A Conversation with James Walker
Attorney
You spent nine years on the "Other Side" as a claims professional for an insurance company before you became a lawyer. What did you learn from that experience?
One of the most important things I learned from being on "both sides of the fence," so to speak, is that we really do become products of our environments and tend to develop a bias toward our current roles. For example, when I was a claims professional, I was always skeptical of the injured people making claims, just like the rest of the claims adjustors I worked with at the time. There was always a tendency for us to believe that the people making claims were not really as injured as they said they were. The really scary thing about it is that I wasn’t even consciously aware of the bias that I had developed. I actually thought I was being fair and open-minded the whole time.
Why do you think that happens?
I think it happens for several reasons. As claims adjustors, it was our job to settle the claims of injured people for the least amount of money possible. After all, we were working for the insurance company, and it was in our best interest to save as much money as possible when settling claims. When you work in that environment for any amount of time, you develop a natural tendency to generally "minimize" the value of a person’s injuries, even when you think you’re being very fair. Another reason for this bias is that as claims adjustors, we never really had much personal contact with the injured persons who were making claims with us. Instead, we were evaluating their injuries based only on some medical reports and bills. We didn’t have the opportunity to sit down with them, see the pain that they were in, and hear the fear and emotion in their voice when they asked how they could possibly keep up with their bills after being unable to work for an extended period of time. These are the things that I can actually see firsthand as an attorney representing injured people, and it certainly results in a completely different perspective on the value of a person’s injuries, a perspective that is simply not possible for an insurance adjustor trained to minimize claim values for the insurance company.
So where does that leave injured people who try to settle their claims directly with the insurance companies? Won’t their injuries be valued lower because of this natural bias that you just described?
Absolutely. Listen, I’ve always considered myself to be very fair and open-minded—and that was just as true when I was working as a claims adjustor—but the bottom line is that even fair, open-minded individuals are influenced by their roles and environments. There is no doubt that my perspective as a claims adjustor caused me to value a person’s injuries much lower than I do as an attorney, even though I was convinced that I was being completely fair at the time.
Have you always practiced personal injury law since you left the insurance industry?
Yes, I’ve worked for several law firms, and personal injury has always been a part of my practice, although it has not always been my exclusive practice. When I worked for other law firms I would also handle criminal cases, bankruptcies, divorces, contract disputes, real estate, and various other legal matters. In those firms, as is typical with many general practice firms, you had to be more of a "Jack of all trades, but Master of none." It wasn’t until I came to work for Carter Mario Injury Lawyers that I was able to devote my practice exclusively to personal injury law.
Do you feel that there is an advantage to working at a firm that concentrates exclusively on personal injury law?
There is a HUGE advantage! When your lawyering time is divided into multiple areas of law, it makes it extremely difficult to become an expert in any one area. Working for Carter Mario Injury Lawyers allows me to focus on injury law—period! That means that all my time is spent working on legal issues dealing exclusively with injury law and appearing before the civil judges who preside over personal injury cases. It has allowed me to develop a level of proficiency in handling injury cases that is simply unattainable at a firm where you are constantly shifting from one area of law to another. Think about it, if you were having a new house built, would you have the plumbing, electrical work, and carpentry all done by the same worker who poured the foundation? When people concentrate their efforts in one area, they become particularly skilled in that area. Why should it be any different with attorneys?
On a personal note, what do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy most outdoor "extreme" sports. I mountain bike, ride motorcycles and dirt bikes, and love to ski down steep trails, especially those with moguls. I like the rush you get from doing things at a faster pace than normal. I guess it is a good release from the stress of everyday work.
What do you do to relax?
I love to mess around in my yard and work on the house. I have a John Deere backhoe that I drive around the property and use to dig up and bury stuff. I am also constantly renovating my house, which is an 1810 Colonial that has been in my family since the ’70s. I ended up buying the family home where I grew up and have poured a lot of love and sweat into the old place. I have refinished floors, patched plaster, painted, rebuilt chimneys, you name it. It is a constant, ongoing project. Have you seen the movie The Money Pit? That is where I live. I love it, though. It has fireplaces in every room, ’ve had a great time over the years going to auctions and finding just the right furniture to decorate with. Although it has been a lot of work and will always be an ongoing project, it is the type of mindless work that helps me to relax and refuel for the detailed, focused work I do at Carter Mario Injury Lawyers.
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The Connecticut injury lawyers at Carter Mario represent clients with injuries stemming from auto accidents, dog bites, drug injuries, fire and burn injuries, medical malpractice, Social Security Disability denials, slip and fall accidents, truck accidents, workers’ compensation denials, as well as the families of wrongful death victims.
