"I'm not saying anything until I talk to a lawyer!"

I interviewed Keith J. Gross, LLC for my group project. Mr. Gross was referred to me by a friend of mine, he happened to be her uncle. His website states that he “graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science (International Security Affairs)” but would later leave the Marine Corp. as a Captain to pursue a career as a lawyer. My first impression of him was that he seemed to be very nice, but he was very much so about his business.

Overall, I would say that our conversation flowed pretty well. It wasn’t really any longer or shorter than it needed to be, and he was sure to elaborate on all of my questions, never seeming like he just didn’t care. I found out a lot of useful things about him, like the fact that he’d been a lawyer for almost 20 years now, and that 90% of his cases are criminal. Also, he’s self-employed, meaning he worked for himself, by himself. His law firm was simply titled “The Law Offices of Keith J. Gross, LLC”. He felt as though his inspiration for wanting to be a lawyer stemmed from general interest. Originally he wanted to be a J.A.G. Officer, but found out he couldn’t do it so he left the Marine Corp. to be a private attorney. He claimed that he didn’t have a favorite sort of case to represent, and that everything was dependent upon circumstance, stating that some theft cases take longer than some murder cases. When I asked him if he could see himself doing any other profession (other than being a J.A.G. Officer), he chuckled to himself and mentioned that if he could do anything else it would probably be a clinical psychologist.

The question where I got the most feedback on would have to be “How demanding is your job?” In a nutshell, he said that it was very demanding. For one, he has to maintain business, find a client and perform services all at the same time. It’s an ongoing process for him. He always has to market and advertise to bring in new business even if he already has some. He always has to be moving to make money, everything that goes in his bank account touches his hands first. It’s a 24-7, 365 type of job. Another key moment in the interview would be the last question I asked him “What has been your biggest accomplishment?” His bought up a 2002 murder case in which he represented a defendant who was having a death penalty ruling sought out on him. He won the not guilty verdict for his client.

After that question, I thanked him for his time, and he wished me the best on my project. I felt pretty good about the outcome. I felt like I learned a lot of useful information about what being a defense attorney really entails. I knew he really loved what he did once I asked him what the best thing about his job was. His response: “That’s easy: helping people.” He also stated “If you don’t want to help people, then you’re in the wrong profession.” Every lawyer should have this attitude.

You can learn more about Keith J. Gross, LLC by visiting his website: http://www.keithjgrosslaw.com/index.htm