Endorsed by Your Adversary

I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s topic is prompted by a client for whom we recently settled a case.

He reminded me at the conclusion of the case, that years earlier before he came to our office, I took his deposition as an employee of a business defendant that I sued.

He said that we were so thorough in questioning him at his deposition as an employee for the defendant company he worked for at the time, that he knew we would do a good job handling his car crash case.

He is not the first person who hired us, after having encountered our office in the past.

Over the years we have deposed many witnesses in other cases. Many times, we have had people who served on juries and decided the fates of our clients at trial decide to hire us to represent them in a legal matter years later.

I remember one gentleman who called and started out saying “I am not sure if you remember me, but I served as the foreman on the jury in the case where you represented a family hit by a semi-truck about 10 years ago.”

I vaguely remembered the case, but he remembered everything about it. In detail.

I have to say it’s a strong endorsement to have people who have been in an adversarial relationship with you as an attorney representing another client, who find themselves so persuaded that you know what you’re doing that they decide to hire you when they need an attorney.

The only other thing I could say about the subject is when we take the deposition of a defendant in a case or of an employee of the company that is sued as a defendant, we always try to be kind and polite to the witness.

Someone famous once said, “If you treat people with respect, they will treat you with respect.”  Of course, not everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Still treating another person with respect says more about you than it does about them.

I remember one case where a defendant driver was drunk when he hit my client. We had to take his deposition when he was being held in jail.

He had done some awful things. He had multiple drunk driving convictions. But he was sober when we questioned him. He was also truthful.

Though alcohol would turn him into a monster, when he was sober, he was pleasant.

Under questioning, we learned that he had served in the military, and did not start drinking until he came back. He started drinking because several buddies had been killed right before his eyes. He drank to kill his pain.

In any event, I would say that it is good advice, no matter what your profession, and no matter who you encounter in doing your job, to be respectful to those you encounter.

Today’s adversary may be tomorrow’s client.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”