I frequently have people walk into our office and ask what their case is worth. And the answer is: I don't know. I can't give any guarantees. The fact is, we may take only one in ten medical malpractice cases that we review. If we arrive at the judgment that there was wrongful or substandard treatment in a medical case causing serious injury, we'll take it on.

The most difficult part of my job is telling people I can't take their case, or that it simply can't be litigated. An injury may not be serious enough, or the law simply doesn't provide recovery for the emotional loss of a loved one. If an elderly family member or child dies due to lack of adequate medical care by a hospital or doctor, there may be no way to recover substantial damages. Frequently there is no pecuniary loss in a situation like that. It's very tough for us to hear those stories - and then say there's very little we can do about it.

We take on significant risk when we take on a case - we are financing the case to its conclusion, with no guarantee of success. There's no fail-safe process here. If we lose it hurts.

The jury system really is one of the bedrock institutions of our society, and some powerful interests have done their level best to discredit it. But I believe the jury system does work well; I think that citizens on a jury get it right substantially more often than they get it wrong. Insurance companies are going to make sure they get their share - they collect more in premiums and fight to pay out little if anything. They peddle the phrase "frivolous lawsuit" around in the media, and paint trial lawyers somehow as evil-doers - it all really is outrage. A planeload of people die every day from medical malpractice. The outrage is that some interests go out of their way to demonize the injured person. It's interesting that sometimes a juror from an old case will come into our office a few months later with a claim of their own.

I chose this profession because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. It's not about money - it's about a desire to help people and make a difference in their lives. That is always most important to me. I like to think we provide help to victims of wrongdoers. We'll spend countless hours answering people's questions and giving good practical advice.

There's been plenty of lawyer-bashing in recent years. But you know what? I'm proud of what we do. We make doctors, big institutions, and corporations accountable for negligent care and wrongful conduct. And that's a very important and satisfying role.