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Aug 28, 2024 | Season 1 Episode 19
Presented by
In this episode of "Celebrating Justice," we hear the compelling story of trial lawyer Adam Shapiro, founder of Shapiro Law Firm.
Starting in criminal defense but repelled by the immorality present in the field, Adam switched to insurance litigation. However, he eventually found his calling in fighting for the plaintiff’s side instead, making a “leap of faith” into personal injury law.
Listen as he recounts one of his most significant cases involving a girl who was severely injured at an intersection in Jackson Heights, New York, which resulted in the installation of traffic lights and an increase in public safety in the area. With this being just one example, his genuine care for clients and his diligent efforts have led to several successes throughout his career. In his “Closing Argument,” Adam emphasizes the crucial role personal injury lawyers play in people’s lives, acting as essential advocates during times of crisis. He stresses the importance of treating clients with the care and empathy they deserve, as if they were family members.
Chad Sands: Welcome back to Celebrating Justice, the podcast where we hear true stories from trial lawyers about their careers and their most memorable cases. In this episode, we hear from New York-based injury attorney Adam Shapiro, and man, does he have some stories to tell. After starting on the defense side in Florida, then transferring to New York, and finally “making the leap of faith” to the plaintiff’s side, he’s never looked back. From suing Shaun “Puff Daddy” Combs, to taking on the city of New York to make communities safer, to his more absurd cases that made the pages of The Post, I asked him: why did you want to become a trial lawyer?
Chad Sands: Tell me about how you went from insurance litigation over to the plaintiff side.
Adam Shapiro: Some people don’t even understand the depth of that and how important that is, but it’s the opposite of your career. You’re doing the opposite.
Chad Sands: Right. And especially because you won a mock trial on both sides.
Adam Shapiro: Right. I was like, I never forgot that. I didn’t really run around telling people.
Chad Sands: Well, it was interesting that it was both sides though, and now you’ve also kind of done both sides as a career.
Adam Shapiro: That’s another good point. I do mention that on my website. I know what the defense is going to think and what they’re going to do and how they’re going to react before I even shoot the missile across the bow. It helps. It helps a lot. I know the buttons to push to get them to settle. I know what I would have needed in my report to write to the carrier for the money. So I give them what they need and it makes it easier for everybody. The original question was when I made the transition from insurance to plaintiff and that’s another great question. I came to New York. Fortunately, some of the carriers I was with in Miami all that time – we just talked about how I was in Florida – came back in ‘97. And I did a good job with some of the carriers in Miami, like Lloyds of London and it was Ford Motor Credit. So they gave me work in New York. So now I’m in New York working in Midtown, also doing some of the same work, but my friends are up my butt. They’re like, “You got to make the leap of faith. You got to quit your job,” I just got here from Florida, “and work with us and do plaintiff’s work.” They called it the “leap of faith” to switch sides. They warned me, well, they didn’t warn me, they tried to entice me with that disguise limit with the money, because there’s only so many hours you can bill in a day. And most defense attorneys bill by the hour, and there’s only so many hours you could bill. There’s a glass ceiling you’ll hit eventually. But with plaintiff’s PI, there’s no limit. It’s just whatever the case is about. After about six months of them writing to me to quit my job, and I just had a baby, that’s not a thing most people would do. I did. I made that leap. I switched. And I worked seven days a week for a year. had to get my income. I had no paycheck. And in the end, it was totally worth it, but extremely stressful.
Chad Sands: Talk to me about those stressful early years on the plaintiff’s side after making the leap. How did you fight through the struggle and find success?
Adam Shapiro: I think paranoia, insecurity, and just fear in general of living under a highway with my wife and my baby motivated me to do what? What did it motivate me to do? To work seven days a week for a year. I woke up, I went to work. And why? Because plaintiffs get paid at the end of the case. And when you just start a practice, you’re not getting paid from ends of cases because you don’t have any ends of cases. You have beginnings of cases. The money I take in today, say, is from last year’s work, because of all the work we did litigating discovery, they’ll call tomorrow and we’ll mediate and settle the case. It takes years of work in advance. I didn’t have that. So I was worried like, “What’s going to be my income?” So I kept a little bit of the hourly stuff and wasn’t getting a paycheck on Fridays, but I survived. I don’t know how I did it, to be honest with you. It was a long time ago. And I just know passion, fear, motivation, and hard work will get anybody through that leap of faith. But don’t do that leap and not be prepared to work your butt off. And someone also said, very important that they got me to quit my job, they said, “Can’t get rich working for someone else.” And there’s some truth to that.
Chad Sands: So I know you’re based out of New York. What do you think makes you unique about being a trial lawyer?
Chad Sands: I know it’s hard to choose one. You’ve been doing this for a long time, and again on the defense and the plaintiff side, but can you share a story about a case that had an impact on you and maybe how you practice law or work with clients?
Chad Sands: How about telling me a crazy story about a case?
Adam Shapiro: I had a client who was a very large obese person, and he lived in a four -story walk-up in the city. And once a month, he would call 911 because he had diabetes and he couldn’t walk down the stairs. He would get testiculitis, or an enlargement of his testicles, like extreme basketball size because of a fluid buildup. And he had to go to the hospital to simply have it drained. And this went on for years, no big deal, but he’s obese. One month comes along, he calls 911, and a different crew than who normally shows up, because he knows them, shows up and they don’t have a gurney to take him down the stairs. They have a piece of plywood and some rope. So they decide to put him on the plywood and a piece of rope to lower him down the stairs. And what do you think happened? They dropped him. He slid off the plywood, it’s not a gurney, and he landed on his face and his knees, and he got a hefty sum. Post always puts like little twists and stuff. So the headline was, “Fall Guy Sues for Hefty Sum,” but he’s gigantic. And I sued Sean Combs a few times, from a restaurant where the bouncer beat up my client. They settled that one. There’s a case against the Bronx Zoo. Many years ago, there was a sky ride in the Bronx Zoo. I don’t know if you’ve been on it. It was over the park, like a cable car. And it was built a long time ago. It was very, very high. So I had two clients who were in there one day who were pregnant and engaged. This ride broke and they’re stuck and it’s not moving. And she starts to panic and she’s pregnant, like eight months, and they can’t rescue them because it’s too high. Like they built this too high. They have to get a cherry picker ladder company from Westchester to come down to rescue them. It’s taking a while. So while they’re waiting, a thunderstorm comes and the people were trying to help them but they had to stop helping them. They had to go away. And now there’s lightning and there’s thunder, literally, and they’re up in a metal box. And I’m not joking, you read the article. They were over like the tiger area. So now the Post wrote that there were tigers circling underneath the cable car. I didn’t see that. I don’t remember hearing that. But she added that part. But there was a storm and there was lightning going on. They were stuck there. Finally, they got them out of there. And they each got six figures. Nothing was wrong with them other than psychological problems. The baby was fine. That was interesting stuff.
Chad Sands: Now, I know you probably can’t comment on it, but I’m going to ask you to share your thoughts. What about P. Diddy’s recent legal troubles? Any thoughts there?
Adam Shapiro: Yeah, he’s guilty. Next question. First of all, have you seen P. Diddy since this happened? The bottom line is, was this smoke, this fire number one? Number two is if you notice, there’s been a lot of evil people on this earth and over the past couple of years, all of a sudden they’re getting their up and comings. You can’t do these things. You can’t hurt other people and think you’re just going to be fine the rest of your life. Karma’s a bitch, number one. God is good, number two. He catches up to you. And to think what he did and continues to do, or Epstein or anybody else, that it wasn’t gonna catch up to them eventually is absurd. But that shows the depravity of their morals. They didn’t even care. Maybe they knew, but they didn’t care. Or their motivation. They knew there was a risk, but it meant that much to them. Either way, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting. Sean Combs has had a litany of problems. His company’s called Bad Boy Records. And when I sued him a couple of times, I asked him about that at the depot. Like, you aim to live up to your name. Like, he didn’t wanna answer that. And then this happens. He’s like Epstein. He’s got an island with girls somewhere. It’s crazy.
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Now here is this episode’s “Closing Argument.”
Chad Sands: That was trial lawyer Adam Shapiro, based out of Queens, New York. Thanks for sharing those stories Adam. To learn more about Adam and his firm, visit his website: shapirolawoffice.com Alright, I’m Chad Sands, thanks for listening, see ya next time!
Narrator: You’ve been listening to “Celebrating Justice,” presented by CloudLex and the Trial Lawyers Journal. Remember, the stories don’t end here. Visit www.triallawyersjournal.com to become part of our community and keep the conversation going. And for a deeper dive into the tools that empower personal injury law firms, visit www.cloudlex.com/tlj to learn more.