David Mintz: Helping People with the Power of the Law

Written by Charles Noyes
Photos by David Hulmes Photograph

Sponsored by Valley Home Improvement

Published in Northampton Living (April 2022)

If there’s one thing David Mintz is familiar with, it’s the law. “I’ve always been interested in the art of persuasion,” he started. “My friends would say that I’ve always loved a good debate.” Having worked with the law since graduating from George Washington University in 1982, David knows firsthand how impactful a good lawyer can be when they’re needed most.

But this wasn’t always the case. After graduating, David got a job at Mass Mutual in Springfield. He’d lived in Brockton, Mass before then, so he was somewhat familiar with the area. He loved his time at Mass Mutual and they treated him well, but after 4 years of trying out different departments within the organization, he knew it just wasn’t the right fit for him.

“I wasn’t even sure I wanted to keep practicing law,” David reflected, “so I had some soul-searching to do. I loved Northampton from the first time I visited. I play music so I loved visiting the record stores. So I moved here and rented a place with friends of mine. For a year and a half I did everything but practicing law. I worked odd jobs, I coached tennis for a bit, I waited tables, but I was running out of money quickly so I decided I better use my law license and started practicing out of my house and slowly built a practice here.”

Moving to Northampton and starting his practice ended up being exactly the change that David needed. While working these odd jobs and finding himself, David also happened to find someone who would change his life forever. “I was out on the town with a friend and went to an art installation in town,” he began. “And while there I saw this woman setting things up and I was absolutely enraptured. So later that evening my friend and I went out to Packard’s and who should we run into, but the same woman.”

“I managed to get a few words of conversation in with her,” David explained, “while my friend tried to monopolize the conversation. Before she left, I told her I was an aspiring entertainment lawyer, which wasn’t true by that point, but I figured she was involved with the arts and we made a date to meet. When we did meet, I came clean immediately and asked her if I could take her to lunch.”

That woman was Shawn Farley and she and David have been married for 31 years. They had a daughter, Natasha, in 1993, who went to Northampton High and has since moved to New Orleans to work in advertising. Shawn is a prominent local sculptor and the first director of the Northampton Center for the Arts, an organization that is still going strong to this day.

David also looks back on his decision to start his own practice fondly. He’s practiced the law seriously since then and made a difference in the lives of many people he’s come into contact with. One case in particular stuck out to him as particularly significant. “I had a criminal case when I was young in 1999: armed robbery while masked. I was defending one of three codefendants. The other two were caught close to the scene, but my client was elsewhere when he was arrested. The charges against him centered around photos picked out of a book of mugshots by the people who were robbed. The other two clients each pleaded guilty and got 3-5 year sentences in state prison, so he was facing some serious jail time if convicted.”

Mollie doesn’t just consider knitting a hobby. It’s what she does for the community as she helps sow together the loose strands of the Valley’s social fabric. Through her position at It Takes a Village, Mollie coordinates any needs a family may have. “Part of my job,” she explained, “is managing the invisible fourth program we offer, which includes referrals and connection. So often we have volunteers who worry they may not be able to provide everything needed by the families they’re helping.”

“I’m not trained in how to handle domestic violence,” she continued, “but I’ve got a contact at Safe Passage. I don’t know anything about fuel assistance, but I’ve got my top three places I can call and find out.” She illustrated this point with an anecdote from during the pandemic. “Someone called us and said their washing machine was broken so I said let me see what I can do. I reached out to other volunteers who offered this person to come through to their basement and use their washer. All they had to do was ask and the connection was made.”

At the end of the day, this link between Mollie’s favorite hobby and her lifelong passion for helping people feels natural and effortless. “There are these threads connecting everybody and sometimes it’s just my job to find those threads and attach them where they need to be.”

David remembered fondly, “We negotiated with the district attorney, but two judges rejected two consecutive plea deals we reached. As part of these deals, my client pleaded guilty, but since we were out of options, it had to go to trial. So we go to trial and my client is acquitted.”

This was a victory like no other in his career, as David felt he could not have done any better than the effort he gave. “It was the only case where after it was done, I could look back and say that I did everything perfectly. Even cases I’ve won, there were things I would do differently in hindsight.“ This is just one story of many from his career that illustrates his dedication and his passion for serving his clients as more than just a lawyer. “When you work as a lawyer,” he started, “you don’t get to see people at their best very often. I work in criminal defense and civil litigation, which means I’m working with people who are either accused of breaking the law or they’re involved in a squabble. Either way, they’re under a lot of stress so I often find myself in the role of a counselor, both in the legal sense, but also personally and emotionally.”

The human side of being a lawyer is what David says really keeps him in love with his profession. “I enjoy dealing with people. You’re in court all day and you have to work with everyone from maintenance staff to clerks to court officers to judges. Everywhere there are so many ways to utilize people skills. I enjoy that and like the humanity of the practice, I try to go out of my way to make everyone feel recognized.”

When David says he cares about recognizing the humanity in people and giving back to the community, he also puts his money where his mouth is. David has been involved with numerous non-profits, serving on the board of Soldier On, a fabulous organization that assists formerly homeless veterans in Western Mass. He’s also on the board of the Academy of Music Theater and he looks to get more involved with “keeping the gears of our community running smoothly,” as he says.

We concluded our conversation by clearing up some of the common misconceptions people have about lawyers and the law. “I think people’s opinions of lawyers tend to be on the snarky side and we don’t get enough credit,” he said. “I take my responsibilities seriously and my ethics seriously and I think it’s a noble profession. A law degree is a powerful instrument and for all the young people thinking about getting into law I encourage you strongly. The world will always need another good lawyer. Sure there’s a lot of lawyers already, but there will always be room for another good one.”