Legal Grounds | Joe Fried

If you’ve ever watched a professional football game then you know that about 70% of the time when they cut to a  shot of a coach there’s a clipboard or tablet in front of their face. 

And if you’re in anyway familiar with the game, you know it’s not because they’re all nearsighted but because they are THAT concerned with keeping their strategy a secret.

So with that in mind, I want you to picture what would happen if it came out the the head-coach of ‘Team A’ was going to training-camps for ‘Team B’ and saying, “Here’s how we play. Here’s the new plays we’re trying. And here’s how we’ve improved.”

Not only would that coach quickly be out of a job, fans and players alike would cry foul (pun intended) because after all, this is a competition! 

Well, that’s what a lot of lawyers might think my guest this week is doing and it’s not their fault — they’ve been trained to think that way.

I first met Joe Fried at a DRI conference in Chicago when he was giving a talk very similar to our hypothetical head-coach. 

For three decades, Joe has practiced as a plaintiff’s attorney at both the State and Federal levels, and like you’s truly, he specializes in trucking accident litigation.  

In 2007 he founded his own firm, Fried Goldberg, but not content with simply trying cases, Joe is also a prolific speaker at both Plaintiffs and Defense Conferences, as well as CLE Courses.

His passion for teaching led him to found the Academy of Trucking Accident Attorneys which is committed to providing cutting edge resources, education and support to its members and to encouraging the sharing of information between members. 

If his name sounds familiar that’s because Joe was guest number EIGHT on this podcast; to say the legal landscape has changed since then would be an understatement. 

Joe and I discuss the rise of run-away verdicts and (ironically) the danger they pose to future plaintiffs,  why living a life outside of law is necessary to being an attorney of impact, and why the defense bar needs to stop with the hoarding strategy and start sharing skills unless we want to be left in the legal-dust.

So listen up fellow Defense Attorneys and  the rest of you….

Enjoy the show.