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With the world’s population officially exceeding eight billion people, it is only natural that the responsibilities of public-serving professions also increase. The global recession and economic downturn have adversely affected the welfare of the common folks, further signifying the importance of lawyers in the US.
The term law encompasses a diverse range of fronts, from criminal defense to corporate and commercial; the law has many faces. Despite Hollywood’s representation of lawyers as rude, brash, and unpredictable, real-world lawyers are a different breed.
We sat down with corporate lawyer Mario Normil, the owner of The Law Offices of Mario S. Normil, to uncover what it meant to be an upholder of the law and his thoughts on Hollywood’s interpretation of their profession. Here are the excerpts from our conversation with him.
Tell us a bit about yourself. What are your qualifications?
Mario Normil: I like to think of myself as a generalist because I don’t believe in restricting myself. For example, my specialty is corporate law – always has been – but I believed that I could have a successful career in criminal appeal and entertainment law, so I didn’t restrict myself from exploring new options. I’m still a corporate lawyer by heart; I just expanded my skillset and chose to learn where I could.
As for my qualifications, I attended Harvard University as an undergraduate. Subsequently, I worked on Wall Street for a decade as an executive and attended the Charlotte School of Law in North Carolina on a part-time basis as I was managing other ventures at the time.
Why did you choose to pursue law? What was the inspiration behind your decision?
Mario Normil: My father was a judge, so you could say it’s in my blood. That and the fact that it was basically hardwired into my brain, I grew up idealizing my dad. To me, he’s the best man there ever was; he’s my inspiration. It started out with my dad, but as I delved deeper into the world of law, I learned about the late Justice Antonin Scalia – whom I deeply respect – and there were also Carl Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche, who played great roles in shaping my philosophy on life.
How do you manage your law firms? More importantly, we’d say you’re a successful individual; what would your advice be to aspiring lawyers and entrepreneurs?
Mario Normil: It’s not easy, that’s for sure. My clients expect a certain level of commitment from me, and I try my best to always exceed their expectations. That’s partly the reason I haven’t lost a single case in my career, with the other being my strict schedule. I focus on discipline; I think that’s the most important thing in our lives. If you want something, you have to be ready to sacrifice everything to get it. There’s no easy way to success.
As for my advice, I suggest lawyers always to be dedicated and honest with their work because, at the end of the day, winning and losing don’t matter; what matters is that you don’t give up. I think that’s what it’s all about, staying committed and not giving up.
What are your thoughts on Hollywood’s interpretation of lawyers?
Mario Normil: That’s an entire 3-hour long debate in itself, so I’m going to keep it short for the readers. It’s not exactly what I’d call on-point. I mean, I have worked with more than my fair share of weird cases, and there are times when you have to be smart about approaching different aspects of a case, so unpredictability is a pretty common trait among lawyers. That about covers everything we have in common with our Hollywood counterparts, and I think it’s safe to say that their interpretations are a bit exaggerated.
What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Mario Normil: Who knows? I might even run for office someday and serve this great nation. My main motive is to find the most effective method to give back as much as possible to our great nation; that’s what I aspire for.
