You see them posted everywhere...I made my client $1 million...I made my client $2 million.  You have to kind of chuckle at these badges of honor.  I am also to blame.  My website has them too.  Gross settlement numbers lead people down the path to think that the gross settlement is what matters when nothing could be further from the truth. 

What really matters is what the client KEEPS. After all, when the attorney is gone, and the medical expenses have been paid, the client is left in solitude looking at a bank statement with some digits that represent all the pain, suffering and anxiety related to their "EVENT".  Money loses its luster when you think about it that way.  More important than money...the injured person is left looking in the mirror.

The mirror often reflects a person who lost days, weeks, or months in a hospital bed.  The mirror reflects a person who could not physically manage the simple things that we take for granted:  going for a walk, a bike ride, pushing their child on a swing set, playing catch with their dog, doing the dishes, the laundry, and yes, even certain other unmentionables.

The injured do not care about cash.  They seek a restoration of dignity and justice.  That irresponsible bastard caused a loss of freedom and vitality.  The insurance company says that these things aren't worth much. That only infuriates the injured.  Where is the justice?  The clock can not be turned back.  The pain can not be wiped away.  The injured persons only recourse is seeking cash from the irresponsible.   An insurance company promised to pay for injuries caused by that irresponsible bastard.  Now they don't want to do what they promised.  Insult to injury.  Money will never be enough nor can it be.  The battle begins.

I fight these battles for cash realizing that the numbers that I acquire is not what the client KEEPS.  Five years after the case is closed, my client will look at himself in the mirror and realize that the irresponsible was held accountable, the money hungry insurance company was forced to make good on their promises, and that their attorney was a guy that they would gladly stand next to again should another battle ever arise.