October 7, 2006: Vol. 29, No. 39

A lawyer walks into a bank.

“I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news,” the banker says.

“Lay it on me,” the lawyer says.

“This bank was created by trial lawyers for trial lawyers,” the banker says.

The lawyer wrinkles his brow: “Is that the good news or the bad news?”

Another lawyer joke? Not anymore. Last week, Esquire Bank, the first bank in the country to specialize in serving trial lawyers, opened on Court Street, between Livingston and Joralemon streets, in the center of Brooklyn’s legal district.

“Trial lawyers have unique needs,” explained Richard Bieder, an investor in the bank and a former governor of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, as he stood in a crowd of pinstriped suits, bald spots, and gray ponytails at the bank’s opening on Sept. 28.

“We need loans to keep moving a case forward, to hire experts, to help us through the ups and downs of law firms. That’s what titillates me about this idea.”

He’s not the only attorney who’s titillated.

Gary Rosenberg, the Court Street lawyer behind the subtly named Web site, www.moneyforpain.com, said he’ll definitely open an account at Esquire because the bank is more likely to share his principles.

“They’re not going to be donating money to anti-consumer causes like most of the big banks do around here,” said Rosenberg, who clarified that by “consumer” he meant a “regular person.”

Indeed, according to the attorneys at the opening, many banks aren’t sympathetic to the needs of the trial bar (what bank wants to have lawyers for customers — they’re more likely to sue!).

But Esquire is different. The bank even donated $10,000 to the trial lawyers’ association.

“There isn’t another bank that’s ever given money to ATLA,” said Tom Henderson, who serves on the bank’s board of directors and was the CEO of the association for 17 years.

“Not even banks that were our clients,” added Bieder.

Esquire may specialize in banking for trial lawyers, but it will also serve more traditional purposes for the average Jane who hasn’t passed the bar, like checking and savings accounts, and commercial and real-estate loans.

The arrival of Esquire could be further proof that the term “Court Street lawyer” has become as antiquated a notion as the Mom and Pop drugstore. Calling someone a “Court Street lawyer” isn’t even an insult anymore, now that the district has gained legitimacy as a community of top-notch law firms.

Indeed, earlier this year, the city bar association chose Barry Kamins, a criminal defense lawyer on Court Street, as its first president from outside of Manhattan.

So maybe times really are changing. Then again, maybe not.

At least one dignitary at last week’s event reveled in Court Street’s seedy image.

“If you like white-shoe law firms, stay in Manhattan,” said Borough President Markowitz, playing his role to the hilt. “But if you’re looking for the biggest settlement, come to Brooklyn.”

©2006 The Brooklyn Paper