Top Lawyers: Theodore Cox On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law
An Interview with: Eric L. Pines
Believe in yourself and have self-confidence in all things you do, whether in the practice of law or in your personal life. If you believe in yourself then anything is possible.
The legal field is known to be extremely competitive. Lawyers are often smart, ambitious, and highly educated. That being said, what does it take to stand out and become a “Top Lawyer” in your specific field of law? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law”, we are talking to top lawyers who share what it takes to excel and stand out in your industry.
As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Theodore Cox.
Theodore Cox earned a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from the University of La Verne College of Law in Los Angeles, California in 1989 and has been licensed as an Attorney by the State Bar of California since June 1990.
During his 30 years in private practice, Mr. Cox has successfully represented clients’ rights in courts throughout the State of California in many areas of the law including personal injury, criminal defense, contracts, civil, business/corporate, family law, real property, landlord-tenant, administrative hearings and appeals.
Mr. Cox also serves as a Judge Pro Tem with the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Traffic Division and as a Hearing Officer with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Administrative Citation Enforcement Unit (ACE).
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, 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? Did you want to be an attorney “when you grew up”?
It’s my pleasure to join you in this interview series, hopefully I have some beneficial viewpoints that will help someone figure out in which direction they want to proceed. Let me start by saying I earned an undergraduate degree in the arts (radio, television, film) from California State University, Northridge and began a career working with a television production company in Los Angeles. I did not know I wanted to be an attorney until I worked with an attorney in the legal affairs department who recommended I attend law school and become an attorney. That recommendation and belief in me gave me the motivation to begin law school. Upon completion of law school, I passed the California State bar exam the first time and began practicing law.
I do believe my creative background is helpful in representing my clients in presenting their cases in court and before a jury.
Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?
I am a general practitioner meaning I represent clients in many diverse areas of the law. My experience in so many different areas of the law greatly help me to guide my clients through their legal issues. Currently my main area of practice involves personal injury cases.
You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Three character traits which I believe have contributed to my success are perseverance, confidence and ethics.
To me, perseverance means never giving up on your clients even when there is adversity, and the road gets difficult. It’s surprising how much can be accomplished after a difficult patch or loss.
Confidence means belief in yourself and those around you. It’s important to have a mantra which creates positive energy each day. “Every day, in every way, it’s getting better and better” is one example of a positive mantra to provide me with the motivation and confidence to overcome any obstacle. Of course, there are some obstacles which may be insurmountable, but with perseverance and confidence almost anything can be accomplished.
Ethics is something that is personal, and one person’s ethics differ from another. My definition of ethics is treating my clients and others with respect and fairness while diligently advocating within the bounds of the law and the practice of law.
An additional quality I believe I possess is the ability to listen to attempt to better the lives of myself and those around me. I have a keen sense of reading the room so to speak which I believe has been important to the success I have experienced.
There are so many instances of where persistence, confidence and ethics have helped me in my profession. A few examples are when a court hearing goes against my client, I work that much harder to find the law or argue the facts that will turn the tide. Even during trial, there are so many swings in fortune that one day you can be on top and the next day you suffer a backward event. My advice is to just keep persevering and usually good things happen. Confidence is important because in this world there are so many detractors and negative people who will attempt to bad mouth or downgrade a person’s skills, abilities, and experience. Self-confidence has helped me overcome such negativity. With regard to ethics, it’s amazing how much one’s life is better when they treat others with respect and don’t take advantage of others. The golden rule provides that one should treat others as they themselves would like to be treated. Ethics count.
Do you think you have had luck in your success? Can you explain what you mean?
Some people say they’d rather be lucky than good. I say I’d rather be lucky and good. I also believe that luck is so many times a result of hard work and planning. I believe my positive attitude toward work, clients, cases, and my personal life has helped set up the circumstances where good things happen. If this is luck, then so be it, but I do find that negative people generally do not have good luck. Keep it positive.
Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?
There are large firms that require a law degree from a top-tier school and will not consider any other candidates. I obtained my law degree from a small school where I could work, study and keep my student loans to a minimum. Once I became an attorney, I found great satisfaction working with small firms of 2–5 attorneys who I believe were more client oriented than larger firms. One of the reasons I went to a small law school was to become an attorney and advocate for others and not necessarily work with a large firm representing corporations or insurance companies.
Based on the lessons you have learned from your experience, if you could go back in time and speak to your twenty-year-old self, what would you say? Would you do anything differently?
If I could speak with my twenty-year-old self I’d tell him to better himself physically and mentally, obtain a quality education, meet and associate with quality people, learn new skills that will last a lifetime and of course stay positive and self-confident. I had started on a career path far from law and did not start law school until I was nearly 27 years old. Although I got a late start, I believe I’ve practiced many years and possibly decades longer than some whom I went to law school mainly because of my outlook on life and love of the law. In addition, I believe people in their 20s should plan for their future and even though it seems like a million years away it will come sooner than you think, and they need to be prepared. As I said earlier, I believe perseverance, confidence and ethics create a quality professional and personal life and believe it’s important to be surrounded by those that you care about and who care about you. A life of health, curiosity, caring for others and being cared about is what it’s all about to me.
This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?
I do what I do for my clients because of my sense of fairness and the love of the law. I’m very goal oriented and enjoy overcoming adversity and fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. Also, learning new things whether it’s related to the law or not, motivates me. I’m naturally curious.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
One case I was involved in was representing a young lady who unfortunately had become addicted to pain killers and was being charged with the crime of possession for sale. I was able to meet with her and her family and find out the root cause of her issues and listen to what they had to say. I learned she had recently been hospitalized for a serious nerve condition, had been provided prescription narcotics and become addicted. I was able to relay her life struggles to the prosecutor and judge and was able to get her the assistance she needed including classes, treatment and therapy. We were able to reach a very favorable result which benefited her, her family and the community. This was a very satisfying result.
Where do you go from here? Where do you aim to be in the next chapter of your career?
The next chapter of my life includes getting to a point where I can select the cases and clients I want to represent. While this is difficult because the practice of law is after all a business, this is a goal. Also, on a personal level, I am in a new relationship which allows me to share and emotionally grow as a person.
Without sharing anything confidential, can you please share your most successful “war story”? Can you share the funniest?
I have many war stories that always seem to be cases where evidence law and witnesses were against my client but I was able to research and find favorable law which turned the tide. In the hundreds of cases I’ve handled I’ve found, it’s nice to win the easy cases but it was more enjoyable and satisfying to win the “impossible” cases.
One funny story which stands out is while my client and I were preparing for the trial of her case she out of the blue told me that she had another attorney. I looked at her in dismay and asked her who was her other attorney and to which she replied “Jesus”. Needless to say, we won the case.
Ok, fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing some advice for aspiring lawyers. Do you work remotely? Onsite? Or Hybrid? What do you think will be the future of how law offices operate? What do you prefer? Can you please explain what you mean?
During the COVID-19 pandemic I worked remotely 100% of the time. Now that the pandemic is all but over, I am in the office or court most of the time.
How has the legal world changed since COVID? How do you think it might change in the near future? Can you explain what you mean?
I believe the future of law and the law office is remote researching, appearing in court, depositions, and meetings. I do miss the human interaction but have become very adept at remote work and while I don’t necessarily like the new normal, I have adapted to it.
Based on your experience, how can attorneys effectively leverage social media to build their practice?
I have recently begun to engage in social media platforms such as LinkedIn. I believe these are helpful to locate attorneys and clients. While there will most likely always be billboards, television ads and bus benches, it seems social media is the way of the future.
Excellent. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law?” Please share a story or an example for each.
Briefly, the top 5 things to do in any law firm are:
- Work hard. Be the hardest working attorney at your firm and zealously represent your clients to the best of your ability. This mean gathering facts, evidence and law on each case. Hard work wins cases.
- Know the law. Researching the state of the law including cases and statutes is absolutely necessary to convince your opponent and the court that your client should prevail. This means being up to date on the legal research software and trends of the court.
- Don’t give up after a setback. Perseverance and self-confidence are key to being successful. Your clients should be your main focus from the very first day you meet them through all stages of a case, including trial.
- Treat your client, opposing counsel and the court with respect. Ethics are important and go a long way to being successful.
- Believe in yourself and have self-confidence in all things you do, whether in the practice of law or in your personal life. If you believe in yourself then anything is possible.
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 with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might see this. :-)
I would enjoy meeting musicians such as the band members of Rush, athletes such as Venus Williams, Shaq and Justin Turner of the Dodgers, intellects such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, any NASA astronauts, and comedians such as Chris Rock and Jim Gaffigan. I enjoy people who have goals, natural gifts and who work hard to get what they want.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
Linkedin — https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodore-cox-6479651a/
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.
