I consider myself a personal injury and workers’ compensation trial lawyer. I practice law in Douglasville, Georgia which is small but growing area. The population of Douglas County reached nearly 120,000 people in 2006. We are on the outskirts of Atlanta located twenty minutes due west of Downtown, Atlanta. The Metro Atlanta Area is said to have population base in excess of 5,000,000. I handle cases in which my clients have been injured. For the most part, my practice consists of car accident collision cases, big rig accidents, and workers’ compensation cases. The injuries my clients suffer run the spectrum. Some of my clients sustain what is commonly referred to as whiplash while others suffer severe brain injuries, amputations, spinal cord injuries, and even death.
I have found that trial lawyers share common traits, whether they be in Douglas County, Atlanta, Los Angeles, or New York. Trial lawyers make sure that the powerless in America can stand up to insurance companies and corporations in court. We ensure that hard working working class families and injured workers are able to obtain redress for their injuries. Most often, this is accomplished through the contingency fee which is a marvel of the American justice system. Many of my clients could not afford an attorney on a retainer or hourly basis to aggressively pursue their injury case. It is interesting to note that contingency fees are not allowed in most countries, including most European nations.
Until only recently has the term trial lawyer become politicized. Even though the legal system has been compensating injury victims for hundreds, if not thousands of years, it is not until recently that there has been much talk of trial lawyers and tort reform. Somewhere in the fray, many forget that one of the oldest and most basic ways to redress physical injury is by making the wrongdoer pay money. Indeed, it is the only form of “fix” the law can offer for all intents and purposes. I remind juries all the time how making one party pay another money is all the law can do. The payment of money is an inherent but necessary shortcoming, for the law cannot restore good health or take away pain and agony. Perhaps the critics should keep this simple truth in mind. How much would I have to pay you to break your arm, give you a severe head injury, or snap your spinal cord rendering you a quadriplegic? I think you get the point.
