Page 20 - Palm Beach Vol 6 No 4

2017 South Florida Superstar
Jonathan Pollard
Keep Going. Keep Fighting.
AALM: When did you rst know you wanted to become an attorney? What drew you to this career?
decided I’d go to law school. Nobody was going to trample on my rights.
AALM: What experiences have taught you the most?
Pollard: I originally wanted to be a law- yer when I was a kid. In high school, I at- tended a youth conference for students who wanted to be lawyers. I met some amazing kids, but it destroyed my interest in the law. My impression was that lawyers were stu y, buttoned-up, silver spoon types. I said screw this. Fast-forward several years, I was teach- ing high school English in inner-city Bal- timore. Fires were being set in the school every day and we were in constant evacua- tions. During one of these riots, some cops showed up. A er they’d restored order, I had a run in with some of them. ey had one of the perpetrators – a kid – on the ground. He was handcu ed and subdued, and some red-faced young cop was about to kick him. I stepped in and said, “Sir, do not kick this young man.” en all hell broke loose. Five cops surrounded me. One got in my face and threatened to arrest me for interfering with o cial police business and obstruct- ing justice. A er he lectured me for a couple minutes, I’d had enough. I said, “Either ar- rest me or let me go back to my class.” ey let me go. at was it for me. at night, I
AALM: Do you have any mentors or pro- fessors that encouraged you along the way?
Pollard: Losing is the greatest teacher. When I lose, I reassess everything. I ask my- self what I could have done di erently; what I could have done better. I don’t believe in the Kobayashi Maru. I don’t believe in the no-win scenario, not when it comes to law, business and strategy. Beyond that, I learn a lot from every single case we litigate. Our goal is to do every case better than the last one. We just wrapped up two signi cant pieces of litiga- tion in the last couple months. I am a bet- ter lawyer now than I was when those cases started. I feel like I’m adding a new tool to my toolkit every couple weeks. On a slightly dif- ferent note, the entire process of starting and running a law rm has been an educational experience. Everything from the operational side of it to hiring, managing and leading a team of people. I feel like the past ve-and-a- half years have made me a better person. I’m more patient, more thoughtful, more collab- orative and just plain tougher than I ever was before.
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Pollard: I had countless mentors. I never would have gotten here without certain teach- ers and coaches who always believed in and supported me. My college professors at Cor- nell were some of the most important in u- ences even though they had nothing to do with law. e late great Pulitzer Prize winning historian Michael Kammen was a teacher, mentor and dear friend of mine. e same goes for my English professor, the late Lydia Fakundiny. I’m sorry for naming names like this, but these people just meant so much to me. Also professors John Weiss and Lamar Herrin. Law school was much di erent. By the time I got to law school, my whole mentality was just give me my degree so I can go make some money. I worked a lot during school and didn’t go to many classes. A er graduating, I had the tremendous opportunity to begin my career at Boies, Schiller & Flexner. During my time at Boies, I worked closely with Stuart Singer and David Barrett. ose are two of the most brilliant lawyers practicing today. I owe them a debt of gratitude; I learned so much from working with them.
AALM: What do you nd rewarding about your practice?
Pollard: I have a ve-lawyer shop that I built from nothing. It’s not just me. We have