Desire,
ATTORNEY
OF THE MONTH
2014
Creativity
& Big Firm Resources
John Carpenter is driven by a desire to work hard & creatively for injured people, and is supported by his big firm resources. Jennifer Hadley
“o
ur firm was founded on the principle that justice for injured people is more important than insurance company profits. Justice with a discount is no justice at all,” says John Carpenter, partner with Carpenter, Zuckerman & Rowley, one of California’s largest law firms exclusively dedicated to the representation of injured people. This guiding principle has led to enormous success for Carpenter and enormous compensation for his clients. In the nearly 25 years since he has been in practice, Carpenter has won more than $100 million for individuals with life-altering injuries. The reasons Carpenter has been able to follow this principle can be broken down simply. He has an enormous desire to work hard for his clients; he loves the creativity required to achieve the results for his clients, and he is backed up by big firm resources, including Carpenter Zuckerman & Rowley’s large appellate practice.
The Desire “I was an attorney by the time I was 24,” Carpenter says. “My stepdad was an attorney, and he was a big influence,” he recalls. However, Carpenter’s early years as an attorney just weren’t as personally gratifying as he’d hoped they would be. “I was dissatisfied with the 16
Attorney Journal | Volume 125, 2014
practice of law when I was representing companies. Companies don’t need you in the same way that injured people need you. Injured people need my help, as many of them can’t work for the rest of their lives,” he says. Continuing, he adds, “A company doesn’t bring you into the ‘corporate family’ in the same way that injured people adopt you into their real families. It’s just not the same.” However, that personal satisfaction came swiftly as soon as Carpenter decided to shift gears and focus his attention on building a practice that would only represent injured people. “You know that feeling you get when you do something nice for a stranger? When you walk up to someone on the street who is clearly struggling and you give them $10? Those random acts of kindness? That’s how my job makes me feel every day. Working with severely injured people allows me to bring about positive changes for people who need help, and that makes me feel good,” he says. By way of example, Carpenter recalls a case wherein his client was disabled in an auto accident, rendering him paralyzed from the neck down. “He was kept alive by a ventilator,” Carpenter says. Recalling that he had to convince the judge that the trial should be held closer to his client’s home due to