The National Law Journal has launched a new series profiling “Leaders of the Plaintiffs Bar.” Each Q&A takes a personal look at the honored attorney’s career and legacy. The latest edition features an in-depth interview with Lieff Cabraser partner Elizabeth J. Cabraser, where she discusses current judicial trends, law firm management, and how to maintain a work-life balance.
When asked her reaction to the recent, highly contested Supreme Court rulings, Cabraser noted,
“It is a very real crisis. I think, the people that I talk to, who are not insiders, who are not lawyers, are shaken by the emotionalism and politicization of the court. In the average American view, the courts are supposed to be above all of that. A court is a place you go where people aren’t screaming at each other, they don’t write nasty things about each other, where they do not base decisions on political, ideological or religious views. The judicial branch was supposed to be the balancing point when politics gets too rough and gets too emotional, too divided. And so, with the court apparently not performing that role and not desiring to perform that role on the most controversial issues—it has shaken me up. I think it shakes up lawyers and more to the point, it has created a crisis of public confidence in the courts…”
When asked for advice to give young lawyers in this climate, Cabraser replied,
“What’s important now, is what’s always been important: You have to love it. No one is drafted into the legal profession. People pay a lot of money and spend a lot of time to go through law school and prepare a career in law. It’s as much a vocation as it is a career. There are plenty of other things for people to do with their lives….As a lawyer, you are going to be frustrated, you are going to be stressed, you’re going to have all of the downsides of a very demanding profession and an inherently stressful one. So, you have to bring a basic love for it or it’s not going to be satisfactory.”
Read Elizabeth’s full interview on The National Law Journal’s (subscription) site.
About Elizabeth J. Cabraser
Co-founder of Lieff Cabraser, Elizabeth Cabraser is one of the nation’s leading class action litigators, possessing unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation. She has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in scores of federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings, and currently serves in leadership positions in several of the nation’s highest profile civil cases, including a solo leadership role in the VW “Clean Diesel” Emissions case, and co-lead positions in the GM ignition switch defect and Takata defective airbag cases, the Fiat Chrysler Jeep Dodge diesel emissions fraud litigation, the Generic Drugs Pricing antitrust litigation, and the National Prescription Opiates litigation.
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