St. Louis, MOJohn J. Page is on his cell phone, he's getting gas and he sounds busy. That's because he is busy. He says he'll call back in four minutes.He's just recently been accepted to the exclusive Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a group of 3000 lawyers considered to be the best in America.
Only lawyers who have shown the ability to perform under exceptional circumstances in complex litigation cases are eligible for membership. They must have won million or multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, and less than one per cent of American attorneys are members.
He's actually in Las Vegas at the moment, attending a bachelor party and he is just about to go to the sand dunes to go ATV'ing. "I am a self confessed speed junkie," says Page. "I like anything to do with a motor." He is a true motorcycle enthusiast. In fact he owns three of them, including a high end Italian motorcycle, a Ducati 798, a Harley Davidson and a dirt bike.
Page had planned to join the FBI after graduating in Criminal Justice at the Central Missouri State University, but then he got a better idea. He decided to pursue a law degree. That degree in criminal justice has not really helped him in his law career with one exception, says Page. "I met my partner (Zane T. Cagle) when I was doing my criminal justice degree. He has a degree in safety and worked with an oil company down in the Virgin Islands, before we became partners."
Page|Cagle focuses entirely on clients who are injured due to the negligence of others, and includes truck accidents, car accidents, train accidents and motorcycle accidents. "Ninety-five percent of our cases involve truck accidents, car accidents and motorcycle accidents," says Page.
Page and his firm recently settled three truck accident cases, all in Missouri and all in the million dollar plus range. "I can't really talk about them," he says, "because the verdicts were all sealed."
What is the key to winning big cases for Page? "Good jury selection, obviously that is key to being successful," he says. "But most cases don't reach the jury trial. It really depends what case you are talking about. Take a truck accident, for example: getting the right experts on board, doing the investigation immediately, all those things are just as important, if not more."
John J. Page is a partner with Page|Cagle in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned his Juris Doctorate at Washington University School of Law and his B.S. in Criminal Justice at Central Missouri State University.