Baltimore's Child Baltimore's Child
As a trial lawyer, Keith Forman answers the call when families are in need.
Forman is a managing partner at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman LLC, a litigation firm that represents children who were catastrophically injured because of medical and nursing malpractice.
Forman is also a lifelong Baltimore resident, a diehard Orioles fan and a proud father of three. Forman lives in Baltimore with his wife, Stacy Forman, and their three children, Mara (12), Tali (10) and Elliot (5).
What do you love most about your job?
It’s rewarding in that we work very closely with families who are going through what I think is one of the worst nightmares imaginable. You go in to give birth to a child, and it winds up being the worst day when the child suffers a bad outcome from a medical error. I kind of have a somewhat hokey or cheesy line, but they come to us with just this shadow of disappointment and distrust cast over them and our job is to get them out of that shadow and in a place financially where they can have confidence that when they’re gone, their child will be taken care of.
What do you love most about being a parent?
It’s just a cool front-row seat to just seeing growth and development but having seen my girls get to where they are and now seeing my son develop as well, I just [like] watching them be sponges. I just think it’s the coolest thing, and seeing how they analyze new information and develop their own interests. All three of them are extremely inquisitive, which I think we try and encourage and nurture.
How do you balance work and family life?
It’s challenging. I feel like I’m constantly on the phone, which drives my kids crazy, and I feel bad, but I’m doing that a lot. I spent a lot of long nights working, but I think that the biggest way to have [that] balance is just having self-awareness about it and taking a step back sometimes and asking myself, “Where are my priorities today?” I try to push something work-related to the side and be more present. I don’t know how I’ve done it, but I have found a way to, I think, be very balanced. I have found that 4 [p.m.] to 9 p.m. is essential for being present. Because of the way we are now with remote work, I’m able to get a lot of work done at night from 8 [p.m.] to midnight sometimes.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a parent?
The biggest challenge I have faced is being patient. I have found that being a patient father has had its challenges, but I think I have again the sort of thing where I’m very aware of it and I’m constantly trying to do better.
What do you hope your children learn from you?
That you can really achieve anything you want with hard work. But it is vital that you have hobbies and interests and like to have fun, too. I think being a balanced adult is important for a whole host of reasons but just that, you know, you can work hard and play hard if you’ve got the drive to do it.
I want my kids to think of me as someone who has a lot of fun and has a lot of hobbies and interests but can also go get back to work and provide for my family.
Family Favorites
Meal: Pizza – it can be hard; there are a lot of different palettes, but we all enjoy pizza.
Dessert: 4/5 of us really like ice cream. My son is more of a candy [kid]; he likes gummies.
Vacation Spot: Delaware shore – Bethany Beach
Local Place: We love being at Oriole Park or M&T Bank Stadium and going to a game together.
Family Activity: Beach time
Book/Game: We all like playing Nintendo – Mario Kart; everybody can play Mario Kart.
