CEB Profile of Sidney Kanazawa

Born in Hawaii, Sidney K. Kanazawa is a member of the State Bars of California and Hawaii and is a former member of the State Bar Litigation Section Executive Committee. Currently, he is a partner in Van Etten Suzumoto & Becket LLP, Los Angeles. He is also one of the newest members of the CEB Governing Committee, appointed by the State Bar. (The CEB Governing Committee consists of nine voting members, four of whom are appointed by the State Bar of California. The rest are appointed by the University of California.)

When Sidney Kanazawa was growing up, his father told him “Try your best and do it with a good heart.” Simple advice, a bromide upon lesser ears, but for an earnest, idealistic young man it has served as a kind of mantra. The Port of Los Angeles oil spill is a good example of how this advice has served him well. By acting quickly and responsibly in a crisis, Kanazawa managed to resolve 600 of the more than 2000 claims within two weeks of the spill—and all of the claims within three months of the incident. He has served as both plaintiff and defense counsel, successfully trying over 30 cases.

The Port of Los Angeles oil spill was a transforming experience for him professionally and personally. It helped him to forge a personal code of professional conduct and a philosophy that helps him to best serve his clients. Kanazawa describes his approach as “transforming conflicts into opportunities.” Calling upon his original career as a teacher, he again feels compelled to educate; this time his peers.

“In law school we’re told that we’re supposed to be warriors. Very war-like terminology is used, which is appropriate if you are out to kill someone—literally. In practice, that kind of jargon is inappropriate. As lawyers, especially as litigators, our job is not to bury the opposition or to harm them in some way, but to find ways to resolve conflict and move forward.”

Kanazawa believes that this kind of hostile attitude is perpetuated by attorneys who have never been to trial. “If lawyers went to trial more, they’d know that success in the courtroom comes from persuasion not aggression.”

Kanazawa subscribes to Aristotle’s method of persuasion: ethos, pathos, logos. Using this method, first personal credibility and integrity are established; second an emotional connection with the jury is made; third, the logic or proof of the case is presented. Presenting only logic never works, Kanazawa contends. “It forces you to argue louder, not better.”

“We come out of law school in some ways dumber than when we went in. Lawyers want to argue solely from the point of logic. They don’t want to first establish credibility. Relying on logic without establishing trust and credibility never works. Being a jerk never works.”

Kanazawa points out that jurors are “regular people” and that it’s a long process getting to trial, during which time other nontrial options are exhausted. “What makes lawyers think that jurors are going to find the objective truth in a few weeks that they and their opponents couldn’t find after a year or more? What jurors are interested in is justice and more often than not they deliver that.”

Kanazawa also subscribes to the unorthodox practice of having lunch with the opposing counsel whenever he takes on a new case. He uses this time to establish a relationship with opposing counsel, but not necessarily to talk about the case.

“(Meeting socially with opposing counsel) establishes trust and opens the discussion. I don’t believe in spending a lot of time—the client’s time—throwing my weight around.”

He is very conscious of providing value for his clients, and his firm prides itself on cost containment and passing the savings on to clients. He believes that the time has come for lawyers to be flexible and accommodating in their billing practices. From his father, who died recently, he learned that kindness begets kindness.

“The fee structure of hourly rates is comparatively new, thirty years or so. Fees used to be based on value to the client. If I bill hundreds of hours to a client but provide no results, I don’t feel right about charging for those hours. By the same token, I can spend a few hours that might save the client millions of dollars. I’ve been fortunate to have clients who are responsive when my actions benefit them.”

He believes that being a lawyer means having a license to help people in ways he couldn’t otherwise, and he contends that arrogance and meanness is what’s behind all the lawyer jokes.

“Lawyers used to be orators of eloquence, speaking for those without a voice, standing up for the little guy; heroes. They were the ones who had courage in a crisis to do the right thing and move a situation forward so it can get to a place of resolution.”

He cites Johnson and Johnson’s handling of Tylenol tampering incidents as a good example of turning disaster into the beginning of a positive new corporate chapter. He compares this incident to Exxon’s foot dragging in the handling of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. “Exxon made things worse by being slow to take ownership of the situation where in the other case the situation was quickly moved past the focus of what had happened to what can be done.”

Sidney Kanazawa enjoys dichotomy; thrives on it, in fact. “I like to help clients see how a bad thing can actually be the best thing to have ever happened to them.”

Sidney Kanazawa