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Chere Estrin Follow

Jan 31 · 13 min read · Listen

Top Lawyers: Yuri Vanetik On The 5 Things You

Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific
Field of Law
An Interview With Chere Estrin

Being Virtual. Develop an inclusive work environment

without falling prey to cancel culture or political
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correctness predicated solely on ethnicity rather than

true diverse perspectives.

T
he legal field is known to be extremely competitive. Lawyers are often
smart, ambitious, and highly educated. That being said, what does it take
to stand out and become a “Top Lawyer” in your specific field of law? In this
interview series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your
Specific Field of Law”, we are talking to top lawyers who share what it takes to
excel and stand out in your industry.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yuri Vanetik.

Yuri Vanetik is a bit of an enigma for most people. He is an attorney, investor, a

political strategist, and Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute. He’s had
multiple appointments by Governor Schwarzenegger, (i.e. serving the state of
California as Criminal Justice Commissioner, California Lottery Commissioner).
As an investor, he has funded technology start-ups ranging from insurance
software companies to crypto currency projects. As a business lawyer he guides
industry leaders through securities transactions. As a political coalition builder
and mega donor, he has advocated for foreign corporations and politicians, and
had even registered as a lobbyist. He describes himself as an “accomplished
generalist”, and talks about his visits to the Chechen Republic, private meetings
with heads of state (without mentioning names); he partakes in survival training
and tactical shooting, reads Ayn Rand and Sarte, and writes poetry that he
claims no one reads. He also writes for Entrepreneur magazine and Newsmax,
and at times even the Wallstreet Journal, which some people do read.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig
in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. W hat is the
backstory that brought you to this particular career path in Law? Did
you want to be an attorney “when you grew up”?

I
did plan to attend law school as an undergraduate. Yet, as I examine the
choices I made during that time in my life, I see that I was pursuing that
petty bourgeois immigrant goal of having a respectable profession, and
measuring up, and fitting in — and being “respectably” mediocre. Now, as I
look back, I am convinced that the whole profession and our legal system are
irreparably wrecked. In it inadequacy reigns, and it is dominated by fools, lies,
and ancient rituals predicated on notions of what worked before and
nonsense. I recall a fitting quote from one of my favorite poets (and arguably
the greatest American poet) Robert Frost. He said, “a jury consists of twelve
persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.” That’s the backstory and
what I now understand. Nevertheless, I do not regret becoming a lawyer. It is
both a platform and a tool. What one does with it, makes all the difference. Yet,
opportunity costs are enormous.

As Peter Thiel and Blake Masters observe in a book I recommend to anyone

that wants to think, Zero To One, higher education is where people who had
big plans in high school get stuck competing over conventional careers that
land them in the muck of upper middle class mediocrity. All Rhode Scholars
had a great future in their past, Thiel and master's point out in their book.
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Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you
focus on?

I mostly focus on corporate law, regulatory matters, securities offerings, and

political issues. I actually spend a great deal of time investing rather than
practicing law, albeit with marginal success. My law practice is often auxiliary
to other business relationships. I also had to register with the U.S. Department
of Justice to pursue political advocacy matters as an extension of my often-
esoteric legal practice.

You are a successful attorney. W hich three character traits do you think
were most instrumental to your success? W hat unique qualities do you
have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for
each?

I am not sure how true that statement is. At any rate, it is not for me to judge. I
do not seek success; rather, I yearn for meaningful ground projects, and when I
find them, I strap myself in, and do my utmost to hang on for the ride. There
are 4 traits that I consciously work on developing. I believe they are important
for ambitious people that seek not only material success but also personal
growth.

1. Self Awareness. Emotional intelligence and willingness to accept change I

periodically assess what is important to me and why, and how I allocate my
time, and my mental state. The two are not always aligned. Being in the
proverbial “now” is also important.

2. Responsibility. Holding yourself accountable for my mistakes. This does not

mean self-flagellating yourself ad nauseum like Roskolnikov in Discipline and
Punish. It does mean acknowledging your mistakes, and taking steps to
avoiding them in the future and fixing the present. We live in a society of cry-
babies and just losers where many people are hardwired to blame others for
their problem despite the fact that we engineer most of our own difficulties in
life. These delusional victims fumble through life like tumbleweeds in a
windstorm, blaming everyone else for everything that happened to them. I
evaluate my “war stories” — current and past. Most are of my own doing.
Sometimes rational decisions lead to poor outcomes. I can accept that. It is
more challenging for me to accept that at times poor decisions by stupid and
evil people, lead to successful outcomes.

3. Tenacity. This trait makes it into most motivational courses in one semantic
form or another. Even stupid people sometimes overcome their fate in life by
being persistent — by not giving up. Blind tenacity may not be the answer.
While tenaciously pursuing your goal, you may need to reassess the
methodology or the algorithm you have chosen for getting to the finish line.
Wrong methods may trump the efforts of even the most tenacious person.

4. Being Civic minded. Don’t confuse this with corporate virtue signalizing,
political correctness, or treachery veiled in congeniality, which is the default of
our “civil society”. I participate politics, philanthropy, and advocacy mostly
because these efforts imbue my life with meaning. One of my professors at U.C.
Berkeley and at oxford, was a notable moral philosopher, Bernard Williams.
His courses influenced me by making me realize that meaningful ground
project transcend utilitarianism as a roadmap for life. I do not believe that I
have truly unique qualities — at least not the kind I could be proud of or would
want to share. I do believe that I am an alpha person, and as such, I am Sign In Get started

determined and I focus on mostly utilitarian goals, with marginal success. “A

creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat
others.” Ayn Rand

Do you think you have had luck in your success? Can you explain what
you mean?

Whatever marginal success I may have had, I would attribute it mostly to luck.
I believe I saw an example of my experiences in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink
and in his other book, Outliers. I think ultimately, intuition helped me when I
listened to my inner voice which helped me win or avoid a train wreck.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success?
How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

I think — especially as one embarks on a career path — school does matter.

Yet, it does not matter as much as our society wants us to think. It is an
expensive and time-consuming rite of passage.

I did not end up attending a first-tier law school, as it turned out. UC Hastings
(soon to change its name due to something called “restorative justice”), was in
the first tier, but dropped to second tier when I graduated because U.S. New &
World Reports, which has the monopoly on college ranking, seemingly
randomly altered some of its criteria.

Since US has an inflation of graduate and professional degrees, it does makes

to go to the best graduate school you can get into. You may turn that top tier
school into a better launching pad. A few years later it all starts to matter less.
The law school that I attended, and served as Trustee, did not do much for my
career in any direct way. I never leveraged the alumni network. In fact, I ended
up in litigation right out of law school fighting over control of a .com start-up
that I had launched with several of my classmates.

Based on the lessons you have learned from your experience, if you could
go back in time and speak to your twenty-year-old self, what would you
say? Would you do anything differently?

I would warn myself that there is a time vampire that makes its way into your
life when you turn 30. Ergo, focus less on your career and less on pleasing
others and more on finding sustaining meaning in your life. I would tell myself
that to never get into business with people who have no business experience
and no money. I would stay out of politics!

This is not easy work. W hat is your primary motivation and drive behind
the work that you do?

I have 4:

1. Stopping bullies; combatting evil and bringing it to justice. There is that

monster that goes thump in the night. Evil is real and it comes at times
seemingly benign individuals spurned by stupidity and a sense of
entitlement.

2. Earn money.

3. Satisfaction of solving complicated problems that others failed to solve.

4 G ifi i f h l i l
 4. Gratification from helping smart people.
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W hat are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are
working on now?

There are multiple, but the most fascinating one is a new Crypto coin that is
blockchain driven and is backed by cannabis industry.

W here do you go from here? W here do you aim to be in the next chapter
of your career?

I want to participate in a business that no one else is building. I believe crypto

currency and fintech is a major nascent market. As a lawyer and investor, I
intend to be part of this market. States like Wyoming are at the forefront and
are already accommodating DAO LLC corporate decentralized structures. I
anticipate there will be new corporate forms and new legislation to
accommodate metaverse oriented enterprises. These will be the self-driving
cars of the corporate world.

W ithout sharing anything confidential, can you please share your most
successful “war story”? Can you share the funniest?

I can share one of the funniest. I don’t believe there are many true war stories
that are successful. I am involved in one right now with a Russian gangster by
the name of Pablo Fuks. That is his real name, although he is also known by his
gang name — “Mercenary”. This clown put a hit out on me and claims I had
taken away his U.S. visa. I suspect he will have some regrets regarding his
interactions with me. This is still an ongoing “war story”.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great

argument, But gently to find quarrel in a straw

When honor’s at the stake.

War Story — most war stories turn into pyrrhic victories — even when you win.
Funny as in Coen Brothers dark funny for the observers on the bleachers
rather than the participants.

The funniest was with a client — foreign client — that believed that the masons
controlled the White House. He was convinced that an Armenian man he had
met, who purportedly owned a pawnshop could communicate with Donald
Trump through Mason lodges that ran Trump’s administration. No further
comment here. This man was wealthy, but utterly insane, and reminded me of
the Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul, where a deranged wealthy rancher
tries to hire Saul to help his ranch secede from U.S.

Ok, fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing some advice for aspiring
lawyers. Do you work remotely? Onsite? Or Hybrid? W hat do you think
will be the future of how law offices operate? W hat do you prefer? Can
you please explain what you mean?

Decentralized and remote is the future. I mostly work remotely.

Crisis Management. Skills in crisis management are becoming paramount for

business leaders. This is the new paradigm because social media and the
technology that empowers it has spawned the instant crisis that businesses
often need to grapple with.
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Corporate Creed. Ability to imbue followers with a corporate or political creed

and a sense of purpose. Published McKinsey study (Igniting Individual Purpose
In Times of Crisis, August 18, 2020) shows that in response to the global
pandemic many people began to reflect on their purpose in life.

Employee Well-being. Ability to prioritize employee health and mental focus is

more important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ability to manage virtual
workforce is equally important.

Being Virtual. Develop an inclusive work environment without falling pray to

cancel culture or political correctness predicated solely on ethnicity rather
than true diverse perspectives.

We have become career nomads. This is an escalating predicament because we

switch jobs and work remotely. 2022 leaders need to instil a value base in their
work force to avoid running transactional bureaucracies. An organization
needs to instill a commonality of purpose to truly succeed. 2022 leaders need
to be able to solve the talent shortage by training new experts — reskilling and
upskilling employees. Training will be paramount for new leaders.

Technology leaders will need to reinvent their organization’s identity and

embrace and reward vertical growth (Zero to One — Peter Thiel’s concept).

New leaders will need to find solutions for pandemic disruptions — supply
chain problems, climate change issues, moral relativism, and performance
mediocrity.

Leaders should dismiss virtue signaling and stifling political correctness that
emerged in 1990s and became cancel culture and wokeness of today. Rather
they need to embrace technology more than ever. They should abandon “one
size fits all” approach to problem solving. Don’t prioritize unreasonable
customer demands at the expense of your employees.

Leaders for 2022 will need to embrace metaverse and the 3D future of social
media, employee engagement and internet that is fully interactive. They have
to be more tech savvy and more health aware than ever before. They also have
to be able to communicate a modern, cohesive corporate creed. This is
paramount in a world that is fragmented and relativist.

Equally new leaders launching their goals for 2022 should understan
decentralized corporate structures (DAO entities); these are tied to
cryptocurrency structures. They also need to understand blockchain.

Automation and streamlining of information is transitioning from controlled

systems to decentralized systems. This will lead to reduction in employees.
There may be less decision hierarchy bottlenecks. Think Ethereum DAO based
organizations will become more common. This may redefine the conventional
role of CEOs.

How has the legal world changed since COVID? How do you think it
might change in the near future? Can you explain what you mean?

The Legal field is very backwards in many ways. We rely on juries to solve
complicated problems. Judges are still walking around in black gowns and
often have no clue about antitrust cases if they never practiced in that field
when they were (often mediocre) lawyers. Prosecutors are — are imbued with
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virtually absolute discretion — not much different from medieval priests. just
as Kyle Rittenhouse about his experience. Yet, COVID became a catalyst,
injecting the legal process with technology. We can do depositions online,
hearings can be online if the judge allows, most documents are submitted via
portals.

We often hear about the importance of networking and getting

referrals. Is this still true today? Has the nature of networking changed
or has its importance changed? Can you explain what you mean? Yes.

In any service industry a book of business is paramount. You could be a

graduate of an unaccredited law school, but if you have a solid book of clients,
you can lateral almost anywhere with few questions asked. At one point there
was an aura in the legal profession that law was a calling, and that there was
firm identity and a creed. This is all gone. Even Cravath, the oldest and most
white shoe firm on the planet, has also become efficient and transactional, I
am told. Partners move all the time when there is a better deal around the
corner. Ergo, networking is important. It now relies more on data mining and
using linkedin, and virtual groups, rather than old fashioned conventions and
events where people rub elbows and pass around business cards.

Based on your experience, how can attorneys effectively leverage social

media to build their practice?

Same as others. Lawyers have limitations when it comes to advertising,

though. State bars limit — control — how lawyers can advertise so that the
public is not misled.

Otherwise, having dignified social media profiles, optimized web sites, and
hiring marketing consultants depending on one’s practice area. I always
suggest hiring experts in online marketing. For me, things are referral based.

Excellent. Here is the main question of our interview. W hat are your 5
Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law?
Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Client Focus. You need to be client focused and look at the big picture rather
than how many hours you can bill for a certain matter.

2. You need to develop a strategic plan

3. Take a pass on clients that don’t share your view and don't want to
listen

4. Hire experts when you don’t know. The world is highly specialized

5. Be cost effective. Most lawyers I come across are a mix of an academic

scrivener and an American Express concierge. Don’t stoop to that level. If the
solution is too expensive, make sure the client knows and agrees to move
forward.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC

funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person
in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private
breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might see this. :-)
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I have already achieved this objective, but sadly am unable to talk about the
experience, and cannot disclose the name of this person. However, there is
another person, I would choose. Although I have met him, and memorialized
that meeting with a photo of the two of us, that meeting was not substantive. I
would very much enjoy to break bread with Henry Kissinger. I consider him a
truly great statesman, as does the world. I learned a great deal from studying
his work.

This was a bit strange but your passion is inspiring. Thank you so much
for the time you spent with us. We wish you continued success and good
health!

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