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Appearances
are Everything
They say 80 percent of success is just showing up. For
Robert Ray, it’s a lot more.
-Lucia Hwang , California, November 01, 2002
Whenever you appear in court, there’s always the chance you’ll be
discovered by Robert Ray. No, Ray is not a talent scout for yet another
David E. Kelley television legal drama. He’s the man in charge of Robert
L. Ray and Associates, a Colton-based legal-services company that
provides attorney stand-ins all over the state for lawyers who, because
of scheduling conflicts, vacation plans, illness, or whatever, can’t
make their court dates.
"Not any person who has a J.D. after their name can do this," Ray
insists. "This is very specialized work." And whenever he sees someone
he likes, he makes it a practice to alert his business manager, Jim
McGuire, with an urgent fax: "I saw this guy in action, get a hold of
him and hire him!" Quick absorption of material, knowing when additional
information is necessary, and natural charm are among the most critical
attributes he’s looking for.
The niche is a small one. In fact, Ray’s is one of only a handful of
companies devoted entirely to providing lawyers to substitute for other
lawyers at a moment’s notice. A former inhouse litigator for Farmers
Insurance, Ray got the idea when he noticed how much difficulty lawyers
were having making all their court dates-especially since 1986, when
"fast track" rules started to be adopted to speed up civil litigation.
'The first day, I made $500," he recalls. "I went home and told my wife,
'I think this is going to work.'"
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