By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Like many award-winning attorneys in Western New York, David Brock downplays his success.

A partner in Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP, he was named winner of the 2010 Robert M. Kiebala Memorial Award. It's given to the top Defense Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Defense Trial Lawyers Association of Western New York. Ask Brock about it, though, and you'd think the group pulled his name from a hat rather than recognize him for his nearly four-decade legal career in Buffalo.

I sat down with him recently to discuss the award, the current climate in the local legal community and other topics.

What was your reaction when you found out you had been selected for the award?

DB: What I find particularly gratifying about this award, aside from the fact that it is totally unexpected, is that it was named for Bob Kiebala, who was my first boss and mentor. I started my legal career working with Bob at Liberty Mutual for five years (1972-77), right after I got out of law school. I remember when the award was first announced. It was meant to recognize a defense lawyer who promoted civility and the growth of the practice, which was what Bob Kiebala stood for. So it's got a little bit more of a personal meaning for me.

Many lawyers say they don't do what they do to get awards and other honors, but it must feel good to be singled out for your work.

DB: It feels good having been recognized, and it feels better when you are being recognized for something that you haven't necessarily gone out and actively sought. The defense practice doesn't provide the type of arena that affords lawyers the kind of recognition that say, high-profile criminal lawyers and plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers get. They're the one's whose names are in the paper all the time - the big verdicts, the big prosecutions. What we do really isn't high profile.

It's also significant and meaningful for me that it's a recognition by the people that I work with and that I've worked with for years. They are the ones recognizing me for what I've done, and I'm still not sure exactly what that is (laughs).

You've been with Jaeckle since 1977. What has kept you in one place for so long, especially in Buffalo, which gets its fair share of criticism as a place to live and work?

DB: I grew up as Buffalo was kind of declining from its heyday. Even in the ‘50s it was a vibrant, active, bustling city. Will it ever return to that level of glory? I doubt it, but it is a great place to raise a family, which I've done. It's a great place to practice law, and I feel connected not just to an office or a practice, but to a community. That, for me, would be very difficult to leave.

Shifting gears, what are your thoughts on practicing in Western New York? Some lawyers cite the close-knit, collegial atmosphere that exists locally. Has that been your experience, as well?

DB: By and large, it has been and still is. We are small enough that we run across each other on a recurring basis. It's quite different from New York or Chicago where you may never see each other again. And I think that may foster in those larger legal communities some of the antagonism and coldness that people complain about. What it boils down to in Buffalo is you can do what you want to me today, but remember, you're going to want something from me tomorrow. I think part of that keeps the profession open and honest. We all know we can't get away with something without having to pay the consequences down the road.

One of your practice areas is the defense of attorneys being sued for malpractice. It is challenging to step into a courtroom and work on a case where one of your colleagues is the defendant?

DB: Not for me. Obviously, depending on what the situation is, the lawyer involved may actually say, "Look, I messed up. Let's do the right thing. Others may go after the plaintiff, amazed that they are being sued. So it is really just like any other sophisticated client.

What impact locally has the economy had on the legal profession in recent years?

DB: The economy has impacted my practice to the extent that it has changed the client mix. I've got fewer clients locally and more of them coming from out of the area, either through referrals or through out-of-town attorneys who have a client that needs local representation.

Along those lines, it's been said that when times get tough, more people sue. Have you seen that to be true in your practice?

DB: In my area, not so much. I deal with people that are claiming somebody did something to cause them an injury or loss that can only be compensated monetarily. You can't put an injured plaintiff back to the condition he was before the incident, so I don't see as many of those spikes. Where I think you do see those increases is in the area of business disputes, more commercial-type matters where it really is all about the money.

You've been practicing law for almost 38 years. There was a time when, along with doctors, lawyers were held in the highest regard. Do you still find that to be true?

DB: Having started out with lawyers being considered at the top of the food chain, and now being sort of at the bottom, I've gone through the descent and it is what it is. I think it's a fact of life: Everybody hates a lawyer until they need one. Do I like it? Of course not. Do I think the profession needs to continue efforts to improve its image? Absolutely. Are we ever going to get back to where we were before? I don't think society is made up the same way that it was before.

How much does lawyer advertising feed into that erosion of respect? Do you think the barrage of billboards and commercials undermines the profession?

DB: As much as people complain about the billboards they see here, it pales in comparison to other areas of the country. Having said that, it's not a local problem, but it's an issue.

It was originally viewed as a problem we needed to correct and get out from under, but it's been around long enough and been established solidly enough that it's a fact of life. I think the profession needs to make sure that - to the extent we are out there advertising, flogging our wares - we do it in a meaningful way so that the consumers have a good understanding of what it is they are buying.