Personal Injury? Call Penn Crawford

Personal Injury? Call Penn Crawford

By Leonard Shapiro

Attorney J. Penn Crawford hardly hesitates when asked what he enjoys most about his specialty, personal injury law. “Leveling the playing field,” he said, and his highly successful practice makes it perfectly clear he’s a formidable advocate for the people he represents.

Crawford is a Richmond native and associated with The Johnson Injury Firm. He and his wife, Kate, also an attorney, and their two teenage daughters still live there, but he’s opened a satellite office located at the Upperville law office of Mildred “Bucky” Slater. That would be Kate’s mother, a widely regarded attorney in the Middleburg area for more than 50 years.

Kate also occasionally works out of that Upperville office, and Penn will be making the drive from Richmond to the same location every other week, and maybe more often depending on the number of local cases he’ll be handling.

As for that playing field, Penn said, “Virginia is tough because it’s been one of the top states for the insurance industry. The average person gets injured and then talks to the (insurance company’s) adjuster who is really not on their side. They’ll talk them out of the compensation they should be getting. It’s a game they’ve been playing for a long time, and if you don’t know the rules, you are probably in trouble.”

Penn clearly knows the rules. He’s been honored by the National Trial Lawyers Association as among the country’s top 40 lawyers under 40, and has been named to Best Lawyers in America and to Superlawyers since 2020 and has been published several times in Virginia Trial Lawyers Journal as well as by JustLaw.

Practicing law was not his first pursuit after graduating from East Carolina University in 1996. He initially came to Washington to work for Richmond Congressman Tom Bliley, then chairman of the House Commerce Oversight and Investigations committee.

He enjoyed the job, but also saw early on that the best way to advance on Capitol Hill was to have a law degree. He enrolled at the University of Richmond Law School, which provided an even better life-changing benefit—meeting and falling in love with Kate, also attending the same school.

Penn began his career at a Richmond firm and focused on contracts, personal injury and served as a “Guardian Ad Litem” for at risk children in the City of Richmond.”

“I did one divorce case there, and decided I didn’t ever want to do another one,” he said. He eventually left for a Richmond firm that specialized in personal injury. In December, 2002, he joined The Johnson Injury Firm in order to cut down on his case load and spend more time with his clients.

One of his favorite cases involved a man who was badly injured when his car crashed into a truck that had inexplicably stopped dead in the middle of the highway.

“At first, the trucking company denied any fault at all,” Penn said. “We found several violations and they eventually admitted fault and gave just compensation. He had a traumatic brain injury that initially left him unable to speak. We were also able to find the very best doctors for him, and he made an incredible recovery. That’s what makes it so satisfying.”

A level playing field always is.

J. Penn Crawford’s Upperville office is located at 9005 John Mosby Highway in Upperville. He can be reached at 540-592-3600 or by text at 804-404-2798.