The PianoPlaying Lawyer

Have you ever wondered where you can find a highly respected, seasoned lawyer on an average weeknight?

Do they stay home and starch all of their dress pants? Draw a bath and read affidavits for fun? Go to sleep at a sensible hour and dream about depositions?

Not if you’re Maurice Ross. If you’re Maurice Ross, you spend your weeknights at some of the most famous piano clubs and bars in New York, playing for crowds of partygoers and music aficionados alike.

To many of his colleagues, Maurice is known as one of the most adept intellectual property attorneys in the business. He’s been practicing law for almost 40 years and boasts an impressive legal track record to boot. But don’t let his lawyerliness fool you—Maurice knows how to keep a good party going.

The trick? Just don’t stop the music.

How It All Started

Maurice began his piano-playing career at the tender age of 5, at the encouragement of his father who was himself an esteemed musician. By the time Maurice was in his early teens, he could read and play almost anything—from pop and show tunes to rap and rock ‘n’ roll. He began showcasing his talents at events such as fashion shows, while teaching piano lessons throughout high school. His first foray into the musical nightlife scene came as he worked his way through school playing piano professionally at local bars and clubs.

While Maurice enjoyed playing gigs, after becoming a lawyer, his pianoplaying prospects were forced to take a backseat to his budding legal career. But when Maurice came to Barton, after a multi-year hiatus from playing, he decided it was time to pick back up the ebony-and-ivory keyed gauntlet, as it were. After a bit of practice, he was soon performing professionally again.

Now he’s a regular, playing three or four nights a week in New York’s most popular piano lounges, clubs, bars, and cabarets.

These venues have included crowd favorites such as The Monster in the West Village, a multi-level piano bar and disco dance club that supposedly has one of the best frozen margaritas in the city; Townhouse Piano Bar, a Midtown East hangout embodying a cool, cocktail party-esque vibe; and Fusha , an upscale Asian fusion bar also located in Midtown East. Over his many years of playing this nightlife circuit, Maurice has encountered his fair share of celebrity icons and top talent. He often finds himself performing with stars from the world of Broadway, rock ‘n’ roll, pop, and classical music. It’s all in a night’s work.

But there’s someone else who Maurice often meets when playing his gigs that may surprise you: clients.

Behind the Keyboard, Before the Court

In fact, Maurice meets most of his new clients through his piano-playing, and he welcomes any and all of his current clientele to come hear him play. While a piano bar may at first seem like a strange venue in which to visit with clients, Maurice says that the opposite is true: “Clients like the idea of somebody who has interests outside of the law, and it makes me more accessible and makes me more trustworthy. They can come see me without an advance reservation at a club or bar, and they can sit with me and chat and get to know me on a different level.”

Maurice also believes that his piano-playing humanizes him in the eyes of his clients and helps differentiate him amidst a profession that’s often lacking in creativity. “Creativity is at a premium in the legal profession these days,” he says. “I think one of the big deficits of many lawyers is a lack of creating and thinking outside the box.”

One may be wondering why exactly a lawyer would need to be creative. But according to Maurice, the same creativity that goes into something like playing the piano is also what goes into a good court performance. In both scenarios, you’re attempting to engage an audience and keep them interested. More than that, you’re attempting to persuade the audience and gain their approval. Whether you’re gauging the reactions of a crowd of rollicking club-goers or those of a judge and jury, you have to be able to understand the feedback you’re getting and adjust quickly. Be it playing a set or making an oral argument, the ability to adapt to an audience’s reactions is crucial to a successful performance. Because of this, Maurice feels like his piano-playing has actually enhanced his abilities as a lawyer, while his career as an attorney has duly benefited his music career.

Looking Forward to the Future

Unfortunately, for now, live performances—of both the musical and legal variety—have ground to a halt due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. This pandemic has been especially hard on New York’s nightlife, adversely affecting performers, club owners, staff, and patrons alike.

But even with the prospect of live performances postponed for the foreseeable future, Maurice has never stopped playing. In fact, he might be playing even more now. In an attempt to keep New York’s piano bar community in touch, Maurice began playing informal shows on Facebook Live several nights a week, sometimes even collaborating with other musicians. What started as a local initiative has ended up with a much wider reach—on a good night, over 400 people from all over the world will tune in to watch Maurice play. Among these viewers are many of Maurice’s clients, other Barton attorneys, and prominent figures from all corners of the entertainment industry. As Maurice will tell you, you never know who’s going to tune in on any given night.

As he looks toward the future, albeit an uncertain one, Maurice has no plans to stop playing anytime soon. Many people have come to regard his virtual playing sessions as their much-needed reprieve from the chaos and uncertainty of everyday life.

Maurice also wants to continue to set an example for younger attorneys facing the difficult task of juggling their demanding legal careers with their outside interests. To this dreaded “work-life balance” conundrum, Maurice says, “I’m proof for young attorneys that you don’t have to ‘give up everything’ to be a lawyer. A good lawyer doesn’t give up everything, a good lawyer tries to integrate everything together so that it works. You shouldn’t be a slave to the law when there are ways to use the law to help accentuate your other expertise and vice versa.”

And it’s safe to say, that as long as there are lawyers like Maurice who continue to follow their passions and dance to their own tune, the legal world will be a much more interesting, more colorful place. ♦