Getting started: where I am coming from

Want to give you a sense of what I am about and what topics interest me. My topics relate to persuasion, visual communications, bias and how/why people and societies make decisions. I look at culture, values/beliefs and societal dynamics. I also write on issues I feel passionate about such as Jewish Identity, Israel-Diaspora relations, UNWRA and the societal/cultural dynamics behind the Israeli-Arab conflict.  Because I am also an investor and Chairman of tech companies in Israel, I will try to lighten things with an occasional detour to the subjects of early-stage investing and building successful companies.

Before I sold my firm in 2005 – www.doar.com (it’s still around and doing well) – and retired, I worked as a jury consultant in complex commercial and white collar cases. One of the most interesting projects was assisting the Wachtel Lipton Law Firm in support of Larry Silverstein in the Insurance coverage matter relating to the World Trade Center destruction. In that case, the issue was around people’s perception of causation, especially in regards to terrorism (one or two occurrences). I also consulting on the WorldCom underwriters litigation and many many other cases. I created and taught the Trial Advocacy section of the LLM program at Temple Law School and co-authored a number of books and articles on the subject of persuasion, visual communications, bias and how small groups make decisions. At the peak of my career, I had my 15-minutes of fame as a Jury consultant commentator on Fox, CourtTV, CBS and MSNBC and was featured on a two part series on the show 48 Hours.

I am a granddad and made Aliyah around 2010 from NYC.  So let’s get started!