Pat D’Arcy: Bringing a Team Philosophy to Law
By Beverly Bird
quite a bit of time together, take vacations together, and genuinely enjoy each other’s company.” So how does this benefit the law firm? “We’re always talking about what’s happening with our cases,” D’Arcy said. “If one of us is preparing for a trial, all of us are aware of it and are stepping in to offer suggestions on strategy.” Pat D’Arcy, Esq. Vince Lombardi once said that you have to be smart to be number one in any business. He also said that if you’re lucky enough find a guy with a lot of smarts and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second. I’m guessing that this is the secret to Patrick D’Arcy’s success. This is a man with his finger in a lot of pies. From the outside looking in, he’s tireless, and he rarely comes off the field second. Launching into the field of law after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Montclair State College, then going on to Loyola University School of Law for his Juris Doctorate, D’Arcy’s forward momentum has not stopped ever since. The law firm of Goldsmith and Weiss in Northfield was D’Arcy’s first stepping stone. He signed on there after law school and within three years he made partner. He stayed on with Goldsmith and Weiss for several more years, then he moved on to open his own firm in 1998. Two years later, his brother joined him, and in 2007, Steven Johnson jumped in with both feet. One year later, Christopher Day, who had a successful workers compensation and personal injury practice of his own, joined forces with D’Arcy and Johnson. The end result: D’Arcy Johnson Day, a law firm known as much for its compassion, commitment, and dedication to the community as its successes in the courtroom. “Our partners have different personalities and different areas of expertise,” D’Arcy told The Boardwalk Journal, “but one thing we all have in common is a desire to help people, especially those who’ve been wronged. Another interesting thing is that we’re not only business partners and associates, but we’re also friends. We spend
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In that respect, D’Arcy Johnson Day would seem to be a Dream Team. D’Arcy also credited five other partners and associates - Rick Albuquerque, Bard Shober, Karin Hassel, Kevin Musiakiewicz, and Gregory Hock - as well as a staff of fifteen paralegals and assistants. “When a client hires one of our attorneys, he or she really has access to all of us,” D’Arcy said. Smarts...and heart. Their clients matter to D’Arcy and his partners, and that adds a pound of care. Any time heart is involved, stress is inherent. “People are depending on us to such a large extent,” D’Arcy said. “We represent people who’ve been wronged, whether by insurance companies, corporate behemoths, or someone else. They’re relying on us to make things right, and we never want to let them down.” That’s not always easy. “The law is extremely deadline-oriented,” D’Arcy explained, “from court dates which are non-negotiable, too due dates for pleadings which are mandated by statute. And there are always aspects of a case that we may not have complete control over, like an unforeseen reaction by a jury or a change in case law that affects one of our clients. But I’ve found over the years that you can use stress as a motivator. Deadlines can provide structure. And I know that the anxiety and pressure on our end is nothing compared to the problems our clients might be facing - struggling to pay bills because they were injured at work and the insurance company is denying their claim, or they may be worried about their mother who’s in a nursing home and has shown some signs of abuse.” “Pat’s my friend and my partner, so this may seem biased, but it’s sincere and true,” said Steve Johnson - the Johnson portion of D’Arcy Johnson Day and former Republican County Freeholder. “If my back was to the wall and I
needed something done, I’d want Pat in my corner leading the charge.” Heart may make the attorneys at D’Arcy Johnson Day care, but then the smarts come into play. Patrick D’Arcy is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial attorney, a distinction held by less than two percent of our state’s lawyers. In 2009, he was named a “Super Lawyer” by New Jersey Monthly Magazine. This month, in October 2009, D’Arcy will receive the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Professional of the Year Award. He’s a Past President of the Atlantic County Bar Association and a member of the American Association for Justice. D’Arcy personally concentrates his practice on serious claims of personal injury, nursing home abuse, and medical malpractice. He’s litigated over a thousand cases to completion. The firm has had some well-published successes, such as the Joan DuRoss victory handled by Christopher Day, and David Babych’s suit against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2002, handled by D’Arcy himself. Babych suffered a broken foot in 1998, but the team doctors told him that it was only a bone bruise. He continued to play, causing himself permanent damage which ultimately cut his career short. D’Arcy Johnson Day convinced a jury to award him a $1.37 million settlement. “That was a tremendous victory,” D’Arcy said. “It made headlines and raised the profile
Pat D’arcy and son Patrick
October 2009
of the firm. But it can be just as gratifying to help someone who’s been seriously injured in a car accident or had an adverse reaction to a prescription drug. At the end of the day, if we’ve done something to right a wrong, it was a good day. And if righting that wrong means that the same thing doesn’t continue to happen to other people, that’s even better.” This mindset also drives D’Arcy to do a significant amount of public speaking. “Many of the cases we handle involve issues that can affect virtually anyone,” he told The Boardwalk Journal. “I think it’s important to let other attorneys and members of the public about these cases. Maybe there’s an individual who’s had an adverse reaction to a defective drug, but doesn’t know where to turn for help. Or there might be an attorney with a complex case that’s definitely worth pursuing, but it requires a great deal of research - which we’ve already done. Public speaking gives me a chance to let people know that they aren’t powerless, and that they can count on D’Arcy Johnson Day to help them. And when you believe so strongly in what you’re doing, it’s easy to talk about.” Lest readers come away from this story believing that Patrick D’Arcy is only a lawyer, think again. I said earlier that he has a finger in many pies, and not all of them involve litigation. They also involve a certain giving-back to the place he calls home. Before opening a new office in Egg Harbor Township, D’Arcy Johnson Day was centered in Galloway. D’Arcy and his brother, Andrew, took notice of a restaurant site in an outdoor shopping area just a few doors away from their office. “It kept changing hands,” D’Arcy said. “No one, from the New York-themed deli to the 50’s diner, seemed to be able to make it work. Andrew and I took a look at the number of businesses that were located close to the site, and the number of residences that were just a quick drive away. We were convinced that the right restaurant, managed properly, could be a real success here.” So they opened an Irish pub, the Dubliner Pub and Grill located at 325 East Jimmie Leeds Road in Galloway. “The theme was a natural one for us because our parents immigrated to the United States from Ireland. Our goal was to establish a bar and restaurant that would not only appeal to families, but to businesspeople and to couples - anyone who was interested in good food in a comfortable setting. On any given day, you might walk in and find a group of guys who just finished work on a construction project, along with political figures talking about the latest election issue, to families celebrating a special occasion or a group of women getting together for girls’ night out.”
October 2009
You’d think Pat D’Arcy might have enough on his hands, practicing law, running one of our area’s premier law firms, juggling speaking engagements for the greater good of others, and overseeing the operation of a successful Irish pub. After all that, this guy might just want to knock back a pint or two of his own and put his feet up with a well-earned sigh. Patrick D’Arcy coaches Little League baseball instead. “It may seem hard to believe,” D’Arcy said, “but I use a lot of the same skills that I rely on as a business owner and a lawyer. I think the kids pick up on my passion and intensity, just as a jury does in the courtroom. I try to instill the same sense of team spirit in the kids that I feel when I walk through our law office. I try to teach them how to be confident when they walk out onto the field, and how to take the anxiety they may be feeling about their next at-bat and turn it into a positive, just like I do when I’m approaching a trial. And I also do whatever I can to make the experience fun for them, to show them that you can play hard and do your best, and have a great time doing it.” His assistant coaches seem to agree that his approach is gold. One of them, Tom Ganard, is also a D’Arcy Johnson Day client. “In the five years that I’ve coached with Pat, I’ve been consistently impressed with the rapport he has with the kids. Not only does he do a great job communicating with them, but he’s also able to install a level of confidence in them as individuals and as a team. Whether they have the ability to do something or not, Pat makes them believe that they can.” So now, after lawyering and speaking, overseeing a pub and coaching kids, D’Arcy finally puts his feet up and relaxes, right? Nope. He’s also our Atlantic County Democratic Committee chairman. “Pat has been a great leader for the Democratic Party,” State Senator Jim Whelan told The Boardwalk Journal. “He’s both energetic and sincere in his passion for helping others. There’s a natural draw to him because of his ability to inspire people to work very hard, while making it fun and worthwhile.” Why, on top of everything else, would D’Arcy want to wade hip-deep into politics, something so divisive and controversial and consuming? We had to ask. “I’ve always believed in what John Kennedy said,” D’Arcy told The Boardwalk Journal. “We all owe a debt of public service to our community.” Still, there is a lot good and a lot bad about politics these days. On the up side, D’Arcy said, “I was excited when Barack Obama was elected because we saw young people who were
Coach D’Arcy prepares his team for victory energized by his message of hope, and they were working side-by-side with older people who’ve been working on campaigns for years. People of all ages and backgrounds were working together for this cause that meant something to them, and it gave the local Democratic organizations a tremendous boost. Actually, I was excited by the entire election process. We saw so many new people from both parties getting out and getting involved. I’m a lifelong Democrat and I come from a family of Democrats, but I was happy to see people jumping into the fray on both sides.” And what about the downside? “One thing that I think isn’t healthy about politics, both on a national and local level, is people ignoring what’s right, what’s fair, or what makes sense, if it doesn’t serve their own personal needs and agendas. Sometimes it’s necessary to remind people that we’re involved in politics to serve the public, and to make decisions that work toward the common good. I think that members of the County Democratic Party know that they can count on me to offer those reminders to people who have temporarily lost sight of our common goals.” “Pat leads by example,” said Angelo DiMaio, union leader, fireman, and County Freeholder candidate. “His passion for working hard and fighting the good fight to help better our community is unmistakable. One of the reasons I entered this year’s race was because I want to be a part of the solution to the tough times we face. Pat inspires all of us to follow his lead.” And that’s one tough act to follow. D’Arcy has served on the Galloway Business Development Board, the Galloway Recreation Board, and he’s also served as Prosecutor for Galloway Township. He holds a third-degree black belt in the art of Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial art. Then there’s D’Arcy Johnson Day and that Little League team. He’s husband to Pamela, one of our Assistant County Prosecutors, and dad to Nicolette, 15, and Patrick, age 13. Vince Lombardi called it. Smarts and heart. D’Arcy never comes off the field second best.
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