Pain hurts. I know. I have seen in in my office as a personal injury lawyer.

When my client comes into the office, I can see it in their eyes. As a personal injury lawyer, I often see my clients experience agony which will not go away with simple ibuprofen. Usually my clients have experienced a severe physical injury. It might be a broken arm or leg. Whether a sprained neck, herniated disc in the back, broken ribs, torn meniscus in the knee, head concussions, I have seen it all.

I have looked into their eyes as they attempt to tell me about how pain cripples their lives. At that point I am not just a personal injury lawyer. It’s about being personal and it’s about their injury. It’s the eyes.  Their eyes tear me up inside as well. I could not make their pain go away; neither their pain nor my emotional pain suffering with them.  I am not a doctor. I am not a healer. I am a lawyer. As a lawyer, I have learned that walking alongside my clients through their pain is essential to helping with their case.

Identifying with their pain makes me realize how wrong it is for them to suffer. I realize how wrong it is that another person was not careful. Our laws recognize the wrong too. Everyone must treat everyone else with ordinary care. If you are a medical doctor you have a higher standard. You are held to the standard of your profession. Our law requires a measure of justice for two reasons. One it teaches the wrongdoer, and it also compensates the victim. The law has taught me to feel the pain.

This is why I empathize with their tears in my office and pound the table on their behalf in the courtroom.