Lawyer's Elevator Speech with Nazi Reference Not Funny

Update from Larry Bodine (November 17, 2008):

I sincerely apologize for the crude and offensive "Elevator Pitch" post I put online last week.  In the clear light of morning, it is clear that it was anti-Semitic and repellent.  I want to thank all the people who commented and called me about it; I listened and took what you said to heart.

I have deleted the post.  It was a mistake to repeat a crude joke that I heard in rural Illinois, and I should have known better. It was a worse mistake to say it was the "best" of its kind, when actually it was hideous.

The post offended people I admire and hold near. I certainly don't espouse the kind of thinking behind the obnoxious "elevator pitch" and don't want anyone to think I do. A friend called me, recounting how he heard a Holocaust survivor describe being evaluated by Dr. Mengele in a concentration camp, but was fortunate to be passed over.  I was horrified and immediately deleted the blog post.  A member of my own family was captured in the Second World War and imprisoned in a Russian concentration camp until the 1950s, and there was nothing funny about it.

I regret I didn't delete it sooner, and should have had the good sense not to put it online in the first place.

My colleague, Larry Bodine, who I have often praised in this space and elsewhere, seems to think it's funny that a partner uses references to a Nazi medical researcher in his "elevator speech."

He described it as the best elevator speech he ever heard.

Not only is this not funny, but it's an affront to the six million Jews murdered and the millions of others killed or maimed by Nazis. Unfortunately, another colleague of mine -- Carolyn Elefant of Law.com -- also wrote about this but failed to treat it with the harsh criticism it deserved.

Lawyers shouldn't have to resort to Nazi imagery or any other kind of anti-Semitic or racist remarks to get attention. If they do, prospects should look elsewhere for legal help.

The Holocaust was not a joke.

Comments

[Chere Estrin]

Larry:

I have just received your apology. I have to take this opportunity to speak my mind because I may never get another chance.

So that you fully understand why I am not letting you off the hook so very easily: What was astounding besides your post was your response to those of us who stood up and said "no" to you. ["So keep those comments coming. Presumably you'll manage to fit them in between protest marches against "The Producers" outside Mel Brook's house and the orchestrated boycott of reruns of Hogan's Heroes."]

I know even though many people complained to you and several people called you, you still posted your hideous response and it wasn't until a second round of appeals to you and after IncisiveMedia intervened from the very top again that you posted your apology. To me, this means that you were not so easily convinced and that is concerning. Perhaps you felt you would lose business, and that is the genesis of your apology.

Part of what went wrong in the holocaust was not enough people stood up and said no. In the beginning, people thought it would just "go away". That doesn't mean at all that what happened was justified. What it means is never again. It is everyone's responsibility to stand up against anti-Semitic remarks.

My brother-in-law is 86 years old and a survivor of Auschwitz. He continues to this day to be a leader against any future similar events. My grandfather's hair turned gray overnight as he and his brothers hid in the forest and witnessed his mother and father being butchered. My husband's mother fled Poland with her family in the middle of the night in and landed in Russia where they knew no one and hid for years. My husband's father was imprisoned in a Russian prison. Close friends of our family still have numbers on their forearms. They tell us stories of Auschwitz and Bergen Belson. Trying to gather raw potatoes in the field and eat them while Nazi's shot at them for "fun". Those who were victims of Nazi Medical Researchers are either dead or cannot bring themselves to talk about it. In the "hierarchy" of death camps, the Nazi Medical Researchers are ranked even lower than the most cruelest of death camp commanders. I could go on and on. Being brought up by the children of the holocaust and being taught to always have a passport ready, buy expensive jewelry and hide it - just in case there is a knock at the door at night, has an effect on how you view the world.

Your post and Carolyn's endorsement filled me with great sadness and pain. I was up all Friday night over it. I agonized the entire weekend and I kept thinking: ok, this is over, move on, let it go. I don't know you, I have never met you and I don't know that I care too. I rarely ever respond to a blog. But what bothered me more than anything was that law.com would endorse your beliefs. My blog is carried by them which means my name is associated with them. My name in this industry is the most valuable asset I have. To see them endorse your beliefs was frightening. That's exactly how this kind of hate is perpetuated and is spread. I thank God that several wonderful people at the top of IncisiveMedia chose to step in and stand up and support those of us who were so deeply offended.

I hope to God that your "apology" is not an act just to save business but comes from the heart. I guess the jury's out on that one and only time will tell. As a Jewish woman, I would be just as wrong as you and Carolyn if I didn't stand up and denounce you. I am a small businessperson who relies on relationships to generate business. I would gladly put contracts, relationships and potential business in harm's way to stand up and speak out again. That's how strongly I was affected by your comments and Carolyn's endorsement.

I wish you both a better education and sincere understanding for future relationships. I hope this is only the beginning of a change in attitude and a much better life for you in the end.

[Carolyn Elefant]

Rich,

I updated the Blogwatch post to link to your post. You are right that this particular pitch is in poor taste and I should have made that point before.

[Robert Blumenfeld]

As a quick follow-up, having read the article in question, I'm speechless. Perhaps I'm just a bit thick, but I don't even get the connection. Is it just for shock value? And if so, that's just plain weird. If that's the best elevator speech ever, I'm takin' the stairs from now on...

[Catherine Wachs]

I agree that using Nazi references is not a good way to sell anything. My grandmother's family was wiped out, as were a lot of people's families.

Just substitute another atrocity, like Rwandan genocide or lynching and cross burning. Not funny? Then neither is the Holocaust.