THE LAST WORD
Lawyer Linksman & O.D.
By Amy MacMillan

If Craig S. Steinberg needs a tagline for his business card, he may want to consider this: Optometrist by day/Attorney by night. Steinberg, who is both an O.D. and an attorney at law, may not literally work within these time constraints, but he does find the time to succeed at both professions. Steinberg is the owner of City Eyes Optometry Center in Sherman Oaks, Calif., where his brother Norm is the optician. Steinberg also practices law out of his home. He practices general law including business litigation, estate planning, and family law. In his spare time, he plays serious golf , and is a four-time Southern California Amateur Golf Champion. He has also been a contestant in 10 United States Amateur Golf Championships and 18 national championships during the past 18 years. How does he fit it all in? Hint: He doesn't waste time watching shows like Ally McBeal. Steinberg, 41, lives with his wife Robin, and their two children--Ryan, 12, and Morgan, 9--in the San Fernando Valley outside of Los Angeles.

Your first career choice was optometry. What inspired you to get into it?

My older brother was an optician. I was a biology major at University of Southern California, so I knew I'd go into the sciences somewhere.

You've played golf for many years. Did you ever think of going pro?

I've thought about it, and I probably will when I reach the Seniors' Tour age.

Do you have any tips for the kind of eyewear golfers should wear? Traditionally, they shun eyewear because they say it interferes with their game.

Well, that happens with me. I see a lot of golfers with pterygium, and it's probably from the ultra-violet rays. From my own standpoint, sunglasses have always bothered me in my ability to read greens. Every time I tried playing with sunglasses on, I ended up tossing them off every time I hit a shot. I'll wear them walking down the fairway, and then I take them off.

What do you tell your golfer patients to do?

Wear sunglasses.

What made you decide to become an attorney?

It was a convergence of a couple of things. One was that I had time at that juncture. There was also a law school very close to my house, and I'd always been interested in the law. When I started working only three days a week, I thought I'd give it a try. So, instead of just watching TV at night, I went to law school.

How do you balance both professions?

I spend about three-quarters of my time now in law. I see patients by appointment only. Also, I do a fair amount of law work at night, because I practice out of my house.

How do the two professions complement each other?

The only overlap is in the case history . I think I'm pretty good at getting to a patient's problem. It's sort of like cross examination--although not in an adversarial way. My questioning skills are certainly fine-tuned.

Would you give up either one of the two professions to work on the other full time?

No, but I'd give them both up to play in the Seniors Tour.

What is the biggest challenge facing the eyecare profession today?

One is the decline in revenue from the optical portion of optometry. And, that comes from a variety of things; the mail order, the competition generally, and also refractive surgery is an increasing cause of declining revenue. It's making doctors rely more on professional services, which is not necessarily a bad thing. And, of course, there is managed care.

What can O.D.s do to offset the effects of managed care?

I think we may be getting to where the quality of care being provided under managed care is causing patients to complain. They're starting to realize that they are not getting the quality of care that they were promised . And, it's not just in optometry. At some point, the quality of care reaches a critical bottom, where people start realizing what's going on and pulling out of managed care and going back into traditional fee-for-service, or putting pressure on their unions to put pressure on managed care to improve.

If President Clinton had asked you to be a part of his legal team during his impeachment trial, what would you have advised?

To look for someone with a lot more experience than me! He shouldn't have been publicly nit-picking like a lawyer . The line, "It depends on what is, is," will live in infamy.

If you were to advise your children on which of your two chosen professions to follow, what would you tell them? I'd tell them to become veterinarians. I think that's the best of the medical fields. My advice would be to pick something they enjoy. EB