Consigned to the Dust Bin of...

My partner Paul and I started our firm on November 15, 1994. We're about to turn 17. In all that time, rather than take the time to strip down case files, we just shipped everything to a storage company in NW Miami.

The company, IDD, has one hell of a business. They make retrieving and dsetroying the file boxes so expensive, clients like us, who are lazy, are lured into simply letting the collection grow --paying more each year.

Before our assistant Mirta retired last year, we gave her the task of culling some of the files. We paid to have about 1/3 of the boxes brought to our office, where Mirta removed key papers and shredded the rest.

Still, we have nearly 600 boxes in storage. Today, Paul and I hired Mirta, and the 3 of us met at the facility, for a trip down memory lane.

Many of the cases barely triggered my memory. Of course, some I remember like yesterday, including the case of a boy who was 8, when he was struck and paralyzed by a delivery truck, in the Keys. Among the many nightmarish cases I handled, that one was near the top, as he is the same age as D2. He's now nearing 20, and has, last time I heard, a very full life. He's regained some arm strength, and attends college. Still, when I used to spend time with him during the case, and then go home to my happily running around beautiful daughter, well, the thought still raises hair on the back of my neck.

The truth is, as we looked over some of our past work, we did one HELL of a job. Several burn cases took up box upon box, with the huge number of expert witnesses we hired filling thousands of deposition pages. When we were good, we were really good...

In our day, no one prosecuted a case as aggressively as we did. We'd file suit immediately upon being hired, and work relentlessly until the claim was finished. To me, that's the only way to handle a plaintiffs' practice: the cases generally don't improve with time, and the longer things drag on, the more likely that problems will develop favorable to the other side...

The issue became --should we destroy old files. I consulted with a top expert in this area: my good friend Norman. He told me how his firm does things --they have an aexcellent protocol, and we shall follow it.

Essentially, we're going to destroy the ancient paper, and keep a more manageable history. I guess it we were truly savvy, we'd go paperless for the cases we still plan to handle.

Many courts are headed that way, and the top firms are already doing it. The age of the heavy banker's box filled with reams of paper will become a thing of the past.

Still, the reminiscing was nice. Paul, Mirta, and I went for some churrasco steaks for lunch, and laughed about the glory days...

When we started the firm, Paul was 44, and I was 33. We were full of vinegar and piss, as they say. The early days retreat in my memory. The paper is there to prove it happened...at least for now.