Roosevelt Jean

Kevin Daisey:

All right, we are live and recording. Welcome to another live episode of The Managing Partners Podcast. I’m Kevin Daisy, I’ll be your host. And I’m also the founder of Array Digital. We exist to help law firms grow their pipeline using digital marketing. Today I got a special guest that really focus on New York and New Jersey, Roosevelt Jean, welcome to the show.

Roosevelt Jean:

Welcome. Well, great to be here. Great to be here. No better thing to do on a Thursday afternoon.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s right. I don’t even know what day it is half the time. Yeah. So thanks for joining me this late afternoon and excited to learn more about you. I had a great conversation with you just before the show here, so I know we’re going to have some good things to talk about. I always like to ask first, I want to know your story, like your personal story up to when you’re like, I’m going to be an attorney. What was that like?

Roosevelt Jean:

Okay. So my name is Roosevelt Jean. I am the owner and founder of Law Office of Roosevelt Jean, it’s a New York and New Jersey practice and the story begins. I am first generation American. My mom is from Haiti. She came to this country way back when in the 70s and she called me Roosevelt and last name Jean. You know it’s, I’m first generation American and a French Caribbean background. I have Haitian values. And if you know any Haitian people, you know exactly what that means. Hardworking, very proud, very diligent in whatever we do. The story begins in the South Bronx, New York, where my mother raised my sister and I. And in the South Bronx, you learn a lot of lessons. And those are the lessons that I take with me today in everything that I do. That’s lessons of hard work, lessons of diligence, lessons of humility.

Roosevelt Jean:

And I take that with me every single day. In the South Bronx, New York, I learned a lot of lessons. I went to Hunter College City, University of New York. But before that I had tons of experiences, experienced things of injustice, experienced things of inequity. I actually wanted to be a prosecutor. As early as 12 years old, I wanted to be a prosecutor. I would go down to the Bronx courthouse is next to Yankee stadium. For those New Yorkers or those who’ve been in New York, you know exactly where that courthouse is. And I always, as a kid, I wanted to be in that building. I would go to Yankee Stadium, but there was something about that building. I wanted to be a lawyer in that building. I would see lawyers in fancy suits who didn’t look like me, but that’s something I always wanted to do, so that had always been a desired mine.

Roosevelt Jean:

As a kid, you don’t know what a lawyer is, what they do, but you just say, there’s something important about that guy or woman. They’re just something that you want to replicate. And I wanted to be in that courthouse. I wouldn’t be a prosecutor. I saw a lot of crime growing up in my community. I saw a lot of hardworking individuals who still are in the Bronx, just trying to make their ends meet. And they would have challenge. Kids would have challenges, whether it’s drugs in their community, whether it’s the violence in their community. And being a young kid and having deep conversations with family about what I want to do, I want to be a lawyer, I want to be a prosecutor. And for a kid, I didn’t know the different types of law that exists. And certainly I’ve had quite the journey. I’ve done a lot of different things, but I wanted to be a prosecutor.

Roosevelt Jean:

So I went to Hunter College City, University of New York, a public college in the city. I interned with the New York City Council. I learned more about justice. I intern with the Speaker of the City Council. So I learned more about what it is, what a law is, how it affects people’s lives. At Hunter, I was a public service scholar. I learned about the constitution. I learned about policy and I wanted to go law school. So that idea of being a lawyer became even more strengthened. Then I went to Syracuse University College of Law, where I had outstanding experience. For me, I don’t like sitting in a courtroom or rather, I don’t like sitting in a classroom. That’s not my thing. Even now it’s uncomfortable sitting in an office in the era of coronavirus.

Roosevelt Jean:

I love the courtroom. So in my last year of, rather in the first year, my one L year, I tried out for the mock trial, mock court trial team, and I fell in love with it. We would practice six days a week after class on sometimes even on Sunday. We would get drilled with doing opening statements, doing direct examinations, doing cross examination of witnesses. Joanne Van Dyke, Joe Cote, those are the two professors in law school that really, really made me the trial lawyer that I am. And that’s like repeated practice, practice, practice. Do it again, do it again. Sort of like actors. I fell in love with it. We did trial competitions throughout the country. We got excellent training to the point where, when I graduated, I really believed I could try cases. My first law firm, I told partners, “I want to try cases, I want to try cases.”

Roosevelt Jean:

It was an insurance defense firm, little different than what I’m doing today. And I would go to court and I won. And I won my next case and the next case. And I think at one point I had a string of like a good 12 consecutive, no causes. That is, I prove my case in front of a jury. And I even remember my first case. I had an attorney twice my age and he and I are actually friends today, but we bumped heads and he thought, who is this kid? Does he really think he can actually compete against me? I’ve been doing this for longer than this guy’s been alive. It was a case against-

Kevin Daisey:

Practice makes perfect.

Roosevelt Jean:

Practice makes perfect. Practice, practice, practice. And I won that trial. And so I got a lot of experience doing all types of things. In my first firm, I was doing car accidents, I was doing sexual harassment, race discrimination cases on the defense side. In New Jersey, I became what’s called a certified civil trial lawyer. It’s a special designation. It’s about two or 3% of New Jersey lawyers. You need to go and take an exam. You need recommendations from your adversaries, that you’ve tried cases against as well as judges who’ve actually seen you in action. And it’s something you need at least 10 jury trials at that point. And you need five years of practice. After five years, I had more than 10 jury trials. Again, I love this stuff. This thing that developed when I was a kid, I had fully developed it. I had fully developed it. Became a certified civil trial lawyer. I’ve been designated, this is my 17th year, actually, this month makes my 17th year practicing law and I’ve been designated on three occasions.

Roosevelt Jean:

I tried a bunch of different things as a defense lawyer. I moved on to another firm where I became Of counsel. And I learned not only being a good trial lawyer, but the business of law, which is something totally distinct. Relationship building, relationship building, making your client feel special so that you can get the return customer. Roosevelt did an excellent job on that brief. He did an excellent job trying the case. Doing the little things, doing phone calls, sending a Christmas note, making someone feel special because this is a service industry. It’s not just about trying cases and writing good briefs, but it’s making your client feel that they have value. So I learned a lot about the business of law. Then I moved on to another firm and I became partner. So that’s for an attorney, that is the thing that you want to be in multiple lawyers.

Roosevelt Jean:

You want to be a partner of a firm. I did that for about a year and a half, and I made the decision with my family, that there were other things that I wanted to do. I wanted to combine both that love of trying cases and business and become a businessman and a trial lawyer, which is why I decided to form Law Office of Roosevelt Jean in New York and New Jersey. You can find me @johnjustice.com and learning how to pitch yourself. It’s not just doing the work, but it’s also doing what I’m doing now, speaking about myself, which can be a little awkward sometimes, but I try. But most importantly, so the trial lawyer developed into a businessman, but more importantly, I love public service. And after many years, I made the determination that I would like to represent victims.

Roosevelt Jean:

So I now represent victims of sexual harassment, victims of race discrimination, individuals who’ve been the victims of car accidents or catastrophic loss. My life is dealing with people in some of the most saddest parts of their lives. Sometimes I’m pastor, sometimes I’m counselor, sometimes I’m psychologist, sometimes I don’t even use my legal skill, I’m just listening. Listening to your story so I can then tell that story in front of a jury. But I made the choice when I created my business to represent victims. And it’s something I love. It’s something I’m passionate about. So you asked me a very short question earlier about my journey.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s your journey where you’ve come from. You’ve done a good job. I appreciate that. Well, I mean, that brings us full circle to where you are today. And you made a good point too, is it’s not just the law, but it’s a business. There’s a big business aspect to it. And most of which you’re not taught and trained on how to run a business and the law. And so going on your own like that is why most people don’t, it’s a lot of fear and things that they got to. But you’ve learned a lot over the years, you’ve had mentors, you’ve had experiences and now you’re off on your own and I think it’s awesome. And now you can do things the way you want. Then you made that flip. So now you’re on the victim side. And so what are some of the practice areas that specifically that you focus on? You mentioned a few.

Roosevelt Jean:

Sure. I think from my defense back background and working for a general litigation firm, you get all types of matters. You get personal injury matters, you get discrimination matters. So I’ve used that skillset that I have defending the case. And I think as a defense lawyer, you sometimes look at the case from both perspectives. You say, what is the plaintiff’s strongest position? Now, let’s tear that down. So whenever I have cases now, which are catastrophic personal injury cases, sexual harassment, discrimination based upon race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, those are all cases that I used to defend and I used to look at it from both perspectives.

Roosevelt Jean:

But now, I previously used to tear down those cases, that’s my duty, but now I build them up. So I think I have the advantage because whenever I speak to my clients, sometimes they think that I’m rude, but I tell them exactly what I’m doing. I let them know if you can’t get past me in my aggressive questioning, you’re going to have some challenges. And I say that not to scare them, but to prepare them because as a plaintiff lawyer, you need to build the case because as a defense lawyer, your goal is to poke holes. So I do those.

Kevin Daisey:

You’ve been on that other side, so you have some insight knowledge that most may not.

Roosevelt Jean:

Right. And I also, I think there’s some credibility when I speak to an insurance adjuster, because I say, look, I know what, I try to be respectful. But I say, “I know what your job is.” So what I do is, I give them exactly what I know I wanted as a defense lawyer, you want a complete package. You want all proofs of liability. You want all proofs of damages. So I lead them along the way, because I know they need to submit that to their superiors. So I beat them to the punch and I analyze the case from both sides.

Roosevelt Jean:

And oftentimes, I’ll even tell the adjuster what I think they’re going to cite in a motion to defeat my case in two years, I give them that case because I said, “Look, that’s what I would’ve done. I know you’re going to do it because I did it. And I think I was a pretty good defense lawyer. I was a partner and taught associates how to do this, but most respectfully, Mr. or Mrs. Adjuster, I think you’re not going to prevail. So let’s resolve this case today. And if we can’t, we move forward.” I think that the breadth of my experience and the mentors I’ve had, have really helped me do what I do now.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s excellent. Well, thanks for explaining that kind of coming from one side of the other and how you’ve kind of, you can analyze both sides. I think it’s a huge help especially to anyone that’s looking for that type of help in your area. So yeah. Any attorneys out there listening, you got a referral, you have something. And that’s the thing, we have a lot of attorneys on this show, so I like attorneys to refer each other, hey, I can’t do that. That’s not for me. It’s not a fit for my firm, let me give Roosevelt a call. We encourage that.

Roosevelt Jean:

That’s a big part of practice, recognizing the things that I don’t do. Like I don’t do family law, but I know a good family lawyer. And because I put money in their pocket, like I’ll refer them cases. They say, “Roosevelt, you thought about me. And I was able to do very well on that case.” Who is the first person they think about when they have a catastrophic personal injury or sexual harassment or race discrimination case, they call me up. So I would say, that’s also what’s not taught in law school, that reciprocal relationship building and looking out for your fellow attorney.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, super important. And that’s the next question I’ll ask you is related to that is so you’re on your own, how long have you been out and started your own firm?

Roosevelt Jean:

This is my third year.

Kevin Daisey:

Third year. Okay. So what has been effective? I’m sure there’s referrals and colleagues and people that you know, but what has been effective to get new clients outside of maybe those roles, anything you’ve done, marketing or newsletters or anything that’s brought in some clients?

Roosevelt Jean:

Interesting. I’m a big planner, before I decided to go out on the plaintiff side, I really thought about it. And I took an inventory of what are the good things that I have, what are my good selling points? I’m a good trial lawyer. I try to be nice to people. I believe in being the nice guy rule, always, always works. But I built relationships. And in fact, I wrote an article about that for the ABA about starting my own firm. What would cause a young man to leave a job as a partner and become a plaintiff’s lawyer?

Roosevelt Jean:

Relationships are so important. When I used to try cases against my adversaries as a plaintiff for 14 years, I would never have spiked the ball. I maintained relationships. So when I went on my own, and I was doing the plaintiff side, who better to send the case to, or when you have a difficult question but to me. So I would have attorneys reach out to me say, “Roosevelt, I heard that you are now doing plaintiff’s work. Could you look at this case?” And in fact, two of my biggest cases that I resolved, I resolved the case in 2000, like 2000, last year-

Kevin Daisey:

You don’t know what year it is. That’s a blur now.

Roosevelt Jean:

I had a $900,000 settlement that I reach with, and this is very important, with a former adversary. Someone that I went against head with, but I never spiked the ball with him. So we had a conversation at the courthouse one day and he says, “Hey, let’s talk about this case over coffee.” This is pre-COVID when we were just engaging in [inaudible 00:16:47] one of the best parts of practice. We discussed the case and I said, “Did you ever think about this?” And sometimes it takes more than one eye to look at something from another perspective. So we partnered on the case. Case settled for 900,000. That was a plaintiff lawyer. So when you ask me, in terms of marketing, the best marketing is relationships. That is so, so important. At another case with another plaintiff’s lawyer or rather former adversary, we lock horns.

Roosevelt Jean:

It was an excessive force case, that case resolved for $600,000. So relationships are so, so important. I always had good relationships on the other side. But that was an immediate client base, helping attorneys with an existing caseload that allowed me to make a living, learn my craft on the other side, build a name for myself so others can come in. I’m part of an organization called My Brother’s Keeper in New York city. It’s an organization of it’s My Brother’s Keeper/My Sister’s Keeper, phenomenal, brilliant African American and minority attorneys working at big law firms, small law firms. And those are relationships. Those are people who I know personally. I know their wives, I know their family, we know each other, we hang out together. They would send me a referral. I can’t stress the importance of relationships. You can do a-

Kevin Daisey:

You never know what kind of a bridge you might be burning if you’re just trying to win the case. Right and.

Roosevelt Jean:

Absolutely. I think I can’t stress it enough, it’s being a nice guy. When you do a commercial, you watch anyone who you like, any great commercial, why do you buy that product? It’s because you like that person. So I try to be a nice human being first. And that has been probably a big part of my business. I post things on LinkedIn. I talk about my public service. I talk about my accolades. People will like it. We’ll have a conversation. I’ll say, “Thank you for the like.” And then we’ll engage in a conversation. Some months later someone will call and say, “Hey, I have a sexual harassment case, or I have a race discrimination case. Is this something you can handle?”

Kevin Daisey:

You have video on LinkedIn or social media. It’s just a digital way to get yourself out there in front of the people that you wouldn’t have a chance to run into. But they have a way to connect with you. Hey, I’ve seen your video. I’ve heard you talk. They like you generally, that goes a long way. And when they have a need, they’re more likely to reach out.

Roosevelt Jean:

Absolutely.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. Excellent. I love that. No, without a doubt. I mean, that’s how I started my business. It was all built in relationships, 100%, and wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without that. So give me some ideas. Is it just you on the firm currently? Do you have any other employees or assistance?

Roosevelt Jean:

Right. So we have some limited support staff, but again, starting the practice, it’s your baby. And I’m a bit of a perfectionist. So I like things done a certain way. So slowly as the practice has evolved and it is evolving I’ve gotten some support staff, but it’s one of my faults is trying to control everything and.

Kevin Daisey:

Letting go.

Roosevelt Jean:

Delegation. That’s something that you may not necessarily learn in law school. You want to have control over everything. It’s like the chef that does the main course, but also cuts the, that makes the salad and then does the soufflé, and then the dessert. I can do everything because I’ve been an 18 year old intern and I’ve been a partner at a law firm so I can do everything. So it’s slowly, slowly, I am letting go and letting some other people assist me.

Kevin Daisey:

And you’re only three years in, so that is challenging. That was challenging for me. And it’s gotten easier over the years. I’ve been in business for a little while, but that’s hard to do. To step back, let go, delegate a little bit, but it takes time. It’s not something you can do overnight or that you should rush into, because then you have things out of control and not being done properly. But yeah, I think that’s a big lesson there and a good growth point when you do start to get that right person in there and they start to take over and you get some trust, but it does take some time. So well with that said, just looking at where you are now, what is your on your mind as far as any growth goals, doesn’t have to be size and people, but things you’re trying to accomplish over the next two to five years set in place, what does that look like in your mind as far as the next two to five years for your firm?

Roosevelt Jean:

Well, it’s interesting because the initial goal was to make the switch, which is a big thing. Like your partner at a firm and you have relationships on that side. And then the first part is street cred, if you will, right. It’s are you really about this life, in the plaintiff’s world? And it’s been a bit of a transition. My goals have evolved. Number one, it’s always to continue to give my clients excellent work, number one. It’s also making sure that I am learning and growing because from looking at things from a perspective as a defense lawyer, for many years now looking at it from a plaintiff, it can be some challenges, but perfecting that.

Roosevelt Jean:

The goal is certainly to grow. The goal is certainly to get more quality cases and to be able to help more people. I’ve had cases from when I first started on my own doing some traffic ticket and that wasn’t beneath me. I’ve had a case in my defense world when we went to the Supreme Court of the United States of America and I sat and I watched that, but it wasn’t beneath me because I was a businessman and I was making money for my firm. But it’s to continue to grow the practice, get quality cases, help more people, develop more staff and be the best lawyer that I can be. I think as a entrepreneur, I’ve had more control over my time.

Roosevelt Jean:

So some of the professional goals also merge with my personal goals and being able to have more quality time with family, have a beautiful wife and beautiful little boy and little girl, so wanting to have more time with that. So it’s not just the practice, because when I made the decision, it was a quality of life thing. I also have a lot of public service that I do. I’m a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity incorporated. We do a lot of public service, so it’s multifaceted. So I don’t like to just talk about me as just my career, I am more than just my career. I’m Roosevelt and I practice law. I’m not Roosevelt the lawyer.

Kevin Daisey:

I love that. Well, we’re the same. We were talking beforehand. I have a wife, boy and a girl. So yeah, we got our hands full and I think most people think entrepreneurs, they make a bunch of money and they get to do whatever they want anytime they want. And we know that’s not the case, but at least you’re in control to some degree. I think that’s what we’re after. Hey, I don’t want someone else deciding my fate. I want some control over it.

Roosevelt Jean:

Sure, absolutely.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. It’s not always about business. It’s got to be the whole thing. But yeah, just congrats on going out on your own and hanging your own shingle, if you will. And it sounds you’ve been very well so far, but, all these things take time. And I think we were talking about in the beginning of the show prior to recording me and his story are similar in the fact that we got to one place and we’re like, “Something’s changed now. I want to go this other direction.” And when I started my business, it was very similar to that. It was when I got the job, it was the best thing in the world. A few years later, started my own company. And it was all fun, a different tangent. But things change, we change, people change. And I think the cool thing about running your own business is that you can adapt with that change and you can make those changes a little bit more freely.

Roosevelt Jean:

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. Excellent. Well, is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience? Here’s a good question for you, since unique upbringing and experiences that you’ve had, any young attorney right now, minority attorney in your area, wanted to start their own firm, whether or not they’re prepared now, or they want to, at some point what’s some advice you would give them?

Roosevelt Jean:

Well, that’s a great question. And I’m honored to even be in a position for a young attorney who looks like me to be able to give them that advice. Because when I was a kid growing up in the South Bronx, New York, I didn’t have that person. So to any kid, well, you know what? This is certainly minority of students, because we need more minority lawyers. We need more black lawyers. We have a lot of social justice and other issues facing our country and we need black voices. We need good lawyers. But to answer your question specifically, for any young lawyer who’s interested in one day starting a practice, I would say develop your skills. And what does that mean? You’re like a, I use a lot of analogies, for example, you’re a carpenter.

Roosevelt Jean:

A carpenter has several tools in his toolbox. You have a hammer, you have a sledge, you have various other things. So fill your tool chess with tools that are going to allow you to become successful. Develop your writing skills, read, read anything, become an excellent communicator, get your thoughts out there. If you love English literature, devourer books, learn how to communicate your thoughts effectively in writing. For me, I’m a shy kid. I’ve always been a shy kid. But I make my living by advocating for others. So develop your voice, take theater classes, anything that forces you to get out the box and show a little personality. Develop relationships. A lot of times, and from my experience, this is my 17th year practicing law, there’s a lot of law students who are in law school and they brief cases and they go home, they take their final and then that’s it.

Roosevelt Jean:

If you would like to become a attorney at a big law firm, and that’s all you want to do, become an attorney I.e. an associate, then just do that. But if you would like to become a partner of the firm, you need to have business. People need to like you. So not only developing your hard skills of schoolwork, go out in the community, if you’re a member of a fraternity. If you do a little league with your kids, if you, whatever organization that you’re part of, develop as many relationships as possible. Because if you want to be a partner of a law firm, you have to bring in clients. If you want to create your own law firm, you have to bring in clients. People need to like you.

Roosevelt Jean:

So in your tool chest that we talked about earlier, good writing skills, good oral advocacy skills, being a nice person, because a client will call you to, and if they don’t like you, they’ll move on to someone else. So these are not only things that are taught in school, be a nice person. Let yourself be known to the community. Let people know who you are, because that will bring in more people to your firm. I’ve had cases where someone chooses me because I’m Haitian American and I can speak Haitian Creole. I’ve had cases where I’m a member of a fraternity and they brought me the case just because of that. I’ve had cases because I’m a man or because I’m a black man. So let all of those things be used so that you can be a complete person, because that’s going to make you a successful business owner.

Roosevelt Jean:

It’s not just reading, writing, arithmetic, it’s also these other soft skills that you need to develop. Develop your tool chest so that when you have your own firm, there is no project, if you will, that’s going to be too hard for you because you’re going to be able to pick up the sledgehammer. You’re going to be able to pick up, I’m not a carpenter, I don’t know the different tool, but you’re going to have an array of plethora of things that you can pick from. And it’s not just what you learn in school, it’s things that are just part of being a human being. I hope I answered your question.

Kevin Daisey:

No, I love it.

Roosevelt Jean:

Every day is different and I’m going to use different tools out of my tool set to effectuate the best outcome for my client. And at the end of the day, that’s what I want to be, a good, well, currently New York or New Jersey trial lawyer. I’m working on some other stuff, but that’s my goal.

Kevin Daisey:

No, I love what you had to share because I agree. And some people, they’re not natural or they’re introverts, or they don’t like to talk with people and they don’t like to get out, but if you’re going to practice law and you want to run a business, then these are things you’re going to have to come to terms with. And I think you have to be able to talk to people. Sales, everything is someone just liking you, being to have a conversation. You mentioned communication. All those things are things that you’re going to have to be good at. And sure, if you’re not good at any of those things, maybe you do have some people that just, they know you, they refer you some stuff because you’re good, but you’re going to have a limited base there. And so it’d be very challenging to start a business that way. But yeah, I think those are all great advice, good tips. The younger you are, the easier it is for you to develop those things.

Roosevelt Jean:

Absolutely.

Kevin Daisey:

It’s going to be hard to do later.

Roosevelt Jean:

Absolutely.

Kevin Daisey:

No, I appreciate you sharing that. So I think for any young attorney listening, tuning in, think about going on your own, those are all good tips. You can listen to this again, of course, but those are things you need to work on. Establish relationships now. What’s the saying? It’s all about who you know, that benefits me more often than not.

Roosevelt Jean:

I believe it’s who knows you because you can know a lot of people, but if they don’t know you then, okay.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s true. But, it’s helped me many times. You’re in a fraternity, people say, “He’s in the fraternity too. Let’s let’s give him a call.”

Roosevelt Jean:

Certainly build your brand, build your brand. Who are you? Who are you outside of being a lawyer? Because people want to have some type of connection with you and-

Kevin Daisey:

Be authentic.

Roosevelt Jean:

Be authentic, be who you are. There’s only one you. I say that to my kids, there’s only one you, so just be the best that you can be. People will gravitate to you because of something special because God created you and something special about you. They will gravitate towards you just because of that. So those are all things that you need to run a successful business, not just being a good trial lawyer, being a good business man or businesswoman, being good business person. That’s my advice.

Kevin Daisey:

So you give a lot of tasks to somebody out there to start working on. So don’t take Christmas off. You got to just keep working. Roosevelt said so. Thank you so much for sharing your story and what you’re all about and being yourself and being authentic and sharing this with us today. I do appreciate it. Is there a best way for anyone, maybe there’s a young attorney out there or someone’s going to law school that needs some help mentoring or just ask some questions, what’s the best way for them to reach you personally?

Roosevelt Jean:

Yeah, mentoring is very important. And I don’t want to sound like I’ve accomplished anything by myself. I’ve had so many mentors who have taken their time. And actually now that you mentioned mentor, I’m sorry, I don’t want to go over time, but I had a mentor in law rather in undergrad, there were certain things I just didn’t know. Her name was Edith Miller. She was, I think, believe one of the few black judges, one of the, and I’m messing it up and I’m embarrassed that I forgot, but she’s one of the first black judges in, first female black judges in the country. She took me aside, she gave me tips, things that I should know and I certainly want to pay it forward and return that favor because she gave me tons of nuggets that I take with me today.

Roosevelt Jean:

Mentoring, you can find me at my website, which is Jean Justice, J-E-A-N.com, Johnjustice.com. My profile is there. You can also find me on Instagram or Facebook or just Google the name and hopefully I built a good enough brand where you can find me. I’m pretty transparent. My offices are here in Hackensack, New Jersey and look forward to be being helpful how I can. You can connect with me on LinkedIn where I meet a lot of people on LinkedIn and then I’ll meet them in person so that’s a great connection. To all law students out there, please connect with your classmates on LinkedIn. You’re going to need them in 10, 20 years later.

Kevin Daisey:

Absolutely. Well, we appreciate that and yeah, connect and LinkedIn is a great place. I’ve done so well. And I’ve actually spoken to some high school classes and I brought a presentation about LinkedIn and of course they’re like, “What is it?” They didn’t even know what LinkedIn is. And I’m like, “You’re getting ready to go to college.” They want to be entrepreneurs, as an entrepreneurial class, and I’m like, “Go get a LinkedIn profile, start using it, start filling it out.” I was like, “As you’re going to go to college and you’re going to try to get a job one day.”

Kevin Daisey:

I can go on LinkedIn right now and I can find Roosevelt right now and message him and he owns a law firm, or a CEO of a company, and they’ll respond to you. Like, where else can you do that? Nowhere. And you’re trying to get a job. And you’re like you know someone that works there. You can go right to the source, just be yourself, reach out and you’d be surprised. And I’ve hired a lot of employees in my company that reach out and do just that. So I think LinkedIn is a great spot. So yeah. Hit Roosevelt up, look him up and I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you.

Roosevelt Jean:

Send me an email and I’ll, I try to do a 24 hour rule, I’ll send you a message back the email is roosevelt@jeanjustice.com and my website, you’ll be able to find that information.

Kevin Daisey:

Excellent. All right. Great. Well, everyone, thanks for tuning in today. If you want to check this episode out any other way, it will be up on our website soon, and it’s always going to be at thisisarray.com/podcast. You’ll need to search by state, it’ll probably be in on New Jersey or by practicing area under personal injury. But we’ll also put this out everywhere else in the world, up in our podcast, on every single platform, Spotify, Apple, Google, and a whole host of other ones. So you can find it anywhere you want to listen and be up on our YouTube as well. And then we’ll feature this as a live episode in the future, as well as feature in our newsletter.

Kevin Daisey:

So we have the Managing Partner’s newsletter that comes out every single week. We feature guests like Roosevelt. We also feature guests that have written books. We’ll feature the books in our newsletter, almost like a book club, if you will. Most of those books are there to help other attorneys run their businesses. And then we’ll also put some marketing tips in there. So obviously we do marketing for law firms. That’s what we specialize in. And if you’re interested in any of that kind of help or just have questions, you can go to thisisarray.com or reach out to me personally, Kevin Daisy on any platform, Instagram or LinkedIn or Facebook, and I’m happy to help you too. So without that, anything else, Roosevelt?

Roosevelt Jean:

That is it. Let’s go out there and happy holidays. I love this opportunity to engage. We’ve been fighting this coronavirus for what? Two years now. And I miss being at the courthouse and just speaking with my colleagues and just talking about family, talking about the practice. So everyone be safe. I wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. And let’s make this a better new year in 2022. So all the best God bless to everyone.

Kevin Daisey:

Well, thank you so much. And yeah, I agree. I’m ready to get back to meeting with people, networking and traveling and good things. So hopefully this year will prove to be awesome and we’ll have some good business growth and help a lot of clients out. So Roosevelt, thanks so much. Everyone, well, see you later. Have a good holiday, happy new year.