,920 it just helps you meet people. 685 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:40,360 In terms of other ways to do it, you know, like I said, every opportunity, everything 686 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,280 you do is a networking opportunity. 687 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:48,200 You know, I do talk to my adversaries after a trial, you know, especially with defense 688 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:49,200 attorneys. 689 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:50,200 You never know. 690 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:51,200 You know, something comes across their desk. 691 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:52,200 They do defense. 692 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:53,200 They don't do plaintiff. 693 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,880 Maybe they'll sign something over. 694 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,000 You know, it's, those are really like the main things. 695 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:04,400 You just, other attorneys, they're our best referral source. 696 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,160 You know, and that's really what it is. 697 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:08,160 You just got to get out there. 698 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:12,360 You got to meet people, but you got to be out there and meet people in the right circumstances. 699 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:17,680 Like I said, you want to be, you want to be one fish in a giant ocean of 100,000 PI 700 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:23,240 attorneys at, you know, the plaintiff's bar event. 701 00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:30,520 But, but also whenever you see people, whenever you meet someone else, someone new, do not 702 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:31,520 be shy. 703 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:32,520 Bragg about yourself. 704 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:36,320 I bragged about going to the court, about filing an appeal with the court of appeals 705 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:37,320 the other day. 706 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:38,320 Okay. 707 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:43,720 I was actually at my networking breakfast, who's last Wednesday, and we're talking about 708 00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:45,640 certain things, new things that are going on. 709 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,240 I said, I filed the court of appeals brief and I'm going to argue in a couple of months, 710 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:52,320 hopefully, and I turned to the divorce attorney at the tea house. 711 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:53,320 Have you ever done that? 712 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:54,820 Oh, twice my age. 713 00:36:54,820 --> 00:36:56,320 No, I haven't. 714 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:57,960 I'm at the estate law attorney. 715 00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:58,960 Have you ever done that? 716 00:36:58,960 --> 00:36:59,960 No, I haven't. 717 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:00,960 Now everyone's like, wow. 718 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:02,480 I've been to the court of appeals. 719 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:03,560 I was second seat though. 720 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,800 I didn't say anything, but I was there. 721 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,000 I was physically in that court. 722 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:09,920 Well, you were on that team. 723 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,280 So you, so you argued at the court of appeals. 724 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:13,280 There you go. 725 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:16,880 Like I said, I said at the breakfast, you know, that's so cool. 726 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:17,880 Right. 727 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:18,880 That's so cool that you did that. 728 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,120 That's so cool that I'm going to do that. 729 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,640 But what's it worth if you just patting yourself on the back? 730 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:24,960 Well, you know that you did it. 731 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:25,960 Exactly. 732 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:31,320 So, you know, and if I get this case overturned, it's going on Facebook. 733 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:32,320 It's going on Instagram. 734 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:33,320 There you go. 735 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,640 It should, it should be something to be proud of. 736 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:42,120 So if somebody wants to network with you or follow you or reach out for any reason, you 737 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:46,560 know, where could, where could people find you who might see or listen to this? 738 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:53,600 Facebook, Instagram, go to our, my firm's website, post, you know, if we have something 739 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,160 big, it goes on there. 740 00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:59,800 And hopefully I'll have a commercial soon. 741 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:04,600 You got a handle or an email or anything that people should look for? 742 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:05,600 Sure. 743 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:09,760 A-fine at ekjwa.com is my email. 744 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,640 Instagram is just search Aaron Fine, Facebook, Aaron Fine. 745 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:14,640 Yeah. 746 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,320 You know, it's, there you go. 747 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:18,800 All right, Aaron. 748 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:20,600 Nice chat with you today. 749 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:21,600 Have a good one. 750 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:22,600 Always. 751 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:27,360 Thank you for listening to this episode of the Bronx Attorney Broadcast. 752 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,560 Please like, review and subscribe so we can help the channel continue to grow. 753 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,280 And if you're interested in connecting with any of the guests, please let me know and 754 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:40,040 I'd be happy to make the introduction.