As part of CEB’s commitment to bringing together California’s legal community, our blog will post a short interview with one of your fellow attorneys.

This week, we profile Cynthia Fruchtman:

CEB: What are your practice areas and how/why did you choose or start in your practice area?

Cynthia: I started my practice as a civil litigator. Although I was successful in employment defense, my employer clients kept getting sued, so I expanded into labor and employment compliance. I also have an assisted reproduction practice in which I represent egg donors, sperm donors, embryo donors, agencies, medical practitioners, and infertile people who want to have families, which is an outgrowth of my first career as a cytogeneticist and my ongoing service on various bioethics committees.

CEB: What do you like best and least about practicing law?

Cynthia: I like practicing law best when I have opposing counsel who shares my philosophy of lawyers acting as problem solvers rather than as part of the problem. I like least the necessity of mundane office management; it takes me away from what I do best, which is interfacing with my clients and helping them understand and implement their legal obligations and resolve disputes.

CEB: What is the best legal tip you ever received?

Cynthia: Document the file by making note of every phone call, including messages left.

CEB: What CEB book or program have you found most helpful in your practice and why?

Cynthia: The quality of the publications is outstanding. The audience is wide and varied. The issues presented are timely and topical.

CEB: How do you think the practice of law will change in the next 15 years?

Cynthia: It seems we will be spending less time in face to face conversation. Attending court by telephone through the relative informality of our offices is a marvelous convenience and a cost saving measure for our clients, but it prevents those meetings out in the hall before and after a hearing when opposing counsel can speak plainly about their issues, develop a rapport, and start laying the groundwork for resolution.

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