Personal Injury Lawyer Interviews

Freehold, NJ: Four years ago Patricia Hagerman watched in horror as her husband was electrocuted by a downed power line in front of their home on Pear Street in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. William Hagerman, a postal worker, lost an arm and a leg in the accident, and although she was not physically injured, the psychological damage done to Patricia Hagerman was also significant and life changing.

New York, NY: Marie Wilson was a spry and fit 86-year-old who still enjoyed hiking—that is until she slipped and fell on a plastic drop cloth left laying on the floor of her Manhattan apartment during a renovation project in 2009.

Chesterfield, MO: Roxana, Illinois, population 1,547, is a tiny little klatch of wood frame homes resting along the Missouri border, some of them built not more than 500 feet from the site of the Shell Oil refinery that sprang up there at the beginning of the 1900s.

New York, NY: And, you have the right to remain silent, except for those things you posted on your Facebook page, or you tweeted or otherwise sprinkled throughout cyberspace for all of eternity. Personal injury attorney Neal Goldstein, from Goldstein & Bashner in New York City and Long Island, is constantly reminding clients to be careful about what they are sharing on social media sites.

Birmingham, AL: A jury in Alabama was simply standing up for its community and following the rule of law when it awarded $37.5 million to the family of a young Huntsville police officer who was dispatched to investigate a 911 at a Mexican restaurant and then shot dead at point blank by the El Jalisco's intoxicated manager Benito Albarran, according to attorney Matthew Minner.

Chicago, IL: As a former trial attorney and for the last eight years the executive director of the most active lawsuit funding company in the US, Elizabeth Pekin genuinely believes in what Oasis Legal Finance (OLF) does. "As a trial attorney in Chicago, I used to meet face-to-face with people who were often at the lowest point in their lives," she says. "All they needed was maybe $1,000 to help them with living expenses and they just could not wait until their case settled."

Tustin, CA: Your credit rating is a valuable asset, and long-time attorney Thomas Key says credit injury claims are on the verge of becoming pro forma in the world of torts. "The traditional recovery in a personal injury suit is for the cost of medical treatment, wage loss and pain and suffering," says Key. "And now, loss of credit reputation is going to be consistently added to that list."

San Francisco, CA: There are none so blind as those that will not see, as the saying goes. That's the back story on the $12.2 million verdict Doug Saeltzer recently obtained on behalf a woman injured for life in a pedestrian crosswalk in San Mateo, California in 2006.

Los Angeles, CA: Greene, Broillet & Wheeler is a very well-known Los Angeles firm that has handled dozens of high profile personal injury lawsuits. But this was first time Browne Greene had been called upon to represent a journalist. "This is the first time that a journalist has successfully sued a police department for assault and battery and violation of constitutional rights," says Greene, who has gone up against the LAPD before. "This was a precedent-setting case for a very nice gal. It was a very satisfying result."

Woodstock, VT: Attorney Ross Feldmann says hunters occasionally need to be reminded about safety, and the $380,557 personal injury verdict he obtained for his client will do just that. "People forget the rules of safety in the ambition to get animal," says Feldmann. "Whether it's a turkey or a deer, this case is reminds people of the consequences."