Page 22 - Miami Vol 7 No 1

Rising Star
Jared Lopez
A Game of Attrition
Black Srebnick Kornspan Stumpf
201 S. Biscayne Boulevaard, Suite 1300 Miami, FL 33131
(305) 371-6421
www.royblack.com
AALM: When did you rst know you wanted to become an attorney? What drew you to this career?
Lopez: I knew I wanted to be- come a lawyer during my second year in college. I was rst drawn to the profession by actor Raul Julia’s portrayal of defense attorney Sandy Stern in the lm “Presumed In- nocent,” based on the Scott Turow novel.
AALM: Who is your current mentor? What is the best lesson they’ve taught you so far?
Lopez: My current mentor is our rm’s senior partner Roy Black. e best lesson he has taught me is the value of thorough preparation. No level of raw talent can be a substi- tute for thorough preparation. Roy is always the most prepared lawyer on any case. Old-fashioned prepara- tion will never be replaced. Always return to the fundamentals.
AALM: Who are some of your le- gal heroes? Why?
Lopez: Roy Black, Ted Wells, Robert Bennett. First, I have had the privilege of working directly with all three on cases. ey are all premier lawyers who have demonstrated equal skill in handling both crimi- nal and civil cases for the most so- phisticated clients.
AALM: How is the practice of law di erent than your expectations in law school?
Lopez: Finding the right balance between working on the substantive aspects of your cases and running the administrative aspects of one’s practice is the biggest di erence for me. Legal education places little to no emphasis on law rm practice management, and I strongly believe that needs to change.
AALM: What drew you to your current rm? How would you de- scribe the culture there? How would you describe your role within the rm?
Lopez: I was drawn to my rm by Roy Black’s reputation and by witnessing my partner Howard Srebnick’s courtroom performances while I was an assistant U.S. attor- ney. Our rm culture is one of a team environment. We are a small
rm and accept a limited number of cases per year. We work on them in a team approach, similar to a liti- gation practice group in a large law rm. I direct the rm’s civil practice.
AALM: Where do you see your career going?
Lopez: I plan to continue to de- velop our civil practice to grow in both size and reputation. In recent years, we have been successfully growing our civil practice on a na- tional scale and plan to continue this trend.
AALM: Of the cases you’ve worked on or witnessed, what has stood out most in your mind?
Lopez: I have had the privilege of working on many interesting cases. What sticks out in my mind is how terribly laborious each case is to handle successfully. at is, litigation is hard, manual labor at its core. To know one’s case, one must roll up one’s sleeves to do the work. As far as tactics go, I nd the best civil litigators are dogged at pushing their cases forward. In many ways, litigation is a game of attrition.
AALM: With technology and an ever-global world, how do you see the legal profession evolving over your career? Do you believe this will be positive or negative?
Lopez: I believe the advent of so- cial media and its universal presence in our culture is the biggest change in recent years. Whether it is market- ing for lawyers, or nding informa- tion about witnesses or prospective jurors, all of our personal informa- tion is public and accessible for all to see today. Facebook and Twitter’s reported involvement in our national elections are clear evidence of this. Positive or negative, social media is here to stay, and we must evolve as professionals to adapt.
AALM: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Lopez: I enjoy boating, waters- ports, skiing, exercise and spending time with my family.
AALM: What do you most hope to accomplish in the future?
Lopez: I hope to continue grow- ing our civil practice and successful- ly raise happy and healthy children.
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