Today we’d like to introduce you to Hillel Presser.
Hillel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. If you asked me when I was 15, it was probably because I was very close to my uncle. I went to law school and met a mentor who did Asset Protection for my family. It was the first time I had ever heard of it and I instantly fell in love. The marriage of business and law appealed to me. There are so many lawyers out there trying to take your money, I loved the idea of being one of only a few in the country to help people protect what they worked so hard for.
I started with my own practice and I wanted to solely focus on Asset Protection. But of course, when you’re starting off you do anything that comes in the door. I set up a meeting with the gentleman that had done Asset Protection for my family. I told him, “I want to work for you.” He told me that he had just hired a family friend and wasn’t looking to hire anyone at the moment. I said, no problem. How about I come work for free? And if I’m not the best attorney you’ve worked with, we’ll shake hands after a few months and go our separate ways.
He needed to think about it. After a couple weeks, I followed up and his answer was no. I thought to myself, what am I going to do? I want to work with this guy and learn from him. He was one of the grandfathers of Asset Protection. So, I hired him to do my Asset Protection. He joked: “number 1, you know how to do your own Asset Protection, and number 2, you don’t have any assets to protect!”
Now, every few weeks we’d get together on my case as he did my Asset Protection. We were building a relationship. When there was a big Asset Protection conference in Las Vegas, I called his secretary to find out what flight he was on and where he was staying. Naturally, I booked the same. I made sure we sat next to each other, had fun together, ate lunch together. When we got back to Florida, we put our heads down and created the National Association of Asset Protection Attorneys. We’d meet on that every few weeks.
A year or two after the first meeting in his office, he calls me on a Monday to meet. I knew something was going on because we had just met on Friday, and we didn’t meet that often. He said listen, “I know you have a successful Asset Protection practice of your own. But I’m getting older, and there’s a time in every man’s career to go up, and a time in every man’s career to go down. This is your time to go up, and my time to go down.” I was unsure what to make of it. He said, “Imagine you’re on a cruise ship and the captain died. Here are the keys to my office.” And at that point, he made me a 50-50 partner in his practice.
I bought a place in Boca Raton immediately. I started working around the clock with him. At night and on weekends I’d go down to Fort Lauderdale to finish up all my current cases.
And that’s how I got into the practice of Asset Protection.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
One of the biggest struggles is educating the public. Asset Protection is great because it’s a niche, and there’s only a handful of others in the country that does it at my level. But a lot of times, people don’t know that Asset Protection exists until it’s too late. Everyone will tell you that you have to be proactive. After a lawsuit or a judgment, there are still things an Asset Protection attorney can do, our options are just reduced. So, educating the public about the importance of Asset Protection can be a real challenge.
Another challenge here in South Florida is finding the right people. I’m always looking to hire more attorneys and more administrative staff, but I’ve had a tough time finding dedicated, hardworking individuals in South Florida. I think the firm can go bigger and quicker, but I need the right people. I’m sensitive as to who I hire: I prefer quality over quantity.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Presser Law Firm – Asset Protection Attorneys – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The Presser Law Firm – Asset Protection Attorneys is a nationwide firm that specializes solely on Asset Protection, both domestic and international. We have clients from almost every single state and a number of countries. We are a boutique firm of about 10 attorneys and we don’t do anything besides Asset Protection.
Asset Protection is the legal process of titling someone’s personal and business assets to put them beyond the reach of future potential threats and creditors. We make it so difficult and so expensive, if not impossible, for someone to collect against one of our clients that they don’t want to sue them in the first place, or they can settle a lawsuit for cents on the dollar.
Our specialization sets us apart from most other firms: we are known for Asset Protection. Personally, I’ve written a number of books on Asset Protection and law. I give between 50-100 paid speeches a year all across the country and I’ve been involved in re-writing some of the international Asset Protection laws.
We pride ourselves on customer service. A lot of companies can say that, but they don’t know what that means. If a client wants to speak with us at 8 o’clock on a Sunday, we’ll pick up the phone.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I would like to see the firm continue to grow, but only if we can find the right people. I want to help as many different people as possible in this very litigious society.
My son is a little older than two-and-a-half, so personally, I would like to tone down the travel. Fortunately, we have other Asset Protection attorneys at the firm who also give 50-100 paid speeches a year. So, I’m hoping that I can pass the torch a little bit.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6199 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton, FL 33487
- Website: http://www.assetprotectionattorneys.com/
- Phone: (561) 953-1050
- Email: info@AssetProtectionAttorneys.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/presserlawfirm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePresserLawFirm/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/assetattorneys
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-presser-law-firm-boca-raton-2
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillelpresser/
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