CAREER HIGHLIGHTS | OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Stephen Goldberg
BEYOND
THE COURTROOM
“
Unlike a traditional lawyer, my client is each member of an audience I interact with.
MSBA MEMBER STEVE GOLDBERG is an educator and lawyer who has dedicated the past five years to sharing the story of his friend, Abe Piasek, a Holocaust survivor from Poland. While Goldberg doesn't practice law in a traditional sense, he believes his work is deeply intertwined with the legal profession. Through telling Piasek's story, he uses his legal background to explain how laws can be used to dehumanize and persecute minority groups, ultimately making a "closing argument" to inspire his audience to live productive and moral lives. What professional accomplishment are you most proud of? As of October 2025, I have shared Abe’s story over 160 times and with more than 10,000 people in public schools, colleges, libraries, churches, and synagogues. You have a unique way of relating a historical narrative to the legal profession. What do you believe makes this kind of work so impactful, and how does it distinguish your career from that of a traditional lawyer? Unlike a traditional lawyer, my client is each member of an audience I interact with. What makes the work impactful is Abe – he somehow remained joyful and upbeat while also
relating horrible things that happened to him without diminishing the seriousness of what happened. My objective is to provide historical and geographic context so that Abe’s story can be so compelling that people will never forget what he went through or how he reacted by building a family and having “don’t hate” as his mantra, despite all he endured. My hope is that his story will inspire people to be resilient when things are hard. I am constantly making a “closing argument” to my audience, hoping they will draw inspiration from Abe’s example of how to lead a productive and moral life.
MARYLAND BAR JOURNAL | VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2
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