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1 Q. Okay. When you were looking at people to
2 bring in to the firm to legitimize, as you said. Your
3 firm had a very unique area of practice and had a very
4 unique environment to which to work. How did you know
5 or how did you come to decide what people may or may
6 not fit into that?
7 A. Okay. Hang on one second. I think you just
8 accidentally misstated my testimony.
9 I was not bringing the people in to
10 legitimize the law firm. I was bringing them in to
11 the legitimate side of the law firm. The bulk of the
12 law firm, despite the lack of financial success, was a
13 large group of very honest, hard working lawyers
14 trying to do their best in difficult economic
15 conditions. There were some that were obviously not
16 legitimate. And the way I decided to bring people in,
17 again, it's really everything I just told you. Are
18 you looking for how I brought people into the Ponzi
19 scheme?
20 Q. No, right now I'm just asking about the firm
21 because, as I said, it's a very unique way in which to
22 practice and a very unique workplace environment with
23 politics and restaurants and parties at your home and
24 things of that nature. I'm asking, personality wise,
25 other than the book of business, how did you decide on

Page 15
1 people that would be a good fit?
2 A. I looked for people that were outgoing, that
3 had the type of personality. On the legitimate side
4 of the business, people that had charisma that were --
5 that could go out and hustle and try to develop a book
6 of business if they didn't have it. And as one of the
7 50 percent of the shareholders of the firm I was
8 trying to hire people I wanted to work with.
9 Q. Okay. When you would see people from whom
10 you would offer jobs, for example, as you mentioned
11 earlier with Brad and his practice, if somebody stated
12 that people told you that he was a good lawyer, did
13 you need to see him in action, so to speak, prior to
14 your deciding to hire them or would you just take
15 people at their word for it?
16 A. Some of people I saw in action; he wasn't
17 one of them. Steve Osber is an excellent example of
18 that. I hired Steve after he was beating the living
19 daylights out of me on the other side of a case. And
20 I certainly would ask around about the people. But
21 the people that I trusted -- see, I can't remember. I
22 think Gary Farmer was working for me before Brad, and
23 if I'm not mistaken he would have been one of the
24 people that I went to with regard to Brad because we
25 were really developing that whole tort group around

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1 that time with Farmer and Fistos and Jaffe and
2 Mr. Edwards.
3 Q. Do you know where Mr. Edwards was working
4 when you first learned of him?
5 A. I don't recall whether he was working for
6 someone or had his own practice, I don't recall.
7 Q. When did you first learn about Brad?
8 A. I don't remember the time frame.
9 Q. Do you recall when you first met with him
10 regarding a job?
11 A. No. The easiest way to figure that out is
12 to go look at his personnel file, it will have the
13 notes saying when he met with me the first time.
14 Q. You don't have any recollection of your
15 first meeting with him?
16 A. No. As you know, I was hiring people left
17 and right and I was also unfortunately very busy doing
18 things I shouldn't have been doing, so I don't have a
19 specific recollection of when I hired him. I barely
20 have a specific recollection of when I hired me.
21 Q. But you did, in fact, meet with him?
22 A. I'm certain I met with him before I hired
23 him. I can't imagine -- although I did hire people
24 without meeting them. I did hire people based on
25 other people's word, if they were people within the

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1 firm that I trusted. Because I always said, I had a
2 very simple, you lie or die by what you are telling
3 me. If you are telling me this guy is good and he's
4 not good, that's on you, it's going to hurt your
5 income. So I used to tell my partner, people that
6 were recommending people to me, don't sell me a bill
7 of goods just to get somebody in here because if you
8 do that it's going to come back on you, it's going to
9 affect your income and your ability to grow in the
10 firm. So with that admonishment, I might have very
11 well hired someone sight unseen based upon what
12 someone else told me.
13 Q. But you did meet with Brad you say before he
14 came in to work?
15 A. Now that I'm saying it out loud, I think I
16 did but really I'm guessing. I don't have a specific
17 recollection of meeting him.
18 Q. Do you recall if you knew that he had worked
19 as an assistant state attorney for a few years prior
20 to doing tort litigation?
21 A. I don't recall that one way or the other.
22 Q. So you wouldn't have asked Howard Scheinberg
23 or anybody about him before he came to work there?
24 A. I can't say that I wouldn't have asked
25 because, like I said, I might have asked. But

5 (Pages 14 to 17)
FRIEDMAN, LOMBARDI & OLSON
305-371-6677
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