Nevada Justice Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award

GGRM Law Firm Founder Aubrey Goldberg Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Nevada Justice Association

Reflecting more than a half-century of championing the legal cause of injured Nevadans and unparalleled service to the legal community, GGRM Law Firm founder Aubrey Goldberg was honored with the Nevada Justice Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the NJA Annual Summer Gala on June 17, 2022, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.

According to the NJA, the Lifetime Achievement Award is intended to recognize a lawyer who has devoted his or her career to helping injured victims, consumers, and those persons who lack the money, education, and ability to protect their own rights. The award is not based upon a lawyer’s financial success, but upon his or her efforts as a lawyer to better the community and the legal profession.

“Aubrey Goldberg is the kind of attorney other lawyers aspire to become,” said GGRM Managing Partner Toby Yurek. “The depth of his legal knowledge, the compassion he truly feels for his clients, and the results he has been able to achieve for those clients is an enviable legacy and truly worthy of the respect he commands throughout the Nevada legal community.”

Founding GGRM

After receiving his undergraduate degree at the College of William and Mary and a Juris Doctorate from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary, Mr. Goldberg served as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base, where he met and worked with fellow attorney John Greenman. Following their active military service, they founded the law firm of Greenman & Goldberg in Las Vegas in 1970.

In 1975, Paul E. Raby joined the firm and in 1985, Gabriel Martinez was brought on board and the firm was rebranded as Greenman, Goldberg, Raby and Martinez (GGRM) in 1989. The firm’s legal practice quickly evolved from general practice to a personal injury and workers’ compensation law firm.

“Aubrey is one of those attorneys who believes that practicing law is a privilege and has always treated it with respect,” said Martinez. “He believes in duty and that there are obligations that come with representing other people. He always treated his clients with respect and courtesy and was a great mentor to me. He believes in service and from the early days of my career, he always encouraged me to seek ways to be of service to the legal community as he has done throughout his career. Aubrey is an example of what attorneys should be throughout their careers.”

Mr. Goldberg has served in leadership positions for numerous organizations, including President of the State Bar of Nevada, President of the Clark County Bar Association, and President of the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers as well as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Nevada Association of Trial Lawyers. He has also served as a Supreme Court Judge Mediator for the Nevada Supreme Court. In 2016, he was selected as the Nevada representative for the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society.

Foundation for the Future

“We were one of the first — if not the first — law firms to start using computers and then to have an internal network throughout our firm,” Martinez explained. “Aubrey practiced through all those innovations. You have to remember that in his heyday, we had no technology. You really had to know your stuff and experience was earned by working hard and doing it yourself.

“Aubrey was always very prepared. He knew the law and he also knew the medical aspects. In those days, you actually had to witness medical procedures yourself to truly understand your case. Today, you just have to turn on YouTube. It’s not easy to change with the times, but Aubrey did it. He just really loves practicing law. He likes helping people and being their champion to ensure they get a just result. He didn’t win every case, but I guarantee you that he gave it his all every time.”

GGRM Strategic Development Partner Jason Mills joined the firm in 2018 after building a highly successful workers’ compensation practice himself. “I actually became a lawyer because of Aubrey,” said Mills, whose first legal job was as a runner for Mr. Goldberg. “His compassion for people harmed by bad actors made him someone I looked up to and wanted to emulate. It is an honor to just walk in the shadow of someone of that stature in our community.

“The NJA Lifetime Achievement Award is not given every year, and when it is given, it’s to someone who has provided a lifetime of service to the legal community and to those unable to get justice for themselves. This peer recognition is the highest honor any trial lawyer can get and no one is more deserving of that honor than Aubrey Goldberg.”

GGRM Managing Partner Toby Yurek concurs, noting that, “When I was brought in, Aubrey was in the process of easing into semi-retirement. Yet, he was always available and has been an invaluable resource to me and the rest of our attorneys. He is a virtual ocean of knowledge when it comes to personal injury and workers’ compensation law. His name and the legacy he created here at GGRM really mean something. He did an amazing job of laying a foundation for a highly respected law firm that we as the second generation of partners now get to build on.”

Today, Aubrey Goldberg remains the gold standard in the Nevada legal community as an attorney with a keen legal mind and a deep compassion for injured victims struggling to protect their rights.

“I have worked with Aubrey for 36 years and the traits he most exemplifies are loyalty and honesty,” said Martinez. “You could always count on him to do the right thing, which is a great comfort when you are practicing with someone. He never cut corners and always did his duty; it is ingrained in him. He really made it possible for me to have my dream career. And as the next generation of GGRM attorneys takes over, they know they have a solid foundation from which to grow the firm because of Aubrey’s legacy.”