Gratitude Across The Years

In 2005, two lovely Miamians got into a horrible car wreck. Charlie, not his real name, was a third generation "Miamuh" guy -- newly retired federal civil servant. His wife Carmen, not her real name, was still working for the Miami Dade Schools. She was a classic Cuban American -- fled Castro in the early 60s, got her education degree here, and married an amiable gringo. They had two college aged kids.

On their way to the airport to fetch their daughter, flying home from Tampa for a long weekend, Charlie's SUV was cut off by a Haitian guy who had missed his exit, and, rather than driving to the next one, cut from the left lane in a failed attempt to make his way. The SUV flipped. Charlie hurt his knee. Carmen was rendered a quadriplegic.

These folks knew a former employee of our firm from their shared church, and they hired Paul and me to bring a claim. We jumped right in -- secured all the evidence, got all the statements, made sure Carmen was getting the best care (she was -- they took her to UM/JMH). And then Paul and I met with my old friend Dave, a partner in a large Miami firm who previously defended car manufacturers when he was a partner in a large Chicago firm.

Dave set out what we had in store. The car manufacturer would fight like hell. We'd hire 3 engineers to prove the SUV was unsafe, and shouldn't have crumbled like an aluminum can in the crash, and the company would have 10.  Paul and I knew we COULD handle the case, but the best thing would be to co-counsel with a larger firm who had handled these already.  I reached out to Ervin, a guy a year ahead of me at UM Law who was kicking ass and taking names as a trial stud at a major Miami firm.  Ervin said no -- he was already too stressed with cases he had. Turns out he wasn't kidding -- several years ago he hung himself in a classic Richard Corey tale. My friends and I, being properly respectful of the tragedy, now refer to him as the best hung lawyer in town...

Then I remembered Lance. Lance worked with us on a train wreck case, and we were impressed with him. He was also a "miamuh" guy -- born and raised here, and became an US Army paratrooper before coming home to UM Law. He worked with the top products liability firm in West Palm. They wanted in. We decided Paul and I would handle damages, and they would spearhead liability. They had already had nearly a hundred of these cases. We were off to the races, as they say.

Lance and his guys were terrific. They bought 5 exemplar SUVs and had them dropped from cranes, as teams of engineers recorded and watched. The car company saw his experts and raised him 5. It didn't matter -- military-like, Lance charged ahead.

Meanwhile, we handled the damage case prep expertly, if I don't say so myself. We hired the top vocational people, and economists, to prove the hard dollar loss to Charlie and Carmen. The top therapists and neurosurgeons provided us with graphics and depositions to show the jury what medically happened.  We wanted to show the defense these plaintiffs were their worst nightmare -- a jury would LOVE them, not just sympathize with them. We succeeded.

It took about 2 years, and the case settled for a significant amount of money. I had one more bit of work to do -- the insurance lien. The carrier spent a LOT of money, and had a right to claim it out of the settlement. I did my magic with them, and ended up getting them to accept about 5 cents on the dollar -- which put a LOT MORE money in our clients' pockets.

In the years after the case concluded, Charlie would call me from time to time. Once he offered me mangoes and avocados from their tree. I declined -- not a mango or avocado guy. They completely retrofitted the house they lived in since the early 70s -- in an old Miami suburb next to a warehouse district now becoming the "next Wynwood," with art galleries and craft breweries and a music studio.

Most of the calls were about small legal matters. I would handle them for him and Carmen. I helped his daughter with some stuff, too -- she grew into a lovely woman -- a teacher married to a teacher. They have 2 kids now close the the age she was when the accident happened -- and they live 2 blocks from their parents. Her brother, Charlie Junior, was a failure to launch kid who eventually went to college in his mid 20s -- became a teacher, too, and lives in Tampa with his kids and wife.

Anyway -- a few months before the plague, Charlie called me about another dust up. A kid on his street lost control of his car and wrecked some of the landscaping. Charlie wanted the kid to pay -- he said he would, but then ignored the requests. The kid was insured with State Farm, and I opened a claim for Charlie, but told him I needed an estimate to fix the damage from their landscape guy. Charlie said he'd get it to me.

He called Friday, and I assumed it was about the landscape estimate. No, he said, he was calling for a different reason. After church, he and Carmen were talking. Like all of us, they are afraid in these times, but realized one problem they don't have is finances. They handled their settlement well -- got professional advice, and grew the money. They live well below their means.

Charlie said he wanted me to know how grateful his family is to me, Paul, and Lance. We really were lifesavers. Would I please pass that message along?  I wished them well, and hung up the phone.

I told Paul. I haven't spoke to Lance in years, but will email him.

We were paid well for our efforts, of course, but had we lost the case, would not have been paid. We'd have been out all the time we put in, as well as multiple six figures of money advanced.

But well beyond the money, Charlie's call warmed me. I'm self deprecating about my law career. But I guess, every once in awhile, we really did something worthwhile.