JUNE 3 • 2021 | 45

BUSINESS

S

outhfield resident 
Moshe Newman 
began his 
entrepreneurial life when 
he was less than 10 years 
old. Newman had his first 
business then, selling flowers 
door-to-door in honor of 
the weekend’s upcoming 
Shabbat. 
Not too long afterward, 
his great-grandfather passed 
away and left him and his 
siblings an inheritance. 
Newman invested his 
inheritance into a family 
member’s business.
As a kid, he was told 
constantly that his debating 
skills showed he would make 
a great lawyer. So, after 
yeshivah, Newman graduated 
with a bachelors in Talmudic 
law and then attended law 
school itself — a “natural 
progression.” 
While most law students 
spend their summers 
interning, Newman spent 
his first summer getting 
married. His first child 
followed the next summer. 
He then escalated his classes 
and passed the bar, finishing 
college in two and a half 
years. He used his “spare 

time” to study various areas 
of law to find his niche.
His desire to help 
people caused him to to 
bypass working for a large 
corporation where “a client is 
just one on a list,” he said. 
 Wanting the opportunity 
to provide a different level 
of service, Newman used the 
profits from his investment 
over a decade earlier to 
open his own practice. Thus, 
Legacy Law Firm, focused 
on elder law and probate 
litigation, opened in 2015 
when Newman was in his 
late 20s. The firm started in 
practically “a broom closet” 
in his father’s office and has 
since grown to its current 
location on Greenfield Road 
in Southfield. He has two 
assistants and a paralegal to 
help him and their clients.
Legacy Law Firm was 
designed to help people in 
crisis and, more importantly, 
to avoid crisis. Many seniors 
do not plan their care 
properly or their children 
do not understand how to 
properly find care. “Peoples’ 
legacies are in their hands 
much more than people 
realize,” Newman said. 

The firm helps people 
leave a legacy behind, 
whether it be a house or 
Social Security pensions, 
instead of it all going into 
nursing home costs. He 
prides himself that clients 
can call his cell phone 
personally, and that he can 
visit clients in the hospital 
directly to see the situation 
at hand for himself. While he 
hopes to expand the firm in 
the next few years, Newman 
desires to keep its “small-
firm vibe.”
He said he’s proud to 
wear his yarmulkah in the 
courtroom. “Overall, people 
have respected it,” he said. 
However, being an 
Orthodox lawyer does have 
its challenges. Having to turn 
off his phone for Shabbat 
and Jewish holidays is 
difficult. He worked right up 
until Shavuot due to a case 
emergency and then started 
right back up the night the 
holiday ended. 
Law school held similar 
challenges. He partnered 
with a Muslim classmate to 
exchange notes during each 
other’s religious holidays, 
and they worked to find each 

other places to pray between 
classes.
Since the COVID-19 
pandemic, his court cases 
have switched to Zoom, 
which he says has its ups 
and downs. While cases 
can be done from his 
office, Newman is unable 
to whisper with his clients 
as easily as when in the 
courthouse together.
However, clients from out 
of town can participate more 
actively in the case because 
of video conferencing. 
He hopes that once the 
pandemic dies down, the 
court system will keep a 
“hybrid” Zoom availability.
Newman runs the firm 
right in his hometown so 
he can give back to his 
community. It was not easy 
opening a law firm right out 
of law school, but Newman 
wanted to make a difference. 
Thankfully, his 10-year-old 
self was able to help, and 
his family supported the 
decision. 

Moshe Newman can be reached 

at (248) 629-0161 or at mnewman@

thelegacyfirm.com or by visiting www.

thelegacyfirm.com. 

People We Know 
& Stories We Don’t:
MOSHE NEWMAN

DOVID NISSAN ROETTER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Moshe 
Newman

