Clean Speech Cleveland Campaign 2025

As President of the Board of a local non-profit organization (ORT America – Ohio Region), I was asked to participate in the 2025 Clean Speech Cleveland Campaign. This year’s campaign focused on the importance of “chesed,” which is the Hebrew word for kindness.

Kindness is an art. Like any artistic talent, it takes patience and practice. As a medical malpractice attorney, I talk to people every day who have suffered serious, life-changing injuries. Ultimately, they want my advice about whether they have a medical malpractice case to pursue. Before I can answer that question, however, I have to listen to their story.

At the Eisen Law Firm, our clients’ stories are often painful to tell and require a sympathetic ear. It takes time to really listen, and it takes compassion. If I’m not paying attention, or I’m just waiting for my turn to speak, I’m not really listening to the other person. In my experience, I have found that most people just want to be heard—they don’t always need advice. When I want to show a person that I’m really listening, I try to give them time and space to tell their story, and I try to speak with words of kindness.

The main takeaway from this year’s campaign is that it’s not always easy to be kind, but it’s always important. I’m constantly practicing to be more kind, which I hope makes me both a better person and a better attorney.