When you look carefully at the charitable boards around town, you start noticing how many of its members are attorneys. There are cynical explanations as to why that may be. Maybe they’re doing it to tip the scales of judgment so their souls aren’t banished to an eternity in hell. Maybe they’re hoping that someone slips on some spilled orange juice at a board meeting and twists an ankle.
But here’s what I think: lawyers, by and large, are good people. Wait, wait hear me out.
Of course you have your exceptions. The Bad Attorney List is not a short one. But the Good Attorney List is much, much longer. And I think this can be tracked directly to the 21-year old version of ourselves. I don’t think I know one lawyer who went to law school because he/she wanted to make a lot of money. (If they did, then they didn’t do their research: most attorneys think law school is not worth the price, especially with law school tuition costing 250% what it cost in the 1980s, after adjusting for inflation.)
My unscientific hypothesis is that most attorneys go to law school because they wanted to help people but were too bad at math and science to take pre-med classes in college. As our careers meandered and the need to feed our families, pay down our law school debt and join the local country club became priorities, this altruistic spark took a backseat to…life.
Many of us, usually when we are neck deep in a document review project while a senior partner is setting artificial deadlines and opposing counsel is derisively asking you whether you’re absolutely positive you graduated law school, hear that little voice whispering in our ears: “if you build it, they will come.” Oh, wait, that’s the wrong voice. What we actually hear is the echos of our proud parents and grandparents and the residual spirit of our bright-eyed idealist self from a decade or two ago - and we realize that one of a handful of ways to scrape joy out of our jobs is to do good. Hence, the board work.
And you need to be at a firm that gives you the space to do that. You owe it to yourself.
In case you are wondering,yes we are always looking for like-minded (and maybe unlike-minded) individuals tojoin our team.
On February 23, 2024, our firm sued The Associated Press for aiding and abetting terrorism. [read the full post & complaint here]
The Complaint’s allegations are simple: the AP paid Hamas terrorists, who participated in the October 7 invasion, for photos of the attacks. The Complaint alleges that the AP has known for years that the photographers were members of Hamas, because records reflect the AP was told that they were. The Plaintiffs are U.S. citizens. For one, his brother was murdered during the attack. Three others were at the Nova Festival and witnessed their friends get murdered. Another had her house in Kibbutz Holit destroyed by Hamas, and now lives displaced.
Maia and Annie discuss why they are on the case (listen)
Protecting the Environment
The Marathon Case
Local environmental group, FOLKS – Friends of the Florida Keys, LLC (“FOLKS”) retained MM&H to represent it in a private citizens suit against the City of Marathon, Florida, in which FOLKS sought relief for violations of the Federal Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. The genesis of the litigation is the City’s outdated and inefficient system of shallow sewage wells that release pollutants into the highly porous limestone geology that makes up the Florida Keys. The pollution discharged by the City contains alarming concentrations of nutrients, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, illegal drugs, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, pesticides and herbicides, and other harmful substances. These pollutants quickly migrate into the adjacent surface waters, causing a significant adverse impact on the diverse ecosystems and wildlife of the area.
The City values its costs associated with the injunctive relief to be approximately $75 Million.
🌍 On Earth Day, we celebrated a victory for our planet! 🎉 MM&H's dedicated team led by Josh Migdal and Jordan Nadel, supported by Michelle Pelaez and Viviana Vazquez, triumphed in FOLKs vs. City of Marathon case, ensuring deeper wells for waste management and protecting our oceans and marine life.
"This is a monumental achievement by a group of local volunteers,” Jennifer Rehage, professor of Environmental Studies at Florida International University who studies the impact of the pharmaceuticals in wastewater on local fisheries. “Those local waters are the nurseries for our fisheries, and a deep well is definitely going to help protect them.” (Keys News article https://loom.ly/O4OseV8)
Together, we make a difference! 💪🌱 This Federal Clean Water Act lawsuit was won with the collaborative effort of the Friends of the Lower Keys (FOLKs) and great co-counsel, Kaki Schmidt, Edan Rotenberg and Caron Balkany.
Communities
"You can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."
John Lennon
Mish Pelaez, Josh Migdal, Jordan Nadel, Darci Cohen, Kristine Rodriguez, Viviana Vazquez, Ashley Saul and their families supporting Amigos for Kids at the Amigos Night. [Read more]
Judge Corali Lopez-Castro with Mish Pelaez, Chamber South, supporting "Women Who Shape Miami" event. [...]
Desirée Fernández serves on the board of Branches, helping local families break the cycle of poverty. [...]
Don Hayden and José Ferrer both serve on the Miami International Arbitration Society (MIAS) board elevating Miami as a seat of arbitration. [Read more]
Maia Aron, co-chair of the Miami Jewish Legal Society's 12th Annual Judicial Reception introduces the Honorable Robin L. Rosenberg, recipient of the Devorah Judge Award. [Read more]
Members of the board of the South Florida Chapter of the FBA, Yaniv Adar (2nd left), with Representative Kat Cammack at her offices.
Yaniv Adar and the FBA’s Florida delegation to meet with members of Congress from both parties.
Charlie Garabedian celebrating Anthony E. Reynolds’ installation as APABA of South Florida president.
Lauren Gibbs supports Reading Partners who provide individualized reading support helping kids in need to read at grade level. [Learn more]
South Florida chapter of the FBA board, Stephanie Casey, Darren Spielman, Patricia Flanagan, Camila Chadian, Yaniv Adar and Oliver Ruiz at offices of Rep. Lois Frankel.
Paul Levin and his son, Banks Levin, 8th grade support Angel City Sports - the Southern California organization providing adaptive sports for for kids, adults and veterans with with physical differences and impairments. Banks (bottom left) helps by teaching golf. [Learn more]
Mish Pelaez serves on the board of the Miami Red Cross [Read more]
Ashley Saul and Maia Aron supporting Hispanic Women in the Judiciary. [more]
Mish Pelaez served as a Judge in the Miami Herald & el Nuevo Herald’s 66th Silver Knight Awards. [Read more]
José, Etan, Don, Ashley, Jordan, Yaniv, Charlie and Annie at the South Florida Chapter of the FBA's annual Judicial Reception in Miami [Read more]
Mish Pelaez serves on the board of the Junior Orange Bowl. Here she is with their ambassadors volunteering for Caring for Miami preparing meals. [Read more]
Don Hayden (center) at the Kick-off event of the inaugural Miami Arbitration Week MAW23 with Ava Borrasso, Richard Lorenzo (MIAS Chair 2023), Sherman Humphrey and James Hosking. [Read more]
Above, Don Hayden as chair of Miami International Arbitration Society (MIAS), introducing the first annual LATAM Investor State Arbitration Conference.
Don Hayden's tireless commitment to equality, LGBTQ+IA communities and the Task Force earned him the prestigious, Champions of Equality lifetime achievement award last year. [Read more]
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