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HOW TO CUT YOUR LEGAL BILLS IN HALF
A Guide to Reclaiming America's Promise
WHO’S PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED BY TAKING CONTROL
OF YOUR OWN LEGAL DESTINY?
● Small business owners sifting through the pieces of a broken contract
● Neighbors disturbed by annoying or troubling activities nearby
● Divorcing husbands and wives trying to divide the spoils of a life together
● Parents wishing for healthy custodial arrangements and a peaceful future despite personal animosities
● Employees who suffer unlawful treatment at the workplace
● Siblings tempted to settle old scores and an estate simultaneously
● Anybody who cringes at the thought of the legal establishment or going to court
With How to Cut Your Legal Bills In Half, Hugo Gerstl takes deadly aim at the astonishing injustice of a system where normal, hard-working persons are legally vulnerable, not because their cause is unjust, but because their purse is too small. A successful, nationally known trial lawyer with more than five decades of experience, Gerstl is determined to teach hard-working people how to stand up for their legal rights without collapsing under the financial strain. For the author, this book is not just a message, it is a cause.
HOW TO CUT YOUR LEGAL BILLS IN HALF – HOW THIS BOOK CAME TO BE
LEARNING THE ROPES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
While I privately consider myself a bit of an introvert, I have never shied away from public speaking, whether to a large crowd, one-on-one, in a courtroom or on stage as an actor. I guess that is an occupational hazard of being a trial lawyer. From the time I entered law school I believed too many practitioners of various professions tried to clothe themselves in the hocus-pocus of obtuse or arcane language. On the one hand, this clothes such a professional with an aura of “authority,” perceived “respect for the profession,” or even fear.
During my years in law practice, I have tried - not always successfully I’m sure – to ensure that my clients, friends, and audiences I’ve addressed understand what I’m saying. Clear communication is what avoids misunderstands. In many instances, as I’ve tried to show in this book, understanding that someone else’s needs can harmonize with your own actually avoids lawsuits. Thus, writing this book was not difficult: it expressed things I had been promoting for years. I learned early that you can’t convince a jury to embrace your client’s point of view unless you can clearly enunciate why the point of view is valid.
When How To Cut Your Legal Bills In Half came out, this “old dog” learned a “new trick,” when I went on a 15-day 30-city TV tour throughout the United States promoting the book. I thought it would be exhausting, but instead I found it exhilarating: a 5-minute spot on the 6:00 a.m. news in Pittsburgh, fly to Indianapolis for the noon hour, then to Louisville for a 7:00 p.m. talk show segment. I found that I was not so much promoting the book as I was answering questions and dialoguing with real people who were concerned about their very real personal problems. So even though I was on regional radio or TV, it still came down to one-on-one.
After the tour, I appeared on several talk-radio programs across our land by telephone, where I got to speak for a much more relaxed half-hour or even hour time period – again making personal contact.
In retrospect, I learned so much from this new adventure. Many years later, in October 2017 at the Frankfurt Book Fair, I was privileged to be a live speaker. I had always known that a person’s attention span is rarely more than 13 minutes – get in, get on, and get off in 10 minutes if you can. But once you engage people and it’s a two-way talk, time goes so quickly that both sides appreciate that they are being treasured for the mutual respect engendered. And so it was at Frankfurt. When I looked at my watch, I found that somehow the 10 minutes had become an hour and 15 minutes – and I was still being peppered with questions.
HOW TO CUT YOUR LEGAL BILLS IN HALF REVIEWER COMMENTS
“If you are facing any kind of legal dispute and want to avoid needless expense and bloodshed, BUY THIS BOOK” – Herbert Chelner, President, Micron Instruments
“Simple, user-friendly, written in ordinary language that everyone can understand – and it hits home hard!” – Steven Schulman, Chairman/CEO Hillside Coffee, Former Executive Vice President, Chock Full O’Nuts Corp.
“An insider’s down-to-earth explanation of the law’s workings with practical help for the layman.” – Charles Watnick, President, Cashman Mortgage Company
“Outstanding, hard-hitting tell-all about the system that’s unique in that it offers more than inside information and complaints – it gives solutions.” – Charles Chrietzberg, President, Monterey County Bank