Heroes and Influences: Jim Malone
May 25, 2021
In my second year as a lawyer, I started at a big law firm working on the cases of one of the most powerful medical malpractice defense lawyers in the state.
Jim Malone represented the Cleveland Clinic, the Meridia Health system and its multiple hospitals, the biggest malpractice insurance carrier in the State, and MetroHealth Medical Center. For me, going to work for him was like getting called up to the majors. I was given over a hundred cases and told to figure it out.
I had no medical training, but Jim forbade me to utilize the nurse paralegals to figure out the cases.
“Get out the books, read the records, talk to your doctors, figure it out,” Jim said. That was his way.
At the time, I hated it. I did not like working with Jim. I was spending countless hours at the office at a time when my wife and I were first having our children. I was learning fundamental and basic building blocks that I would use for the rest of my career, and I knew it, but I was equally sure that I would never be able to please Jim.
Ultimately, I left that firm for another opportunity where I put into practice all of the building blocks that Jim had taught me. It led to wild success.
My relationship with Jim culminated when we faced off in a courtroom. After I prevailed, we got to sit down and talk. Jim told me what a good lawyer I had become, and that he was proud to have been a part of my development. I told him how important he had been even though I hated it at the time.
Do you have anyone in your life who maybe you thought did not like or appreciate you when you were working together but played a pivotal role in teaching you the fundamentals of your job? My advice would be to let them know as soon as you realize it.
Jim Malone passed away in the last few years, and I was able to smile knowing that I had been able to come to terms with what an important role he had played in my life and career, and tell him. I know I am not the only person in whose life Jim played an important mentorship role, but I wanted to say to everyone who remembers and knew Jim what I’m sure we already all figured out by now: that he was a great lawyer and a great man.
