#5: Joe DiNardo in The Heart of Law

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have the consummate balance of an entrepreneurially sharp yet resolutely calm mind? Well … mystery solved! Our intrepid host, Mirena Umizaj, invites mindfulness paladin, Attorney Joe DiNardo, an incredible source of inspiration and pillar of strength to many in the field of law.

Revisiting his humble beginnings, Joe reminisces about the 1100 square feet home of his childhood. Not expecting to attend college, he almost serendipitously finds himself at Brockport State College and surprises himself as he turns into a mainstay in the dean’s list. Enjoying his undergrad success, he transfers to the University of Buffalo, subsequently attending law school. With so much altruism in his cadence, he starts his career in a “lower economic and African-American part of the city,” teaching part-time at a GED and adult education center—all the while offering his services to an impoverished community who have no means of affording an attorney. Because of all the false arrests and destitute offenses he had to represent, his reputation as a defense attorney flourished. From one mountain to the next Everest, his 26-year career burgeons from personal injury work into the litigation funding company he founded in 2000, Counsel Financial.

Meanwhile, sharing the same interests, Mirena and Joe deep-dives into the zen of mindfulness and spirituality.  He impresses us with his stalwart, 4 am meditation habit, and five decades of transcendentally centering oneself to bravely face the many pitfalls life throw his way. As a mindfulness expert, Joe expounds on the foundation, nuances, methods, and health benefits of “sitting” and intentionally drawing strength from a quiet mind. It’s no wonder Joe knows how to find peace even from the tragedy of his wife’s passing. 

We hit a hard note as he shares Marcia DiNardo’s bittersweet journey and her brave battle with cancer. Her undue demise in 2015 rocks his world in so many ways. As Joe engulfs us with their beautiful story—the tremendous love and family they shared and the best things he derived from knowing her—we see a successfully prolific yet humble man, seeing our dreary, cimmerian world through cloudless eyes of unabashed hope.

EPISODE SURVEY 

[00:13:41] From humble beginnings to major asbestos case building
[00:19:37] On pioneering a new model of lending loans to law firms, known today as Counsel Financial
[00:44:54] An acid trip, ultrasonic hearing, and expanding consciousness
[00:55:55] Joe speaks of his meditation retreat with Baba Ram Dass during his journey to pursue Buddhism and Mindfulness.

[01:20:57] The life-changing practice of non-judgemental mindfulness
[01:31:46] Practicing meditation as a lifeline amid crumbling corporations during the 2009 financial meltdown
[01:38:47] Joe relays his experience of looking death straight in the eye
[01:52:17] On his wife’s battle with pancreatic cancer and being confronted with a sense of mortality once again
[02:08:21] Mindfulness for people in the legal profession

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

• [00:29:28] “Money problems make good people do bad things”
• [00:53:23] “In the beginner’s mind there are many opportunities; in the expert’s there are few...have the beginner’s mind because the beginner’s mind opens you up with all sorts of opportunities”
• [01:15:32] “We have to have that same equanimity for both [pleasant and unpleasant experiences] because it will allow those stronger, more pleasant experiences to arise versus you creating them- by not having an expectation of what it'll look like or feel like or be like.”
• [01:15:32] “Don't judge yourself … by doing that part of the practice- learning non-judgment of yourself- you become less judgmental everywhere in your life.
• [01:27:28] “And that's what the Buddha said in the very first discourse he ever gave...the illness for all of mankind is craving. It's just wanting ... either to hang on to things or wanting to push away the uncomfortable things, it's all just one little thing- craving”
• [02:02:18] “As a caretaker, it’s not our job to do what we think a sick person needs, it’s our job to listen to what they think they need, and to comfort them as best we can.”

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Joe DiNardo

• Founder of Counsel Financial, a commercial lender offering loans and credit lines to law firms.
• Practiced mass tort and personal injury law for 26 years 
• Represented thousands of injured plaintiffs, securing multi-million dollar, high-profile settlements.
• Participant in the inaugural retreat at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Massachusetts
• Studied with renowned meditation teachers such as Ram Dass, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, and Anagarika Munindra, a highly regarded Bengali meditation teacher. 
• Author of Mindfulness Matters: for everyone, a volume containing practical advice on how to embody mindfulness in everyday life.
• Wrote A Letter to My Wife, a dedication to his late wife, Marcia, telling a narrative from her cancer diagnosis to death as well as offering ways to support individuals enduring disease and their loved ones.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Visit Mirena’s Chic Website and LinkedIn
• Purchase Joe’s Books: Mindfulness Matters: For Everyone and A Letter to My Wife
• Another influential book Joe recommends: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
• Check out the company Joe founded, Counsel Financial
• Visit the Insight Meditation Center
• Shownotes and podcast content management by Almond Tree Writers' Ink, LLC’s Founder, Caryl Veloso