May29, 2013
“The best lawyers want to see things from their client’s perspective and they have that burning desire to help.”
Douglas F. Wasser is a highly rated business and real estate attorney with experience in commercial real estate, corporate, lending, hotel, banking, estate and trust, fine art dispute resolution, co-op and condo, and business areas of law.
Wasser & Russ, LLP is an intimate but agile commercial and business law firm. They utilize a street wise but common sense approach to even vexing business problems and remain ever mindful that their clients have budget and cost pressures. Their firm size allows price flexibility and efficiency. Yet their network of similarly situated professional colleagues allows them to put resources at the disposal of their clients similar to what large firms may offer; but they can do so at a much lower price point.
MO: You describe being an “attorney as not a job, nor is it a career. It’s a “calling”. Can you recall the first time you knew that being an attorney was what you were meant to do?
Douglas: I clearly remember starting college and saying to myself that the one profession I was not going to choose was law. My sense of lawyers was pretty much the same held by most people.
However, that changed by the time I graduated from college. I was fortunate enough to deal with lawyers in college and they inspired me. What a surprise that turned out to be!
I saw lawyers as people who genuinely helped others through intense business problems. They provided business and emotional support and their compassion for their clients was authentic.
How more noble a life can one choose?
I’ve found that lawyers are truly likeable, smart and scrappy. The best lawyers want to see things from their client’s perspective and they have that burning desire to help.
No doubt, success at law requires hard work and long, lonely hours. It’s not the way the TV shows play it. There is more to it than simply dressing up all the time and eating fine dinners.
As Oscar Wilde said “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
You have to go at 1,000 percent all the time. If you let up for an instant you’ll find yourself losing to another lawyer who refused to let up. You never forget that it remains your client who is at risk, and that motivates you to work even harder.
There are no boring days on this job. Every day is a challenge, but every day provides an opportunity to learn and grow, even after 32 years!
Please see the rest of the interview at: http://www.mo.com/Wasser-Russ-LLP-Douglas-F-Wasser