Why I Love Being a Personal Injury Attorney (or as those who are unfamiliar with the California Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1-400 call us, Ambulance Chasers)

Years ago, before I made the decision to go to law school, I had a stint as a sales representative for a commercial energy broker. I left after approximately two months. I didn't leave because I wasn't making any money, or because I was treated badly. In fact, the company treated me to an all-expenses-paid cruise to Mexico. 

I left because I was selling a service that I would not be able to recommend to my family and friends if they were ever to approach me. The contracts that I was supposed to convince potential clients to sign up for were very overpriced. In fact, a day before I quit, I sabotaged one of my own deals. I had a deal lined up with an elderly Vietnamese restaurant owner. The deal would have canceled his current contract at a hefty fee, and placed him on a new, more expensive contract that he could have gotten for much cheaper by merely going online and signing up. 

Yes, I would have been paid handsomely for the sale. However, that would come at the expense of an innocent man that was working hard to make a living. I couldn't live with myself, so I returned to the restaurant owner and told him the truth - that cancelling at this point was inefficient, but that he should continue to check online towards the end of his contract to see if he could beat his current price. I went home, feeling much better about myself, went to sleep, woke up the next day, quit, started a career in banking, went to law school, moved to Los Angeles, and became a personal injury attorney.

So why do I love being a Personal Injury Attorney? 

Because I actually feel good about what I do. I treat my family and friends with the same exact service that I treat clients that I've never met before. 

Because I get to ensure that people that have been injured by the negligence of others are getting what they deserve. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone settle with an insurance company for $10,000, when the injuries they have will actually cost them $100,000.00. People oftentimes do not consider that the insurance companies aren't only responsible for paying for all of their medical treatment. 

Your pain and suffering that you went through has a monetary value. No, money will not make the pain and suffering go away, but it can buy you a lot of Ben and Jerry's, which will make the pain and suffering go away.

People don't consider that the wages or vacation time they lost during those days that they missed work for medical and car appointments, and/or because they just were in too much pain to go to work are reimbursable.

People don't consider that there are certain things that could come up in 10 or 20 years as a result of this accident, way after the statute of limitations expires, that are reimbursable today. 

My job is to make sure that the insurance companies do not take advantage of people's lack of knowledge, and leave them empty handed when the bills start adding up.

So essentially, I went from signing up people to devastating contracts, to preventing people from signing devastating contracts. 

Although I have yet to receive a free all-expenses-paid cruise, I must say it feels pretty good.