I have been asked on a number of occasions if I have ever regretted not being able to fulfill my original goal, which was to be a successful football coach. I have to admit that I have wondered a few times how that plan would have played out if I had wound up being a coach. However, I must say that I am totally satisfied with what I have done and continue to do as a trial lawyer. While the playing fields for these two callings are quite different, there are some definite similarities. I wound up being a trial lawyer, and can say without reservation, that the work I do can be just as “rough” as football.
I became a trial lawyer by choice and I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to be a person who helps folks who need help. I am also proud to have been an active defender of the courts and specifically the Civil Justice System. The American people deserve a court system that is both open to them and one that is totally independent. The system has been under unjust and unwarranted attacks for decades and those attacks persist today. All any litigant should expect from the courts is accessibility and fairness. There are some in our society, however, who want a different standard.
Trial lawyers have also been under constant attack for decades. All too often Corporate America values money and profits over human lives and safety. It’s essential that corporate wrongdoers be held accountable. The courts are the only place where a corporate wrongdoer can be held accountable and where an ordinary citizen can get true justice. Trial lawyers are involved in the system – on the side of victims of corporate wrongdoing and abuse – and that is exactly why they have been under attack.
It’s critically important to keep the courts in America open and independent. The battle to preserve the court system and keep the courts available and open for victims of corporate wrongdoing and abuse is still ongoing. This is a battle the American people can ill afford to lose. In fact, it’s critically important that this battle is won.
Ordinary citizens depend on trial lawyers and for that reason each of us who are trial lawyers has a moral duty to do our very best to protect them. Our law firm has been active on the battlefield referred to above and we have no intention of leaving the field until the battle is won. I believe that the overwhelming majority of people in this country agree with me. They recognize the importance of the 7th Amendment and an independent and fair system of courts.
