After 50 years of law, attorney David Pollock looks to sing a familiar tune
'The goal is, how do we reach some kind of resolution that is going to be something the parties want to fulfill'
For attorney David Pollock there’s a certain karma to leaving work after 50 years. His Uncle Melvin retired from business after 50 years. Pollock’s father, a general practice physician in Altoona, retired after 50 years.
“It’s been 50 years of practicing law. I’m age 75. I can do so much more,” Pollock, a partner at Pollock Begg, said.
The family law practitioner is eyeing what’s ahead. Come Dec. 31 Pollock is retiring; nonetheless, he plans on completing a project with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee in the months that follow. At that point, he’ll continue several communal engagements.
Pollock’s transition to retirement began years ago.
“At the end of 2018 I said to my partners, ‘I don’t want to be the managing partner anymore. I don’t want to go to court anymore. It’s a younger person’s job,’” he said. “They’re long, long days, and long weeks and long months to get prepared to do a trial. You get prepared and then, my goodness, you’re trying the case, which means even though you’re only doing six hours in court, you’re putting in 12-hour days, not sleeping, or 14-hour days.”
Pollock was done with the “young person’s undertaking.” For the past six years, he said, he’s wound down his litigation work, “but I also wound down my mind.”
“I work every single day. My practice and my clients are on my mind 24 hours a day. To just go cold turkey, it’s really unhealthy. It’s unfair to the clients, unfair to the law firm, but it’s really unhealthy for me,” he said.
Pollock has a keen understanding of the mind and people’s needs. His mother was a social worker. His father routinely performed house calls.
“I think I was predisposed to take care of people, one on one, to be somewhat of a social worker,” he said. “That’s goofy to say, but I think it’s true.”
Pollock’s dedication to clients is “one of his best qualities as a lawyer,” Daniel Glasser, a partner at Pollock Begg, said. “If he has a client that he knows needs to be responded to on a daily basis, he does that. If he has a client that needs a little bit more emotional support, he does that. If he has a client that he feels is a more hands-off person, then he recognizes that. He’s very good at diagnosing personalities and catering to them in a manner which is not only beneficial to them, but also pleasing to them and their individual personalities.”
Pollock told the Chronicle that approaching clients in this fashion is “one of the most important things for a young lawyer.”
The goal is to figure out ways to resolve a situation “without litigation or making it worse,” he said. “Litigation is war.”
“In family law, you have to be cognizant of the fact that this is the mother and dad — they’re going to be at their kids’ bar mitzvahs, their kids’ graduations, their kids’ weddings and births — all the simchas are going to be celebrated by the divorced father and the divorced mother, divorced husband or wife,” he said. “They’re so much a part of each of the families, so you try to take the puzzle pieces and figure it out in a way that you can reach some kind of amicable resolution, some kind of thing that won’t make it even worse for them down the road. If you’ve got people who just can’t function in that regard, or the facts of the case demand that things be litigated, then I’m not shy about it. I’ve spent my career doing it. I’ve done jury work, both federal and state work. I’m not shy about it, but the goal is so much different. The goal is, how do we reach some kind of resolution that is going to be something the parties want to fulfill.”
Pollock has long been committed to making things right and building a better future. He did it with his own practice. In 2001, after two of Pittsburgh’s biggest law firms eliminated their matrimonial law departments, Pollock partnered with attorneys Todd Begg, Daniel Glasser and Candice Komar to create a singularly focused family law group.
“David was the only one that sort of saw the future,” Glasser said. “We were relatively young. He had a vision for what this could become.”
Over the years, Pollock Begg expanded to 16 attorneys and became one of the largest family law firms in western Pennsylvania.
“Pollock Begg truly has grown into the family law powerhouse we envisioned when our original partners came together,” Begg said.
The size and scope is a credit to Pollock’s vision, but so is the firm’s regard for community, Komar said. “David’s principles of service, excellence, tireless representation, tireless commitment to both the legal community and to instilling in us the obligation to give back into our charitable communities have been the foundation and the culture of our firm.”
That sense of zealousness for professional and personal undertakings is Pollock’s hallmark, she added.
Pollock’s other roles include chair of the family law sections of both the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania bar associations, editor-in-chief of Pennsylvania Family Lawyer for nearly a quarter century, treasurer of the Pennsylvania chapter of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers for more than a decade and involvement in both the International Academy of Family Lawyers and American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. His service has resulted in numerous awards, including those from both the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section.
A self-described “JCC kid,” Pollock grew up in Altoona before moving to Pittsburgh. A member of the JCC’s Masters Swim Group, Pollock has spent countless hours inside the Jewish Community Center — both in its pool and boardroom.
“I was the lay chair of Emma Kaufmann Camp, lay chair of Henry Kaufmann Family Park, of J&R, of aquatics. Eventually, I became assistant treasurer, and then treasurer of the JCC,” he said.
“David has been a consistent and trusted advisor over my tenure,” said Brian Schreiber, chief external affairs officer and special advisor to the CEO at the JCC. “He is a rational and pragmatic thinker, and a dedicated JCC member for many decades. Even in our most troubled times, you can count on David’s insight and loyalty.”
Post-retirement, Pollock will sing a familiar tune. Along with finding new ways to learn, the Temple Sinai member will keep swimming, keep cycling with his group, keep snow skiing and keep performing with the Temple Sinai Intergenerational Choir and the Rodef Shira Choir.
“I’m not a soloist or anything, and I’m not that strong — it’s just like swimming, where I’m not that strong — but I’ve been doing it for 30 to 40 years,” Pollock said.
Singing in shul breathes life into prayer and adds a personal element, he continued. “It makes services fun for me, but it makes services fun, I think, for everybody, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Komar said her longtime colleague’s “boundless energy” will certainly continue well into retirement.
Along with spending time with his wife, Rita, their children and grandchildren, Pollock said he’s looking forward to learning.
“I’m going to do Jewish education and adult education, anything where I don’t have to do any homework, to do any reading, and I don’t have to be graded,” he said with a laugh. “I want to sit back and absorb. And what I remember, I remember. And what I can talk about, I can talk about.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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