Products Liability Lawyer Begins His Push Into The Blogging World
And so I begin. As I started to think about developing my own legal blog focusing in on the area of products liability lawsuits, I thought of naming this blog "From Both Sides Now". I know, really catchy and in a minute you will understand the meaning behind it. However, my trusty educator on blogging informed me I had to come up with a name which would describe what my blog was about. Thus, the somewhat mundane name of Alabama Product Injury Lawyer Blog.
Now the meaning behind my concept of "From Both Sides Now". For the first 18 years of my practice I was a defense lawyer for a mid-size firm based out of Florida who focused on automotive products liability cases. This included not only cars, but ATVs, motorcycles and even SeaDoos. I represented numerous car manufacturers over the years in cases filed throughout the country. During the last years of my practice as a defense lawyer, I was southeast regional counsel for a major Japanese car manufacturer. At one point, the firm I worked for asked me to move up to Birmingham, Alabama and open and manage a satellite office of that firm in Alabama. Although my wife, a Pennsylvania girl born and raised, had some hesitation about moving to the heart of Dixie, it has proven to be the best move of our lives. Both professionally and personally, I and my family have blossomed.
After spending five years running the office for the defense firm in Birmingham, I decided it was time for a change. I had been doing defense work for 18 years and needed something to change things up a bit. That brings me to the meaning behind the catch phrase.....I became a lawyer representing individuals who have been injured. For the past six years I worked at an established and nationally known firm here in Birmingham who fought for the rights of the injured and wronged. Not only have I found my calling, but I never knew the practice of law could be so life changing. The ability to fight for someone who has had significant tragedy in their life and be able to provide them some hope for the future has been an incredible gift of this journey. I have had the privilege of representing parents who lost their child due to suicide caused by an anti-depressants, husbands and children who lost their mother due to the taking of a "bad drug", and in one case, an entire family who lost 3 family members and were left with 2 family members severely brain damaged all in one car crash due to the complete lack of care shown by a corporation in accepting responsiblilty for dangerous conditions it was causing to the roadway. No, I cannot bring back the so dearly loved family members or repair the significant injuries to my clients, but I can fight to give them something back so they begin to heal and repair their torn lives.
However, I bring a different perspective to cases because I have handled cases from "the other side". I know how they view cases, what strategies they may try, and how they evaluate cases. It permits me to anticipate how they will react to certain claims and know the potential moves before they even happen. This experience on both sides also provides me with different thoughts on issues than other attorneys representing the injured and wronged because for the first 18 years of my practice, the "defense perspective" was drummed into my brain.
That is the difference I hope to bring to this blog and the blogging world in general. Yes, I am a plaintiff's lawyer and fight for the rights of individuals who have been wronged. However, I understand the position of my defense bretheren and sometimes even agree with their views on legal issues. (As long as it doesn't somehow hurt my clients:))
Final thing and then I will sign off for now. Several months ago I left the firm from where I learned to practice as plaintiff's lawyer and have started my own firm. I handle cases of any type where people have been physically injured or killed, as well as contractual disputes. However, I continue to focus on cases involving products liability or products which have injured individuals. I have specialties in the areas of cars, drugs and medical devices that cause injuries to people. In this blog I will be addressing issues relating to lawsuits involving these types of products, as well as products liability cases in general. I hope you will take this ride with me and enjoy the journey. That's it....BLOG #1.
