KM
Biography
That is the question every client should be able to answer before they select an attorney. Isn’t knowing who I am and what matters to me more important than where I have worked or went to school? You can find all the standard stuff about me at the bottom of this page if that is really what you need to know in order to decide if I’m the right person to help you. What I think you need to know is: I am a husband. I am a father. I am a lawyer. Maybe you also need to know I am a baseball junkie. Those are the roles that define me as an individual and as an attorney.
I have an extraordinary job. I love being a lawyer. I have the privilege of serving people I care about every day and get to use my mind, knowledge and experience to guide clients through some of the most difficult situations they will face. Becoming the best lawyer I can be is not a journey I take in isolation but one that involves each and every client. EVERY client is unique. Your experience is unique. My job is to understand, counsel and advocate. Your goals become my goals. Your fears and worries become my fears and worries. Together we try and figure out the best path to achieving your goals and how we can best minimize your fears or worries. The attorney-client relationship is about listening and sharing, not dictating and forcing. I see so many lawyers forgetting that simple fact. Being a lawyer is about understanding the person in front of you. Who you are, what is important to you, and what do you want to achieve. It’s only when I understand you that I can truly help you see past all the fears, worries, challenges, and roadblocks. It’s only then that I can truly help you empower yourself and start again after a divorce, arrest, or life altering injury.
Some of my colleagues repeat the mantra that lawyers can only be effective when they specialize. I believe that to be nonsense and absolutely reject that conclusion. My reason for doing so is simple. I believe that working in a variety of, but related, practice areas prevents me from becoming a “real estate attorney” or a “criminal defense attorney,” or an “estate planning attorney” or a “personal injury attorney.” I prefer being “an advocate” that can see the entire picture for a client because often these individual fields impact the other. I represent individuals and families for real estate, estate planning, criminal defense and personal injury work. If I can’t help you, I find a trusted colleague who can.
Do you believe the above? You may not because lawyers do a bad job of being that person I describe, and I can understand your skepticism. It is my hope you can put those preconceived, or well deserved, lawyer judgments aside and come see the difference. Being your lawyer is a privilege. It means you chose me out of all those other options you have. I am always grateful for that choice and the opportunity it provides to serve each and every client and welcome them to our family.
Mr. Black began his business career after college, working as a claims adjuster and underwriter for a downtown Manhattan insurance firm for six years. While there he was named the Vice Chairman of the Young Insurance Professionals of New York.