There is no single lawyer in this entire state of Florida who has done more to inspire, encourage and mentor other attorneys to take up the case of defending homeowners and Floridians of all walks of life from the abuses and the persecutions of the banks and Wall Street than April Charney.
Every single lawyer that has ever stepped into a courtroom and defended homeowners in this modern age owes a debt to her that is impossible to calculate. She is an early disciple of Max Gardner and of James Kowalski, two other pioneers, but then she light the torch and carried it SCREAMING up the mountain.
As anyone who has ever attended any of the hundreds of seminars that she dedicated her life to presenting, along with Jacksonville Legal Aid, she does not mince words and will not suffer sloppy or lazy legal analysis. I cherish her advice, her support, her wisdom and guidance and I know when I call her for that advice she’s not going to hold anything back….and will not hesitate to tear me apart when I’m clearly off the mark. No matter the time and no matter how dense the question, April’s door has always been open to me….and she dispensed her wisdom with an intense and fiery fury. That kind of intensity is the highest gift your mentor can give to you.
And so the news that April is fighting her own battle right now gives us all the time to stop and think…..as we labor throughout our days she will not permit us to whine about how hard this job is or how cross the judge has become or frankly to utter any excuses or complaints. We are in the middle of an epic battle…a battle for the very heart and soul of this nation….a battle for those higher calling values that April showed in her life’s work…a work that she shares with all of us.
April’s daughter might have tried to hide a bit from this incredible legacy, but I remember her mother’s pride years ago when she told me she was in law school…and then she positively beamed when she talked about all her good work when we were all together in Orlando last month….No, you cannot hide from that intensity.
And so while we all fight on right now, we’ve all got to ramp up our intensity and our passion and our fight to honor April. When we walk into courtrooms, don’t you dare think about backing down or cowering or slinking away from an argument…..drill down deeper, stand up taller and work that much harder….from every corner of this state and frankly from all across this nation….fight hard and let April feel all that fight as she’s in her own fight…
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO HEAR MARTIN ANDELMAN’S INTERVIEW WITH OUR HERO
