The Vanishing Craft: Why One Trial Legend Is Worried About the Next Generation
In the world of Florida litigation, few names carry as much weight as Edward Blumberg. Recently honored for 50 years of membership in the Florida Bar, Blumberg’s journey is the quintessential "climb." He started as a $5-an-hour law clerk, eventually rising to become a shareholder at Deutsch Blumberg & Caballero and serving as President of the Florida Bar (1997-1998).
But as Blumberg reflects on five decades in the courtroom, his tone isn't just celebratory—it's concerned. In his view, the "craft" of trial law is under threat.
From the Trenches to the Top
Blumberg’s career was forged in an era of "boots on the ground" legal work. His early days involved hands-on learning, where the path to success was paved with face-to-face depositions and live courtroom appearances. This experience allowed him to specialize in catastrophic personal injury and medical malpractice, eventually earning him the chair of the National Judicial College Board of Trustees.
The "Virtualization" Crisis
The core of Blumberg’s message in the article centers on the "vanishing craft" of trial law. He argues that the legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift due to the rise of remote proceedings and the "virtualization" of the courtroom.
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The Loss of Mentorship: Blumberg warns that young lawyers are missing out on the "visceral experience" of the courtroom. When depositions and hearings happen behind a screen, the nuanced skills of reading a room, observing body language, and reacting in real-time are lost.
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A Threat to Professionalism: He suggests that remote work can erode the professional decorum and collegiality that are naturally fostered when attorneys must interact in person.
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The Future Bench: Perhaps most provocatively, Blumberg points out that the young lawyers currently being "stunted" by a lack of courtroom experience are the same ones who will eventually become our judges. If they haven't mastered the craft of trial law, how can they effectively preside over it?
The Seventh Amendment Lawyer
Throughout the profile, Blumberg advocates for the "Seventh Amendment Lawyer"—one dedicated to the constitutional right to a jury trial. He believes that for the justice system to remain healthy, lawyers must resist the urge to move everything to the digital sphere and instead fight to keep the courtroom a physical, lived-in space.
The Bottom Line
Edward Blumberg’s story is a reminder that while technology offers convenience, it cannot replace the wisdom gained through physical presence. His 50-year milestone isn't just a look back at a storied career; it’s a call to action for the next generation of litigators to step out from behind their monitors and back into the well of the court.
Edward Blumberg still remembers standing outside the University of Miami law school placement office, unknown and freshly out of law school, staring at jobs he wasn’t allowed to apply for. Inside, he’d been told he couldn’t use the placement office without a student ID. Outside, he lingered, looking through the glass at
opportunities just out of reach. “I was just standing there looking at all these
cards,” Blumberg recalled. “Kind of forlorn.” Then a student opened the board and slipped in a small posting: law clerk, 10 hours a week, $5 an hour. Blumberg copied the number, went back inside, asked to use the phone and called immediately.
“When do you want to come interview?” he was asked. “I said, ‘I can come right now.’” That moment launched a career that would eventually include serving as president of the Florida Bar, shaping policy as a member of its Board of Governors, serving as a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates and chairing the board of the National Judicial College. But Blumberg doesn’t
measure his career in titles. He measures it in trials—and in purpose. “The practice of law is a calling,” he said. “I do it for the justice of the matter. The pursuit of
material things should never be the driving force.”
Learning the Law From the Ground Up
Blumberg grew up in Atlanta, attended the University of Georgia and earned his law degree from William & Mary Law School. He came to Miami because it felt like a city where hard work still created opportunities. “It didn’t seem like there was a true establishment,” he said. “If you were willing to work hard, you could succeed.”
The firm that hired him—Knight, Peters, Hoeveler, Pickle, Niemoller and Flynn—was a respected defense firm. Blumberg admitted he knew little about its practice areas. “They asked if I knew anything about medical malpractice and products liability,” he said. “I said, ‘Oh yeah, I know all about it.’” He didn’t. So he taught himself. “I read every single case dealing with negligence, medical malpractice, products liability,” he said. “There just wasn’t as much law then as there is now.”
He was in court on his first day as a lawyer, learning from the firm’s seasoned trial lawyers, including Cecyl L. Pickle, Jack Peters and future Federal Judge William Hoeveler, whom he still credits for shaping his skills. “They understood human nature. They understood juries,” he said. “They didn’t need depositions to cross-examine. They were that good.”
The Case That Changed Everything
Although the firm was primarily a defense firm, his first assigned case was a medical malpractice matter representing a woman rendered paraplegic after a VA hospital procedure. “I remember going to her house and seeing how she lived,” he said. “And then seeing that we got her money that gave her dignity—I felt like I’d done something meaningful.” That moment changed his trajectory. Though successful in defense work, Blumberg said he struggled after winning cases where seriously injured people lost. “I’d win, but I felt horrible,” he said. “I’d say, ‘What have I done?’” After a few years, he met and became partners with Steven K. Deutsch and shifted to plaintiffs work. Partners for more than four decades, they still practice in the same downtown office, now known as Deutsch Blumberg & Caballero. Over the years, he and the firm have developed a statewide practice handling the most complex and high-stakes medical malpractice and injury cases. All the while, Blumberg still maintains a rigorous work schedule, trying jury trials throughout Florida. He is currently a board certified and recertified trial lawyer by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy and a member of the American Board
of Trial Advocates.
A Practice Transformed
Blumberg has watched medical malpractice law evolve from a relatively undeveloped field into one governed by dense statutes, presuit requirements and procedural hurdles. When he started, there were few appellate decisions and no real statutory framework.
Today, malpractice cases require extensive presuit investigations, expert affidavits and strict compliance rules that can derail a case before it begins. “There are far more hoops to jump through,” he said. “It’s much more difficult now than it has ever been.” Still, he says the fundamentals remain unchanged. “It’s still the adversarial system. It’s still presenting evidence and seeking truth,” Blumberg said. What has changed most is cost—and its ripple effect on trial experience.
The Disappearing Trial Lawyer
Blumberg’s biggest concern is not doctrinal change, but the disappearance of trial
opportunities. When he began, a medical malpractice case might cost $5,000 to $10,000 to take to verdict. Today, he said, that same case can cost $250,000 to $500,000 or more. Expert witnesses alone may cost many tens of thousands of dollars.
The result: fewer trials, fewer jury verdicts and fewer chances for young lawyers to develop real courtroom skill. “The great trial lawyer is an endangered species,” Blumberg said. “There is no substitute for experience. But the lawyers of today will not get that experience.”
His own development was polished through trial and error. Early in his career, he attacked witnesses aggressively. Watching jurors recoil taught him to change.
“I saw them wince,” he said. “I realized I needed to be more surgical.” Instead of force, he learned precision. “Instead of using a machete, you use a scalpel,” he said.
He adjusted his tone, his pacing, even his physical distance from jurors. “If you speak more quietly, the jury leans forward,” he said. “They hang on every word.” Law partner Cosme Caballero recounts how Blumberg and Steven Deutsch went to great
lengths to teach him and Beau Blumberg—a fellow partner at the firm and Edward Blumberg’s son—advanced trial skills. “They took us to trial and had us participating in the trials from day one. We were also encouraged to develop our own unique personal styles,” Caballero said. The firm’s partners proudly noted that they have become top-tier jury trial lawyers.
The Habits That Still Matter
For all the changes in law and practice, Blumberg’s advice to younger lawyers starts with something simpler: how they treat people. “Before ‘civility’ was a buzzword, it was just manners,” he said. As a young lawyer, he was shocked by the hostility of opposing counsel. Senior lawyers told him not to engage. “Take the high road,” they said. He did—and still does. “your word has to be your bond,” Blumberg said. “A good reputation takes years to build. It takes a moment to lose.”
Why Bar Work Still Matters
Blumberg has spent decades in bar leadership, from the Florida Bar to national roles, and remains a strong advocate for lawyer involvement. “Bar work is critically important,” he said. With fewer in-person hearings and less organic interaction, he worries younger lawyers are missing opportunities to learn from others and
build referral networks. “you’re not meeting people the way you used to,” he said. “you’re not learning by watching.” His own practice, he noted, has long relied
on referrals from other lawyers. “But how is one going to meet those lawyers?” he asked. The firm has encouraged Caballero and the younger Blumberg to participate in organized Bar work and has watched as both have chaired standing
committees of the Florida Bar.
Still Learning
Despite decades of experience and recognition— including listings in Best Lawyers in America and Florida Super Lawyers—Blumberg insists he is still evolving. “I’m learning every day,” he said. “I’m just now starting to feel like I know what I’m doing. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something new pops up. To me, the practice is exciting and invigorating and I wouldn’t change things for the world.” He also rejects the idea of slowing down. “Working up and trying cases is a joy,” he said. “If you like
what you’re doing, why would you want to stop?” For Blumberg, the answer is clear. The law isn’t just a profession. It’s a responsibility—and a calling he’s not going to give up. “For me,” Blumberg said, “the best is yet to come.”