Law Dad Roy

Proud Dad Moment 👏🏻👏🏻

A little environmental protest by our little people telling the obvious…palmettos are a lot less likely to blow over in a hurricane than their power poles.

Palmettos were designed for that.

So if Dominion is truly concerned about service outages during high wind events they should remove their power poles instead of the palmettos and bury the lines.

Great effort by our 8 year old neighbor who designed the signs and Sullivan’s Island For All for organizing the rest of the neighbors to get them posted on the more than 500 palmettos slated for chopping down.

Love getting emails like this! I was awarded Top 10 Personal Injury Law Attorney in South Carolina by "Best of the Best Attorneys!" It always means so much to be recognized!

Our family grew once again but this time it is only babies with beaks 😜🐣🐓

Eat your frog first? No.

The real Breakfast of Champions?

Chocolate Bunnies.

Why eat your frog first when you can eat your chocolate bunny?

That’s right, seize the day starting with the best part first.

Despite the oft copied productivity lesson of “eat your frogs first.”

Why wait for the end to enjoy the best bits?

Work, like life, is unpredictable and waiting to enjoy it “later” is a gamble we shouldn’t take.

Just like embracing the sweetness of a chocolate bunny at the start of the day, we should approach our lives and careers with the same enthusiasm for the joys and passions that make our hearts beat faster.

So, here’s to starting our days, projects, and meetings with what excites us most.

Let’s prioritize the tasks and activities that bring us joy and fulfillment.

Who wants to live on the premise of saving the best for last?

Not when every day offers an opportunity to lead with what we love.

Let’s take a leaf out of my daughter’s book and start our days with our “chocolate bunnies.”

Embrace the joy, the passion, and the excitement from the get-go.

Eat the chocolate bunnies first…
…and delegate the rest!

A big thank you to the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys for recognizing me as 1 of the top 10 Personal Injury Attorneys in South Carolina!

Kids are people too.

I know, shocking. But often there are so many things we think apply to "adults" that could not possibly apply to kids.

Take this story from church yesterday.

A few weeks ago someone who goes to our church had a sick daughter.

Pretty bad sickness.

This daughter is about my age, or so we guess. We have actually never met her.

We prayed for her at Wednesday church supper, that's how our 7 year old found out.

And he decided he wanted to send her a card.

So he made a card, and delivered it to her dad at church for her.

Tears welled up in the man's eyes as he received the card. He thanked him with a cracking voice, and told him how much it meant to them.

Fast forward...

Sunday, church is over and we are all leaving our pews.

The man walks up to my son, and hands him a card.

I think nothing of it, and then I realize he is reading it to him.

Well, for the last 24 hours that has been a main topic of conversation.

The lesson is this: handwritten notes matter to humans. All humans.

So here's a challenge for you this week: Write a note.

Yes, actually pick up a pen and write.
Let's rediscover the beauty of connecting through handwritten words.

Your note could be the highlight of someone's week, a reminder of the simple yet profound power of our humanity.

Yes, you can say 'thank you.'
Even with a crackle in your voice, and tear in your eye.
But that handwritten note will make a big impact even still.

Especially to the little people in your life.

Adults are people too.

Shocking, I know.

But hippity, hoppity when quarterly planning is underway and the Easter Bunny 🐰 shows up, what are you to do?!

Laugh, and a selfie, of course!

Our COO Lane Jefferies thinks of everything!

This quarter we are experimenting with doing our recap and planning for next quarter before the official end of Q1, which we have not done before.

Usually we do it at the start of the quarter so we can have a full and complete recap of the quarter before.

But this time we are experimenting with giving our self a full quarter of ex*****on time in Q2.

Do you do quarterly planning?

If so, when?

Length? Ours is 3-4 days.

Pros / cons on the timing before or after quarter ends?

Busy day for the Willey’s! Palm Sunday processional at church with lunch and Easter Egg Hunts!

Then we all cheered on Penn as he notched Second Place in our Cub Scout’s Pinewood Derby!

Silent on Zoom?

Monday is meeting day.

And for me, that means hours of Zoom.

I’ve become a Zoom student, and here’s one thing I’ve learned.

Silence is golden. ⚱️

In other words…

Just because someone is silent on Zoom doesn’t mean they have nothing to add.

Instead it typically means…

They're listening. Deeply.

Their minds aren't racing.
They're absorbing.
Not plotting when to speak.

They're synthesizing, understanding.
Active listeners.
Quiet.
Insightful.
Intentional.

Leaders, Mentors, Collaborators…
That’s our cue.
Encourage their voice.
Unlock their insight.

Silence is golden. ⚱️
Recognize it.
Your move.
Break it.

It’s the breaking it that builds your Team up.

And takes your meeting to the next level.

Don’t believe me?
Try it.

Did you know?

In New York every law firm is required to post this Statement of Client’s Rights in a space where clients can see it.

I think it’s a pretty good idea and more states should consider requiring it. I can also think of a few things to add…

What do you think?

“My client will just declare bankruptcy and dissolve if you get a big verdict.”

Sometimes that’s the point.

Spoke to the Pastor who introduced me to one of my most courageous clients ever this weekend.

Ms. Greene stood up, when most would’ve stood down.

Single mom.

Middle of the pandemic.

A lot going on.

But she wanted her kids to know that when white supremacists took advantage of them she didn’t back down.

So she stood.

She set that example.

She asked me for help.

Had no money to pay.

And the white supremacists had relatively little to collect compared to my normal cases.

But as a father doing my best to raise world changers, “Sorry, I can’t” was never an option.

So we stood shoulder to shoulder in a packed courtroom.

Surrounded by the media and activists, racists and all races.

And we shut them down.

They’ve never shut up.
But they did about her and hers.

Grateful to Essence Magazine for keeping up with that case and Ms. Greene’s living testimony.

The public library makes me sad.

Almost every weekend we journey down to our local public library.

Sometimes the library director has planned activities for the kids, sometimes for adults.

If she has an activity for the kids I usually take the opportunity to sit on the leather couch in the non-fiction room and read something I wouldn’t typically read.

Last Saturday that was “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.” I made it about halfway through and so far am enjoying it.

Had to put it down when the kids finished their activity and it was time to help them pick their checkouts for the week.

But that’s not what makes me sad about the public library.

The weekly haul for our family is pretty large typically. 4 kids:

7 year old,
3 year old,
2 year old and
infant all want to read different things it seems…

But that’s not what makes me sad either.

What makes me sad about the public library is that for all of the planning, and effort that goes into those activities most often it is just us and maybe one other family that shows up.

That makes me sad for our librarian, and for all of the children that are missing out.

When’s the last time you went to a public library?

A jury awarded my client $2,500,000.00 in compensatory damages for her broken ankle. And she deserved every dollar.

But that was in 2017 - and while she’s collected 7 figures, she hasn’t collected all that our civil justice system determined her injury was worth.

The person who broadsided her? His insurance paid full limits before the first trial. In fact, no trial would have been necessary if her own insurance company - the UIM (underinsured motorist) carrier - did the same thing.

But instead they misrepresented their authority. And in one court case they said her headlights were on to protect their liability insurance limits. While in our case they said her headlights were off to protect their UIM limits FROM HER! 🤯

All of which we alleged in our second case against them. Perjury if you or I lie under oath in court, by the way. So we fight on. In 2019, another jury, in our second case, said her UIM carrier was negligent and that its bad faith was intentional, reckless, willful, wanton or malicious in the handling of her claim.

That jury awarded her the full costs she spent fighting for the 1st case $49,052.20 and punitive damages of another $250,000.00. But her insurance company still hasn’t paid.

The Judge wiped out the verdict, essentially saying that insurance carriers are a special class and can’t be liable for negligence like every other person and entity in our society. And that the verdict was inconsistent.

And the Court of Appeals said that was okay. The Supreme Court could have rubber stamped it. But, yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari on two questions.

1.) Does [state] law permit a standalone claim for negligence in a first-party insurance action, in addition to a claim for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing? 2.) Did the Court of Appeals err when it affirmed the trial court's decision on the ground that Respondent did not act in bad faith?

The original car wreck? That was in 2014. A decade later, and our retired military intelligence officer client is a little bit closer to justice. But it’s not over yet. To get full justice you have to stay after it. For the long haul. Be formidable. Be relentless. March on.

If you help a butterfly out of its cocoon it will never fly.

The struggle wriggling of the cocoon is what fills its wings with blood.

Without the blood filling them the wings won’t spread, nor dry; and the half-caterpillar with wet undeveloped wings will be stuck in that moment in time and die.

It will never grow, because it wasn’t allowed to struggle.

The same is true of us, but as humans we are naturally adverse to discomfort and change. And therefore growth.

And the same is true of organizations. But as organizations grow there is even more discomfort and struggle and change because organizational growth requires imperfect humans, by nature adverse to those things, to go through them together - as one.

So there is usually loss and renewal at each growth level.

And it’s painful.
And uncomfortable.
And sometimes even sad.

But it’s necessary.
And unavoidable.

The alternative is no change.
Without change, no growth.
And no growth means death.

At least to the aspirational butterfly.

I don’t know the value of every boat in the marina.

And unless the lawyer has tried your injury case they don’t know the exact value of that either.

If they’ve never tried a case like yours?

All but flying blind.

Guess what else that means?

The other side doesn’t know the value of them handling the case either.

Matt Nakajima’s post yesterday (go read it) got me thinking about the other side of the conversation when a client says some other lawyer told them their case was worth $X.

Perhaps the client gets it wrong, or perhaps some lawyer - or increasingly social media AI generated app - did put a number on it.

The next question is: go ask that lawyer how many cases they’ve tried like yours and what their results were. Ask for case citations and I’ll help you look them up.

Because here’s the deal.

No lawyer that tries cases on the regular will ever tell you your case is worth exactly $X. For a real trial lawyer the real value is the trial value. And there’s too many factors to precisely determine that.

But a real trial lawyer can tell you about cases they’ve tried and that data may give you a range or idea of what your case could be worth.

It also gives the other side that range.

It tells them their risk.

If the lawyer or AI app giving you the estimate hasn’t tried any cases, no one - including them - has any idea what their capacity is.

They may be guessing based on settlement values around insurance policy limits (🤷🏽‍♂️), or average settlement ranges in the area for your kind of case (🤣 always pathetically low), or their ‘gut instinct.’

But a guess doesn’t start the path to success.

So advice for that client when they come to you:

Go have that conversation with the other lawyer. Then tell them to talk to a real trial lawyer and get real advice about their case, from someone who has been in the arena.

Do you value injury cases any differently, what have I missed?

Preparation makes pricks merely decorative.

Morning hike would’ve turned out differently if I had selected the wrong equipment.

Same is true of whatever you’re tackling today.

Don’t shortcut the prep.

hashtag hashtag hashtag

You can check me live right now with Draft n Craft, Brian Glass, Fatima Alexis Zeidan and Rakesh K Sharma talking about Virtualization of Law Firms. You can also watch the recording! Check out their page for more information!

We got a $50 million verdict for her and my client didn’t care.

As soon as the verdict came in she grabbed my hand and simply said, “finally, he’s guilty.”

Years before, her husband and the father of their young son had been riding his motorcycle to work during the recession to save on gas so maybe they could still take their annual vacation as a family despite leaner times.

He was wearing all of the safety gear: long pants, leather safety jacket, helmet and boots.

And he was almost there.

But he never made it.

As he was in the last bit of straightaway before turning into the parking lot where he worked a commercial paint truck barreled through the intersection, turning left in front of him and he broadsided it. He never made it to work, and he never made it back home.

For years the defense denied liability blaming the intersection design, light design and even Frank.

They even made a case within a case at trial with our forensic economist who testified about what the economic impact of losing the breadwinner was to the family. Most of the quibbling was about the amount of taxes he’d have to pay on his working class salary, and how that would reduce the take home pay beyond what our economist’s report said.

The jury didn’t like that, and punished them for it.

And all Cindy wanted was for someone to say that it wasn’t Frank’s fault.

For all of the talk about “nuclear” verdicts, most of it misses the mark.

The reasoning and justification for why a jury does what it does is often the result of human connection and right vs. wrong. And the meaning to the plaintiff isn’t often what it’s sold as by big companies and their counsel either.

I can assure you no one was clinking champagne glasses that day.

Only get good ideas in the shower?

That’s probably because it’s the only time you give yourself to think.

Like actually, think.

Without screens.

Without podcasts.

Without reading.

Without the constant input into your brain.

Friday is ideation day for me.

I actually block off time in my calendar to sit...and think.

Do you do that?

It is that time of day again!!!! Your chance to win one of two Starbucks gift cards!!!

All you have to do is follow & ✔️ - tag your friends 👯 and share!

Another week, another giveaway completed! Congratulations to & .and.letters ☕

You're this week's Starbucks Gift Card winners! Send us your emails!

Another week, another winner!! Send us a message with your email to claim your free Starbucks gift card! ☕️

Stay tuned for next week’s giveaway!

Corporations have no conscience.

And we shouldn’t expect them to.

After all, corporations are created to do one thing - generate profit. That’s their very purpose. Like man’s is to serve God or find greater purpose in life, any corporation’s purpose at creation is to generate profit.

Now, there are examples of ‘good’ corporations with public interest principles embedded into their mission, vision and values, but these principles are secondary to profit motives. And they must be, because without profit a corporation will cease to exist.

That’s why as an attorney for the injured and cheated I spend very little time trying to convince the corporate cabal about the righteousness of my clients’ cases. Instead, I focus my efforts on highlighting the risk to their bottom line if they don’t do the right thing and compensate my client fully on the front end.

There is no right and wrong with a corporation - there is only more and less. So to be effective for our clients we have to demonstrate how the risk profile gets greater as the case gets closer to a jury verdict. “Pay now or pay more later.” That’s the job.

If you want to affect change at a corporation, it begins and ends with their checkbook.

You know the drill 🚨⚠️ We’re giving away two gift cards!!!

Like, share and tag your friends for a chance to win!!

Disclaimer: The post isn’t as ridiculous as the picture.

A lot of lawyers wait until discovery to start discovering information about the other side. That’s too late.

I've learned the invaluable importance of exhaustive research on the other parties *before* filing a lawsuit.

Post-filing background checks and research can morph, negatively impacting a case’s outcome. It’s amazing how many times advertisements, social media posts, and other immediately available online resources that are helpful to a case change or disappear during litigation from what we saw and captured pre-suit. As they say “don’t delay, start today” if you’re going to be in litigation anytime soon.

A comprehensive pre-case study is the key to an unshakeable foundation for every case.

There’s nothing like a rainy weekend at Disney with four kids to recharge you for climate controlled office work come Monday. My cup runneth over! ☕️

The best $6.95 you’ll spend this week.

I just finished listening to DARREN HARDY’s book on Audible while traveling between 3 new offices that we are opening to better serve injured people across the Carolinas.

It’s a great read, full of useful insights and actionable tips to change your life by changing your intentionality around your choices. It’s so useful i went to order a hard copy, and was pleasantly surprised to learn it’s free, only having to pay $6.95 shipping at:

TheCompoundEffect.com

Order it or not, your choice. But…

“Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”

Coffee dates are for lovers 💓💓💓

Like our page, share this post and tag your love to be entered in a Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway!!




Happy Valentine’s Day, ya’ll!!!

Valentine's Day is supposed to be a joyous day, celebrating love. But sometimes, things can go terribly wrong in the most unexpected ways. In such instances, a day of love ends with the initiation of personal injury lawsuit. 😅 🤣

Here’s two unexpected Valentine’s Day happenings that could easily result in a case. 💓 💗 ❤️ 💕 ❣️ 💞 💔

Valentine's Day Mishaps: In Ohio, a woman faced misdemeanor charges after attempting to assault her boyfriend for not presenting her with a Valentine's Day gift. The altercation, starting as a verbal dispute around 11:30 p.m., escalated into a physical confrontation where the woman allegedly scratched and punched her boyfriend. Concerned for his safety, the victim sought refuge by locking himself in their bedroom. The situation intensified as the woman proceeded to stab the bedroom door, threatening harm. Fortunately, law enforcement intervened before she could gain access to the locked room. 👮 🔪 🚪

Love Takes a Painful Turn: In another unfortunate incident, an Illinois woman found herself charged with aggravated domestic battery for biting off a significant portion of her boyfriend's tongue. Following a heated argument post-Valentine's Day date, the defendant, dissatisfied with a kiss, asked the victim to leave her home. In a shocking turn of events, she bit off a substantial part of his tongue. Despite the victim's efforts to save the severed tongue, medical professionals were unable to reattach it due to insufficient blood supply. 👋 👅