A Relentless Pursuit
of Excellence
“You can’t check your principles at the door when you arrive at the workplace. And you can’t quit on a case, a client or yourself just because the going gets tough. You must have the drive to do the right thing and the willingness to stick with it regardless of the challenges,” says Clark H. Fielding, Founding Principal of Fielding Law, APC. His firm’s motto reflects that attitude: Integrity and Tenacity. Fielding began applying those principles to the practice of law in 2007 and has specialized in plaintiff personal injury since 2010. He founded Fielding Law, APC in March of 2019. Today his firm practices in the area of personal injury and maintains offices in Irvine, California and Tempe, Arizona. Clients confirm his determined commitment to the highest ethical standards. For example, “Clark and his team were excellent. They constantly fought hard to combat the ridiculous liens the medical facilities filed against my case. Always on their game, they left no stone unturned. Additionally, they kept me informed at every step along the way, never hiding their intention. Their integrity and transparency are unmatched.” Calling the contingency fee arrangement “the great equalizer,” Fielding says that structure allows a homeless person to get the same access and caliber of attorney as a multimillionaire. Fielding has represented thousands of wronged and injured clients throughout multiple states, successfully and strategically handling complex and catastrophic and fatal injury cases, which include tragic cases of wrongful death, quadriplegia and traumatic brain injuries. Many of these cases involve individual people and families unable to afford legal counsel.
Empathy Is No Snow Job Much of the empathy and compassion Fielding expresses comes from personal struggles, such as a November 2011 accident in which he blew out both knees snowboarding in 16
Attorney Journals Orange County | Volume 169, 2020
Park City, Utah. He suffered excruciating pain and required emergency surgery. A few days later he experienced terrifying complications in the middle of the night that required an EMS team of firefighters and a life-or-death rush to the emergency room. Fielding was in a wheelchair and, in his words, “an absolute mess” when he returned home to California, and struggling to hang on to his job. He says his “ride or die” wife Moranda would load him into his wheelchair, strap their one-year-old baby to her back, and wheel him up to his office and desk. The road to recovery was long, grueling, uncertain and required several reconstructive surgeries and countless painful and exhausting physical therapy sessions. “That hellacious and darkest period of my life blessed me with empathy for my clients and their devastating injuries and excruciating pain, and their fear of future surgeries, of losing employment and of their life falling apart. It also taught me the power of faith, hope and perseverance,” he says.
Character Counts An example of how integrity and tenacity are necessary elements of success is found in one of Fielding’s recent legal victories for a motorcycle accident victim in Phoenix, Arizona. A motorist failed to yield and made a negligent left turn causing damages requiring multiple ankle surgeries for his client. The case was disputed from the start with Fielding first facing in-house counsel and then three separate defense firms in conservative Maricopa County. In December 2019, the case was settled at mediation for a confidential, excess policy limits, seven-figure amount. Not all cases are so dramatic, but they do reflect positive client response to Fielding’s approach. A client wrote, “Right away I was impressed with Clark’s integrity and high-level, high-touch customer service. My vehicle will be repaired, and I will not be without use of a vehicle while repairs are being
