Matthew Alden Of Tittle & Perlmuter: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Attorney
An Interview With Eric Pines
To know and make a decision about what area of law you want to practice in.
As a part of my series about “5 things I wish someone told me when I first became an attorney” I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Alden.
Growing up, Matthew always wanted to pursue a legal career. His father was a lawyer and at a young age, he was able to watch him try a medical malpractice case. Since then, Matthew has wanted to be able to help people and represent them in court. He wants people to know that he is dependable and will always give sound legal advice while working to exceed expectations. At the end of the day, Matthew’s most important title is “Dad”. He loves being a father and also enjoys giving back to the community. In his free time, he volunteers with his son’s high school and travel baseball teams, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Justice For All (JFA) Committee clinics serving veterans, as well as Judge Joan Synenberg’s Pro Bono Collaborative that provides civil legal assistance to those in need.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is the “backstory” that brought you to this particular career path in Law?
My Dad was an attorney and I was actually able to see him try a very serious medical malpractice case in court. We would always talk about law together and what he was doing. Because of this, I’ve always been interested in representing others in court.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your law career?
One of the first cases I was trying, I was doing a direct examination of an expert witness, and when the opposing counsel objected my mind just went totally blank. I could feel everyone staring at me and thinking, “What are you waiting on? You’ve got to say something or do something.” So, I walked over to the guy I was trying the case with and asked him where we were. He told me what to say and I got back up there and proceeded.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Working on medical malpractice and wage & hour cases now is very rewarding. It feels good to help people get paid what they’re owed for the work they did. People work really hard and I like helping them get what they earned and what they should be paid.
What are some of the most interesting cases you have been involved in? Without sharing anything confidential can you share any stories?
I had a client that had over $500,000 in student loans with no way to pay it. I was able to get it negotiated down to $80,000 to be paid over 40 years in a payment plan that they could actually afford. It was a good win!
Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?
Winston Churchill is pretty impressive to me. He had so many personal issues he was dealing with along with all the pressures he was facing during WWII trying to keep the allies afloat.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in law?
They should talk to as many lawyers as they can to figure out what kind of law they want to practice, and then talk to lawyers in those areas. They also need to find out what the downsides are of the practice. It’s important to know what it takes to earn a living and repay your loans, but still have the work-life balance you want to have. You’re making a major investment and you don’t want to be in a situation where you’re so far in student loan debt that it limits the job you’re able to take and then you’re stuck in an area of law that you don’t really want to practice.
If you had the ability to make three reforms in our judicial/legal system, which three would you start with? Why?
1- End law schools and the bar exam. Law would just be like every other 4-year degree where you come out with a law degree and then start practicing.
2- Raise the rate for court appointed lawyers on criminal cases.
3- End arbitration in consumer contracts for the employment contract.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I try to take as many pro bono cases from the Cleveland Legal Aid Society as I’m able to. Throughout my career I’ve been able to help many people in tough situations or who were wronged.
I know this is not an easy job. What drives you?
I like trying cases. For example, I had a client that assaulted someone, but was charged with robbery which is a much more serious offense. An assault charge might be 6 months to one year in prison and robbery is up to 13 years in prison. I was able to get him acquitted in about a 2-day jury trial because he was overcharged.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or an example for each.
1- The importance of marketing your practice and how to do it well.
2- How important it is to find the right work-life balance.
3- To explore different areas of law early on.
4- To know and make a decision about what area of law you want to practice in.
5- How important the economics of a law practice are. That you need to find a balance between providing good services and good representation while also having enough money coming in to pay your bills and keep the lights turned on.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)
Lebron James! He’s from Cleveland, has worked really hard, and has a success story.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.
