I had spoken with Criminal Defense Attorney David Givot on the phone prior to our crew meeting him in Hollywood for his photo shoot… I was impressed with his back-story, which in Hollywood screenwriting, will absolutely make or break your fictional characters… Here was a man who took a rather unconventional route to becoming an Attorney, and in a way, it clearly validated his decision for entering the legal field… Ponder these phrases for a moment, and think of which profession it best suits: “Emergency on-scene treatment, crisis intervention, and potentially life-saving stabilization.” Now, before you blurt out “Paramedic,” imagine this scene: a friend at your job drives you to a Hollywood party and drinks too much, so, when leaving the gathering, you decide to drive. On the way home you’re involved in an accident, and when the police arrive on the scene, they notice, unbeknownst to you, that there is a handgun and cocaine under the driver’s seat you are sitting in. Surprise! You’ve just discovered your co-worker is Scarface… Of course you tell the Officers you had no idea that you were chauffeuring Tony Montana home, but it looks pretty bad… So, you, your friend, the gun and the “yayo” all go back to the police station… You’re allowed one phone call, so you call an Attorney you read an article on: David Givot… And what does Atty. Givot do when he arrives at the police station? (1) He gives you “Emergency on-scene treatment” by understanding and explaining to you exactly what is going on, what you are being charged with, and what happens next; (2) Atty. Givot provides “Crisis Intervention” by agreeing to represent you and immediately enforcing your rights by alerting the police that you are his client and setting your Defense in motion; and (3) by doing all of this, Atty. Givot has now given you, literally and figuratively, potentially Life-Saving Stabilization…” Now, could this all be simply coincidence, or is there something in Attorney Givot’s past that enables him to see his Law Practice through the filter of a Paramedic helping victims in need… Okay, I don’t think we really need a “Spoiler Alert” at this juncture to figure out that Atty. Givot, was, indeed, a Paramedic for many years, and so when he described to me in our phone interview how his approach to his clients is always “helping people in need, fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves,” I understood that this was not merely the “lip service” George Orwell was referring to, but an actual fact… Attorney Givot has experience making life or death decisions on the fly and without hesitation and, dare I say, he actually “cares” about his clients, and genuinely wants to help them in the same way he helped his patients as a Paramedic in his former career…

This actually brings up another astounding fact about Atty. Givot – he had a “former career.” How many people do we know in our lives who can barely get one successful career off the ground, let alone two… The decision for this was made, as dramatically and poignantly as one could write, while in a hospital waiting room with his brothers, while his father was in surgery… The idea that his father was walking distance from them fighting for his life, gave Atty. Givot a sense of just how fragile our lives really are… He and his brothers all promised, in that charged atmosphere of waiting for their father’s surgery to finish, that they would make a change in their lives to contribute to society in another way… Atty. Givot’s father pulled through the operation, and Paramedic David, decided to become Attorney Givot…as if literally saving people from death as a Paramedic wasn’t enough, but as my illustration above pointed out, when you’re arrested and charged with a crime you didn’t commit, a figurative death can be just as real as a literal one…

All these little nuances made Atty. Givot very interesting to me…but the biggest surprise was his sense of humor… You would think a man in who’s worked as a Paramedic and now as a Criminal Defense Attorney would be a little numb and edgy by all the tragedy he’s witnessed firsthand… Just look at Martin Scorsese’s 1999 film about Paramedics “Bringing Out The Dead,” with Nicholas Cage as a burned-out Paramedic with insomnia… I asked Atty. Givot about this portrayal of his former career, and suffice it to say this was not his experience in the medical field…but he still loves Scorsese…

In Court, Atty. Givot who seemed as jovial and quick to form a joke as Robin Williams or Steve Martin, is all business; to him, each client’s future is no laughing matter and, like a paramedic, he moves quickly and confidently to defend each client’s life. Still, I was struck by just how “against the grain” this man really is… Just when you think you’ve got a handle on who he is, Atty. Givot will surprise you… The photos he provided me were so full of life and love and hope, surely this couldn’t be a man working in the Criminal Justice System…but maybe that’s been the key to his success: taking his work seriously without bringing it home with him… In “Cadillac Records” (2008), Adrien Brody, who portrayed Music Producer Leonard Chess, said this about the legendary Muddy Waters: “Muddy sings the Blues, he doesn’t live it…”

This is the only plausible reason why Atty. Givot has maintained such a positive, healthy zest for life: his objectivity about his work keeps him sharp and focused, and his love for his work keeps him committed…and he loves to laugh, even if he’s underwater, as one of his photos demonstrates…

But I’m a simple man, and I believe that the essence of a person can be captured in quiet moments, without much fanfare… In the same way that many times a small, independent movie can touch your heart in ways a huge, studio blockbuster never will, I’m always looking for unadorned moments of truth… And so after our big Hollywood Weekly photo shoot I returned to my office and opened up my e-mail. I found a picture Atty. Givot sent me which he thought might be nice for the article, because it meant a lot to him: it was an old, grainy, black and white photo of Atty. Givot as a Paramedic talking with a small child…

The photo has been printed here with this article, and if you want to understand what makes Atty. Givot “tick,” all answers can be found in this photo… he does not care because he gets paid, he gets paid because he cares. Quite simply, he’s a man on a mission to help in any way he can…

(310) 699-0070    CRIMINAL DEFENSE GIVOT