Why Writing a Memoir Changed Everything for This PI Lawyer

Welcome to episode 41 of The Earley Show podcast, hosted by personal injury attorney Christopher Earley! For this conversation, Chris is joined by Steven Eichenblatt, Founding Partner of Page and Eichenblatt.

Check out the episode below. You can also enjoy it on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode, Steven talks about his traumatic childhood, which included parental abandonment and a shocking car accident involving his biological father. Despite these challenges, Steven recounts how he overcame adversity to forge a successful legal career in personal injury law. He discusses the impact of his upbringing on his career choice, his struggles with education and defiance as a teenager, and how writing his memoir helped him confront his past. The episode also touches on the importance of authenticity in legal practice and the transformative power of storytelling.

About our guest:
Steven Scott Eichenblatt is a memoir author, dedicated lawyer, and father of five who bares his soul in a gripping narrative of family, loss, resilience, and hope. Drawing from a life marked by profound challenges and an unyielding search for truth, his storytelling is raw yet redemptive, offering readers an intimate look at the enduring quest for connection.

Beyond writing, Steven finds deep satisfaction in his legal work, steadfastly advocating for those in need. Away from both courtroom and keyboard, he enjoys the tranquility of fishing and the competitive thrill of tennis—pastimes that help him stay centered.

Purchase Steven's book "Pretend They Are Dead: A Father's Search For Truth" here!

Learn more about Steven's practice "Page and Eichenblatt" here!

About The Earley Show:

For nearly 20 years, Christopher Earley has successfully led a personal injury law firm in Boston. On the Earley Show, a new podcast launched in the summer of 2023, Christopher and other standout attorneys will be sharing their secrets to success, and discussing the law office management habits that have allowed their practice to thrive. If you’re looking to make better use of your time, increase daily productivity or even just spend less time answering emails, you’ll definitely want to tune in to The Earley Show.

Learn more about the Earley Law Group here!

Check out the previous episode of The Earley Show here!

The Earley Show is a part of the Answering Legal podcast network. Interested in learning more about Answering Legal? Click here to learn more about 400 minute free trial!

This podcast is produced and edited by Joe Galotti. You can reach Joe via email at [email protected].

Episode Transcript:

Intro

Chris Earley (Host): Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of The Earley Show, sponsored by our friends over at Answering Legal. I am your host, Chris Earley. I’m a personal injury lawyer in Boston — and if you have not already, please pick up my memoir, Scaling the Wall, on Amazon.

Today on the show we have a very special, unique guest: Steve Eichenblatt from Florida. He’s a personal injury lawyer, and he’s got a really good story. Not only is he a PI lawyer — there’s so much more to him. He just released his memoir, and that’s why I wanted to have Steve on the show: to talk about his journey, becoming a lawyer, writing his memoir, getting that out and putting it into the universe. Very inspiring stuff. We’re going to all learn a lot.

So, as always, please be sure to sharpen your pencils — I’m sure we’ll have plenty of writer-downers today on The Earley Show. Steve, welcome to the show, man.

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): Thanks, Chris. I appreciate being here. It’s a pleasure and an honor. And I found you when I read your memoir — really, really enjoyed it — and there are a lot of similarities between our stories.

Chris: For sure. I think the way we connected was through Bill Umansky’s podcast. He’s a great guy — I see him all the time at conferences and masterminds. I was a guest on his podcast, you listened to that, I gave my cell phone out on that recording, you reached out — and here we are, sitting down talking together. That was pretty cool.

Early Life & A Defining Moment

Chris Earley (Host): Before we get into the book and your practice, could you take us back? I always like to hear from our guests — obviously you wrote a book about it — but give us the short version: upbringing, how you got to law school, your practice, your general path.

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): That’s an interesting question — a big one — especially for a personal injury lawyer. I’m in Orlando, Florida, not too far from Bill Umansky — great guy and a friend. I was actually born in Michigan, raised in New Jersey, and then moved from New Jersey to Florida right before my senior year of high school.

A lot of my story is based on my childhood — what I went through — and a lot of that inspired me to become a lawyer and learn to fight for other people. When I was very young, my parents divorced. My father was a veterinarian. He left the house when I was six years old and basically never returned. One day I wound up with a new father, adopted, and a new family.

I talk a lot about what I was going through as a young child when your father walks out the door and doesn’t come back — and then, years later, finding out the truth of what happened: why they separated, why they got divorced.

When I was 16, I was working at a tennis club. I was there by myself, sweeping the courts — that was my job. I heard tires squeal, and a car hit a telephone pole. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a car accident, but it was pretty wild. Ironic now that I’m a personal injury lawyer. It was one of those surreal moments — a guy went through the windshield. I’m the only person there. I’m 16.

I remember running to the pay phone, calling the cops, going back up the 100 feet or so to where the accident was. People had gathered. The ambulance comes. They’ve got the guy on the side of the car. His face is pretty much chopped in half — he was not in great shape. I could feel this presence, almost a spiritual thing — like I could feel him looking in my direction, and I could see him. I turned and saw him right as the cops pulled out his wallet and ID and said, “Does anybody know this guy?”

It was my biological father.

That was a shock. I got on my Schwinn 10-speed — my mode of transportation — and rode home. I never told anybody I was there until I was in my 40s. My childhood was so traumatic that I think I just buried stuff inside me. It was “another day at the office.” I lived in what I call a house of pain — like the Brady Bunch from hell. Seven kids within five years of each other in a blended family, and my adopted father was physically and verbally very abusive. Life was a constant challenge. Being at that car accident was just another day — and I really didn’t have anybody to tell. So I got on my bike and rode home.

Chris: A lot of similarities jump out at me: New Jersey childhood, father leaves — that’s my story too. It took me until my 30s to become aware of how crazy stuff was. A lot of denial. Let me ask — were you a good student? What was your path to law school like?

School Years & The Road to Law

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): I was a terrible student because I refused to study. Completely defiant — even though I had plenty of potential. In high school I graduated with a 2.1 GPA, which actually takes effort if you’ve got ability. I could test really well — did great on the SATs — but I spent most of my time smoking pot and running away from home.

You made the point earlier: you don’t realize how chaotic your life is when you’re in it. Your “normal” is just what you know — even if it’s nothing like what’s happening in the house next door. For me, home was scary. So I started hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Right before my senior year, my adopted father decided to move us to Florida. Terrible timing — I was a Jersey boy, dragged to Sarasota, Florida, against my will, kicking and screaming. That move only added to the defiance. I skipped classes, blew off tests, and basically did everything possible to resist.

Back then it was easier to get into college. I did graduate, took the SAT, and managed to get in somewhere — but I was kind of a mess.

Chris Earley (Host): What ultimately pushed you toward law school?

Steve: From an early age, one of my coping mechanisms was reading. I didn’t play many organized sports — no transportation — but I was athletic and played when I could. Mostly, though, I read. I’d take books and literally hide in the closet to escape the chaos around me.

That’s why I always say I was smarter than my grades showed. I devoured books that inspired me to help others — Horatio Alger stories, sports biographies, and eventually biographies of legal figures. Those stories planted the idea: I could fight for people like me by becoming a lawyer.

Out of high school, I went to Florida State — flunked out because I still didn’t know why I was there. I was still in that defiant stage. I worked for the Miccosukee Indian Tribe, then traveled to Israel intending to join the IDF. I wanted to fight — but I realized while I was there that the way I could truly fight for people was by going back home, growing up, finishing college, and going to law school.

That realization was the turning point — the short version of how I got to law.

Early Legal Career & Forming a Partnership

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): When I first graduated from law school, I was recruited by an insurance defense firm in Orlando — Zimmerman, Kaiser & Zimmerman, one of the top firms in Central Florida at the time. I graduated from the University of Florida Law School, and the training I got there was incredible. I loved the lawyers, loved the firm.

But I didn’t love the work. I didn’t want to spend my life beating people up for a living — winning cases I shouldn’t win, denying people benefits, destroying claims when I knew deep down I could be helping. That didn’t sit right with me.

Eventually I met my now law partner, Greg Paige. He was at the same firm, doing the same defense work, and we both realized we wanted something different. We wanted jury trials. We wanted to help people — not Walmart or giant corporations. So we decided to make the jump to the plaintiff’s side.

Chris Earley (Host): And you two have been partners ever since?

Steve: Since 1993 — longer than many of your listeners have been alive. We’re a rare dinosaur of a firm: two partners who have always trusted each other, worked cases together, and talked through our differences. Our approaches are different, but that’s created a synergy that’s benefited our clients.

At one point we had a commercial practice and grew to about 10 lawyers, but as the world changed we decided we were better off lean and mean. We’ve managed to survive — and thrive — through all the changes. We are survivors and fighters.

Over the years we’ve built not just a practice, but relationships — with the legal community and with clients. I’m now at the point where I’m representing the grandchildren of people I first represented 30 years ago.

Chris: That’s very cool. How big is the firm today?

Steve: About 10 people total. Greg and I, plus support staff — paralegals, clerks, assistants. If a case isn’t the right fit for us, especially in med mal which I don’t do much of anymore, we’ll co-counsel with other firms. My son’s a products liability lawyer down in Miami — brilliant kid — and sometimes I’ll bring him in on cases too.

Writing the Memoir

Chris Earley (Host): So the reason you and I connected is because I’m a big believer in storytelling. I share my story, you share yours, and here we are. Writing a book is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Took both of us a long time. Why did you write yours?

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): A few reasons. After going through a couple divorces, I realized I struggled with intimacy — being open, being vulnerable, really connecting. My ex-wives would say, “Steve’s a great guy, but he’s disconnected.” That word kept coming up: disconnected. I knew I was still carrying a lot from my past — a lot of anger I hadn’t confronted.

So I started journaling. At first just for myself. But then something else happened. My biological father — the one I saw at that car accident when I was sixteen — didn’t die in that crash but was severely injured. Later in life we reconnected on a limited basis. When he eventually passed away, one of his cousins told me he had been a writer. Not just a veterinarian, but a really accomplished writer who’d won national awards.

He left behind thousands of pages of journals — written almost every day from 1960 to 1990. Hundreds of published stories. I got hold of those journals after my divorce and started reading. It was overwhelming — but it also helped me unlock mysteries of his life, and of mine.

That experience, combined with my own need to process, pushed me to write. At first it was just to help myself. Then I realized it would help my kids understand why their dad is the way he is. And maybe, if I put it into the universe, it could help and inspire other people too.

Chris: That resonates. My book was the same — not about making money, but about impact. People use the word “inspiration,” and it’s humbling. For guys like us, growing up the way we did, the typical outcome isn’t success. It isn’t running a plaintiff’s firm. Writing the book was a way to show what’s possible.

Steve: Exactly. We both chose one of the hardest paths there is — being plaintiff’s lawyers. It’s turbulence nonstop. But turbulence was the norm in my childhood. Chaos was my baseline. I learned to deal with bullies at home, and that carried over into my career. The book was a way to process all of that — and to pass on a story my kids could keep forever.

Fatherhood, Therapy & Confronting the Past

Chris Earley (Host): For me, a big part of writing my book was making sure my kids understood why their dad is the way he is. Fatherhood wasn’t easy at first because I never had a father figure. Was that hard for you — putting on the father hat?

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): I don’t think being a father itself was hard. If anything, I overcompensated. I had such a tough upbringing that I became too soft on my kids. Even through divorce, I always put them first — sometimes at the expense of taking care of myself. Over time I learned that being a better father didn’t mean giving them everything or being “nice” all the time. It meant communicating, being vulnerable, and not hiding everything inside. That was a real challenge for me.

Chris: Yeah, vulnerability is key. Not many people — and not many lawyers — are willing to go there. But that’s how we connect, that’s how we inspire. How did your challenges end up helping you succeed?

Steve: Huge motivator. My father told me constantly I was a loser, that I’d never make anything of myself. That voice stuck with me. So I worked to prove him wrong — to prove to myself and others that I could succeed. I also learned work ethic from him, ironically. In our house you had to work or play a varsity sport — no sitting around. That sense of independence and grit carried into my law practice and how I fight for clients.

Chris: Same here. Scrappy kids like us learn to work hard young — and our clients benefit. We’re not afraid of turbulence. Plaintiff law is turbulence all the time, but to us it feels normal.

Steve: Exactly. Chaos was the norm growing up. Conflict didn’t scare me. Even at that big defense firm, partners everyone else was terrified of didn’t faze me. I grew up around a bully. I knew how to stand my ground. Over time I had to learn how to manage my anger, but that strength — that refusal to be intimidated — became an asset.

Chris: You mentioned therapy earlier. Was there a turning point where you really reckoned with all of this?

Steve: Yes. For years I resisted therapy — thought it meant something was wrong with me. But after my second marriage ended, I knew I needed it. One therapist in particular walked me back through my childhood. She made me confront an incident when I was seventeen: my father verbally attacked me in front of the whole family, and I snapped. I knocked him down and was choking him until I got pulled off.

The therapist asked me, “Would you have killed him if you hadn’t been stopped?” That shook me. It forced me to see how much anger I was still carrying. It was powerful — realizing I had to process that weight instead of letting it control me.

Chris: That’s heavy. In my own journey, I realized I was carrying weight I didn’t even know I had until therapy broke it open. For me, that was when life really turned around.

Steve: Same. I had to recognize that yes, I was a victim of abuse — but I wasn’t going to stay a victim. I didn’t want to live bitter, mad at the world. I wanted to be stronger, to move forward. Therapy, writing, and good people around me — like my law partner, who’s always been a steady balance — helped me get there.

Mental Health Tools & Daily Disciplines

Chris Earley (Host): On this show, I talk a lot about tools I use to manage my mental health — journaling, meditation, things like that. We’re busy lawyers, always in turbulence, so creating space is crucial. What do you do to keep balance?

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): I’ve always needed outlets. For me, exercise has been a cornerstone. I started running marathons years ago — not just for fitness but for mental health. It kept me sane. These days I work out every single day.

I also have a daily writing ritual. I use a specific kind of pen and notebook. Every morning, I sit down and write out lists, thoughts, plans. My kids tease me — “Dad, why don’t you type?” — but there’s something about putting pen to paper that calms me. It helps me process.

I’ve had a couple hip replacements, so now I walk at least five miles a day. People in the neighborhood probably think I’m a drifter because they see me wandering around at odd times, but I need it. That walking clears my head.

I also did yoga for years — even though I’m stiff as a board — and I’ve tried meditation. I struggle with sitting still; I’m too ADD for it. But physical activity plus writing — those are my anchors.

Chris: That’s huge. I think a lot of trial lawyers overlook that. This job is a roller coaster. We have to build routines that give us space from the chaos, or else it consumes us.

Steve: Exactly. And in our line of work, it’s not optional. You have to be intentional about mental health, otherwise the turbulence of the courtroom and clients will eat you alive.

Weaving the Book Into Practice

Chris Earley (Host): Have you brought your book into your practice yet? Shared it with clients or colleagues?

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): Not much yet — but I should. My book came out around Father’s Day, so I was focused on just getting it into the world. Now I’m realizing it can be a valuable tool with clients. Some will read it, some will listen to the Audible version, but either way, it helps them understand me better.

Already I’ve had people reach out — folks I haven’t heard from in 40, 50 years — saying they were moved by it, or that they had no idea what I’d been through. Some express sympathy, and I always tell them, “Don’t feel sorry for me. That’s not the point.” The point is: no matter what your circumstances, you can overcome them.

Chris: That’s it. Writing a book changes the game. The impact is the reward. It’s not about sales or royalties — most of us lose money on our books. It’s about touching people, inspiring them. That’s priceless.

Steve: Exactly. And it’s not easy. Writing my book was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Anyone can slap together a book, but to write an honest memoir — that’s grueling. You have to decide: are you going to water it down, or are you going to be authentic?

Chris: My wife told me, “If you’re going to swim, you have to get wet.” Meaning: go all in. That’s the only way to connect with readers. Vulnerability resonates. Especially with lawyers. We’re trained to put up armor, so when someone takes the armor off, it hits different.

Steve: I’ve experienced that. Colleagues read it and say, “Wow, I didn’t know you were so sensitive.” And clients too — sometimes they assume because you’re a lawyer you must have had it easy, must be rich, must have grown up privileged. My story shows them I come from pain and struggle, just like many of them. That builds instant trust.

Chris: Yes! That’s authentic marketing. Sharing your story, being vulnerable — that’s how you attract clients who trust you, who refer others, who know you have their back. That’s how you grow a practice with people you actually want to represent.

Steve: Couldn’t agree more. That authenticity creates a flywheel. People see you as human first, lawyer second. And that’s powerful.

Marketing, Outreach & The Human Element

Chris Earley (Host): For lawyers listening — maybe young lawyers or those struggling to get clients — what advice would you give about marketing?

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): My biggest advice: don’t be afraid to reach out directly. When I started, I sold copiers to pay the bills before law school. That meant knocking on doors, cold calling. And honestly, that grit translates to law practice.

That’s even how you and I connected, Chris. I reached out after hearing you on Bill Umansky’s podcast. It’s just about making the effort. Too many lawyers wait for the phone to ring. You have to create opportunities.

I tell my son — he’s a products liability and med-mal lawyer — pick up the phone. Call other lawyers. Knock on doors. Offer to co-counsel. There’s a ton of business out there if you’re willing to ask.

Chris: That’s gold. And it ties back to authenticity — just being human, talking to people, not hiding behind ads and automation.

Steve: Exactly. Don’t get me wrong — use the tools. AI, Zoom, social media — they’re all important. But don’t lose the human element. People hire people. Clients want to know their lawyer sees them, hears them, cares about them.

Chris: 100%. That’s the lesson of this conversation — whether it’s intake, practice management, or even writing a book. The human element is everything.

Closing Thoughts

Chris Earley (Host): Steve, this has been incredible. First off, where can people pick up a copy of your book Pretend They Are Dead?

Steve Eichenblatt (Guest): The easiest place is Amazon — just search Pretend They Are Dead by Steven Eichenblatt. My last name’s a mouthful — E-I-C-H-E-N-B-L-A-T-T — but it’ll pop up. It’s available in print and on Audible as well.

Chris: Perfect. Do you see yourself writing another one?

Steve: Yes. In fact, I’ve already started. The next book will focus on my journey as a lawyer — not the legalese or case law, but the people, the personalities, the wins and losses, the characters I’ve met in 30-plus years of practice. I want to share those stories with a touch of humor too. Storytelling is key for us as trial lawyers, and this will be another way to keep sharing.

Chris: Love it. And for those listening who may want to connect with you directly?

Steve: The best way is through my firm — Paige & Eichenblatt in Orlando, Florida. My email is [email protected]. Long name, I know — I was adopted, so that’s the one I got. But I’m easy to find. And if you’re ever in Florida, or if you have a case to bounce off me, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Chris: That’s fantastic. Steve, thank you for inspiring, for putting your story out there, and for showing the strength in vulnerability. Hats off to you, my friend.

Steve: Thanks, Chris. Really appreciate being here.

Chris: And that wraps up today’s episode of The Earley Show. You can find more episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the Answering Legal YouTube channel. And don’t forget — if you haven’t already, sign up for my Practice Tip of the Week email at practicetipoftheweek.com — delivered free to your inbox every week.

Have a great day, everybody.