I get the feeling Jeff Shane is a great dad, not easily rattled. He just seems like the kind of father you wouldn’t be afraid to confess hitting a baseball through the family car – he’d probably say: “Okay, first thing tomorrow we get you batting lessons.” He has this great ability to balance being caring yet tough; I imagine his compassionate side chooses his cases and his strength wins them.
I interviewed him in his Brentwood high-rise and was struck immediately by his humility – I knew about his 1.5 million dollar structured settlement for one of his clients; his appointment as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council by Sheriff Lee Baca; and his Educational Cable Talk Show “Shane’s Verdicts,” which he serves as Producer and Moderator – he was even a Professor of Civil Discovery at Loyola Law School – but he was more interested in talking about how lucky he feels to be a practicing Attorney working as a “Public Servant.”
“Did you know that AFI just named the top film hero of all time,” Jeff told me, “And it wasn’t a Bruce Willis character or some other action protagonist – it was Atticus Finch, the lawyer from To Kill a Mockingbird.” I hadn’t known that but I wasn’t surprised. Gregory peck’s portrayal of the small town Attorney with monumental ethics infused the legal profession with dignity that still resonates 46 years later… Still, Bruce Willis’ Die Hard character Officer John McClane as a lawyer would make for great courtroom drama.
Jeff grew up a fan of real life heroes like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. – even writing a speech about King once – so you can connect the dots and see how Jeff wound up in his field of law. “Being a lawyer is a noble profession,” Jeff said during our interview, “It’s a job where I can really make a difference in a person’s life, and repair whatever situation they find themselves in.”
HW: “What about the technical aspect of being a lawyer – what really drives you in that regard?”
ATTORNEY JEFF SHANE: “Well, justice is about putting all the pieces together: from the expert testimony to every aspect and detail of the facts. I find that very exciting. I enjoy building my case.
HW: I read that you’ve successfully negotiated settlements in Personal Injury, Civil Litigation and Business law for over 95% of your client base… To be blunt, why are you so good at what you do?”
ATTY. SHANE: “Actually, the roots of my success are my clients themselves; when you believe in someone, you’re more inclined to work harder for them. And juries pick up on your sincerity; they know whether or not you’re telling the truth about your client.”
HW: “So, if they think you’re just ‘phoning it in,’ it’s over.”
ATTY. SHANE: “You’re not going to win. I have to believe in my client to be effective on their behalf in court. My victory starts with my clients being truthful with me.”
HW: “Now, one more year and you’ll hit your 30th anniversary as an Attorney – 20 of those years running your own law firm – you’re known in the legal community as having a ‘strong devotion to the law’; being an ‘excellent communicator, always well prepared with your case; exhibiting ‘unfailing courtesy’ with opposing counsel – this is all coming from your peers…but I think we can condense this all down to one word: professionalism.”
ATTY. SHANE: “Definitely. I think whatever line of work a person is in they should approach it with complete professionalism. I’m a lawyer, but, once again, what I’m really offering is a service, and a promise to give you my absolute best.”
(310) 820-3644 PERSONAL INJURY SHANE j.shane@sbcglobal.net