Show Notes

In this episode of “Celebrating Justice,” trial lawyer David Klink of Klink Law shares his journey from a law firm assistant to a dedicated plaintiff’s lawyer, offering unique insights into the legal landscape and the importance of perseverance.

Initially exposed to personal injury law while aiding his father’s criminal defense practice, David’s career path shifted dramatically during the 2008 financial crisis, which drove him to study law in Las Vegas. David then gained significant litigation experience working at a small medical defense law firm, handling complex med malpractice and wrongful death cases. This foundation enabled him to transition to representing injured plaintiffs, a role he felt called to pursue.

David’s approach to law is marked by his willingness to take on unique, challenging cases other firms might reject. He shares memorable cases that shaped his practice, including defending a nurse in a board complaint and securing justice for a man assaulted by a security officer at a major retailer.

In his “Closing Argument,” David emphasizes the privilege of helping clients navigate the justice system and acting as an advocate for those who do not have a voice.

Chapters

1:12 – Why did you want to become a trial lawyer?
5:40 – A Case that Matters
9:14 – What makes you unique?
15:51 – Closing Argument

Takeaways

Shifting career plans can lead to new opportunities.
Gaining litigation experience in diverse areas can enhance one’s legal expertise.
Persistence in the face of challenging cases ensures that clients receive the justice they deserve.
Representing less fortunate clients highlights the social responsibility and vocation of being a trial lawyer.
Maintaining high ethical standards and dedication to clients is crucial for long-term success and professional satisfaction.

Transcript

David Klink: I come from a father who’s a lawyer. He does criminal defense mostly. When I was in college, I helped him out in his law firm doing some demand packages for insurance companies and everything. And kind of really for the first time saw what personal injury was like. He did mostly criminal defense. So when personal injury cases came in, he would do them, but it wasn’t his main area. And so when I got to the end of college, I mean, I had a plan that fell apart. And so I decided, well, I’m going to apply to law school.

And it turned out to be a good decision because the first semester of law school was the very beginning of the financial crisis of 2008. My classmates and I were just watching that. And I was in Las Vegas too, which was one of the hardest hit metropolitan areas of the country at that time. And so it was a good time to be in law school. So we spent three years in Las Vegas in law school and learned a lot toward the end, like what I wanted to do as a lawyer. One of the great things my law school did was hired a really awesome health law teacher. And the last year of law school was when they passed the Affordable Care Act. And so I thought originally health care law might be something that I wanted to do. So I took some health care law classes. And then when I graduated, came back to Phoenix, studied for the bar exam in Arizona while I was working for my dad’s law firm. And then I also, since I went to law school in Las Vegas, he encouraged me to take the bar in Nevada, even though I didn’t have a plan to return there.

He said, “Well, you’re studied up. Why don’t you do it?” It sounded like a good idea. So I took both bars and I’m licensed in Arizona and Nevada. And then I started looking for a more permanent placement than my dad’s law firm simply because I wanted to do something in the healthcare law space — is what I thought. So I ended up starting my career at a small medical defense law firm. And as a very young lawyer got some very meaty litigation experience, litigating big med mal wrongful death cases and serious injury cases in the med-mal space.

We did a bunch of trials in the four years that I was there. And those are really high level, intense, two week trials. And I really learned some very deep litigation skills and deposition skills and motion drafting, research drafting skills, all those things that you need to call upon to pursue injury cases, which is what I ended up doing after leaving that firm. I resigned on my 30th birthday. I remember it. That was my last day at the defense law firm because the calling for me really was the whole time to represent injured plaintiffs. It’s kind of good. And a lot of people do this and learn those litigation skills while working in the defense sector because you get a salary. You don’t have to take on financial risks of litigating cases. And you do learn a lot. And so when I felt like I was ready, I started my own law firm. And what I did, because injury is such a competitive landscape when it comes to attracting clients, is I started my firm calling on those skills from med mal defense and representing licensed healthcare providers in front of licensing boards. I had done a lot of that work too, just simply because when you defend doctors and nurses and malpractice actions, there’s usually a corresponding board complaint to it. So I got pretty adept at defending healthcare providers and licensing actions with state regulators. I never did any more medical malpractice defense work or injury defense work.

Chad Sands: So you were defending like the doctors when they would go up against the medical boards that were coming down on them?

David Klink: Correct.

Chad Sands: But not necessarily like in a trial? Talk a little bit about the difference between that kind of defense of when you’re defending a doctor, but it’s up against the medical board versus something that happens in a medical malpractice trial.

David Klink: They’re interesting. The health care, the majority of the cases that I did were with the nursing board. There are more licensed nurses than any other health care provider in most states. Those cases, it depends on what state you’re in, but at least in my state of Arizona, the cases can range from something that actually has something to do with clinical practice to something that has nothing to do with clinical practice. Like you got in a fight with your boyfriend and got arrested for domestic violence. They had tons of those cases. And so it really ran the gamut between things that actually have something to do with nursing practice or medical practice and something that has absolutely nothing to do with medical practice because the regulators sometimes want to keep eyes on healthcare providers that are charged with crimes.

There’s a state statute that says if you’re charged with a certain type of crimes, you have to report to your regulatory agency within 10 days.

Chad Sands: Can you share a story about one of those cases you had that was more memorable?

David Klink: You know what’s interesting? I will say this. I mean, there’s just no rhyme or reason, honestly, in some of the ways that healthcare regulatory agencies in Arizona decide what type of punishment folks get. I want to say probably the majority of my cases did not have anything to do with clinical practice. One case in particular, I recall, did have something to do with clinical practice. It was a horrible injury to a patient and it was clearly the nurse’s fault. The interesting thing is there was, I had nothing to do with the civil litigation aspect of it where the patient’s family sued the nurse in the hospital. Nothing to do with that. I was simply dealing with the repercussion on the nurse’s professional license. What was interesting to me in that case was that it was a clear breach of nursing practice.

And the regulators didn’t do anything about it, which was great for me. I looked like a hero to the client, but it’s just shocking that sometimes they will come down on a nurse who has a bad day with their boyfriend and come down much harder on a case like that that has absolutely nothing to do with nursing practice. But then when they have a clear case with a really bad injury that someone was hurt. The outcome was, “Well, I think we’ve all learned a lesson. It was just a clear mistake.” And that happened a number of times. It’s just hard to get some consistency, I think, because the scope of different factual scenarios where people find themselves in a regulation or a healthcare regulatory complaint are different. But I did that for a number of years to build up my plaintiff’s personal injury practice until, because the lead time on injury cases is a long time, especially if you’re doing litigation, which is what I ultimately wanted to do. Just recently, I stopped taking on the healthcare regulatory components. I’m still wrapping up a few cases, but for now, the most part, my practice is nearly 100% personal injury. I’m almost a true solo. I’ve got two assistants that help me with everything and they’re great, but because we don’t spend a ton of money on advertising, most of our cases are worth.

And so the cases that come into my law firm are oftentimes the ones some of the ones that I really, really, really like to work on are the ones that don’t fit the mold that the big advertising law firms snatch up. The reliable car accidents where somebody has a massive spine injury or dies. Those cases tend to go to firms that are spending $10 million on advertising a year. That’s just the way it is. I don’t get a ton of those. But what I do get are interesting cases that if you pick up the phone, you talk to somebody and you hear their story and you think you can help them. Oftentimes there are cases, those are the most valuable cases to me in terms of not only my career satisfaction with being a plaintiff’s lawyer, but also monetarily, sometimes they can be very profitable types of cases. And so I really do kind of like to work on cases like that that just are weird. You know, that have a weird injury, a weird factual circumstance and put them in litigation and run with them and push it to the limit. Because if I think it’s weird, the defense attorney has no idea how to explain that case to their insurance carrier. And I get to tell them what we think it’s worth and why we think it’s worth so much and how it’s affected my client. And oftentimes I think In those types of weird cases, you’re more likely to convince a defense attorney or an insurance company of the merits of your claim and your client’s injury because there’s no rubric or mold. They probably haven’t settled one that’s quite like it. And so those are the types of cases sometimes that I get and I really like to work on.

Chad Sands: Maybe this applies to and ties back to how you take on the weird cases that maybe other firms might not. And you touched on how competitive it is, especially kind of in digital advertising and marketing. So what does make you unique as a trial lawyer? Are you the guy that’ll take on the weird case that nobody else will?

David Klink: Sometimes. Yeah. I think that sometimes I look back on my years and I’m like, well, you know, the biggest case we settled was one that seven other lawyers looked at and didn’t want to touch. And that’s happened a number of years in my journey with this. And so I think that’s part of it. I think that I’m not afraid as a smaller law firm, I’m not afraid to put cases into litigation. I handled a case for my legal assistant. filed a lawsuit over $500 because I knew the insurance company was screwing her over. And so, and then they immediately turned around and gave me more than that because it had to happen. I think I’m unique in that I will litigate a case as far as it needs to go. I don’t push clients to settle cases. I don’t, you know, I’ll give them my opinion, certainly. But when I started my law firm, it was quite interesting to me because I came from a firm where in a space where litigation was at and I never even realized that, you know, there are plaintiffs lawyers out there who don’t even know how to file a lawsuit.

That was shocking to me. I think we’re all fighting for the common goal. I think that my space is more putting cases into litigation and moving them forward that way.

Chad Sands: I know it’s hard to choose one, but if you could think back over the years, normal and the weird cases, could you share one story about a case that had an impact on you and kind of how you practice law and how you work with clients?

David Klink: I’ll never forget this case, really. It was a down and out guy who got injured on a bus. It was a knock down drag out fight. There were multiple injuries on the bus due to a weird situation. It was a tough representation because the client was difficult and had calling the office every day like every trial lawyer can resonate with that. You know, a client that’s calling the office every day, “Give me an update, give me an update. Where’s the money? Where’s the money? Where’s the money?” It took forever to get the case resolved.

We were the last man standing in that case of 15 plaintiffs or whatever it was. The work we did on that case, I was so proud of because the client finally got the justice that he had been seeking over several years. And to be able to hand him a check and tell him it’s over was awesome. And also it was awesome because the guy was just, he didn’t have a whole lot. And we all represented people like that. And what kept me going through all of the defense craziness and unnecessary delay was just the idea that we are doing this for clients and the people that don’t have the skill set that we do to bring legitimate claims to court.

I think that really did, since it was an early case when I started my law firm, I think that really did kind of resonate with me and it still resonates with me. The idea that we are doing this for people that can’t do it themselves and that need an advocate and that have legitimate claims and can hold a defendant accountable for something that they did wrong. It’s a good feeling and it’s more than the money. It’s a vocation. It’s a calling. It is something that keeps you going when you’re just want to give up on, you know, the seventh motion that the defense is making you respond to and litigation. And so that case may have been, well, it’s certainly one that I always remember, but doing this for people that are less fortunate and that really need you is something that’s very satisfying for me.

Chad Sands: All right. Now, how about one story about one of just the weirdest cases that you ever took on?

David Klink: I’ll tell you what about I have a client now that I’m representing currently. He’s similar to the client I just spoke about. He doesn’t have a whole lot either. And he went into a major retailer in America and he purchased an item and he walked out the door and he was followed by a security officer who was told that the guy didn’t purchase his item.

And so he walks out and he’s calling a cab to get home from the retailer because he doesn’t drive. And he’s harassed by a security officer about a receipt. He shows the receipt. He doesn’t know the plain clothes security officer even works for the retailer. And he walks back into the store, a scuffle ensues, and on video, the security officer punches my client directly in the face and knocks him out. And this retailer will not accept responsibility for the for any of this. And they’re alleging it’s my client’s fault. They’re claiming that he threatened he had a knife, which was never recovered. There was no evidence of a knife at all. They’re doing everything possible to not pay this kid for what happened to him. And it is despicable because there is not a jury in the world that would agree with the defense position in this case, especially because it’s on video. Other videos have been deleted. I mean, it’s just, it’s a nightmare of a case for the defense and they keep going with it. They keep defending it and it’s not gonna end well for them. I appreciate the client in that case because he is like, “Let’s go to trial. I don’t care.” And he doesn’t have any money so he can’t afford to walk away for money but he says, “I don’t care. I want my day in court.”

And if he wants his day in court, I will be there to give it to him. It’s interesting in the sense that I don’t think a lot of people would have taken that case either even though I’ve told you it sounds like an amazing case.. The reason a lot wouldn’t have taken is because the story was so outrageous when that client walked into my office. I thought there’s no way what he’s telling me could be true. And I’ve done enough of these cases to know that when a client is injured at a retailer, there’s not a chance ever that you’re going to get the actual video before you sue them. And so when the client walked in my office, we immediately filed a lawsuit. And I said, look, for the time it takes me to draft and the filing fee and service fee, I want to see if this kid’s telling the truth.

And sure enough, it was worse than what he had told me. In that scenario, I think a lot of people would, they would have said, you’re just one of those guys that’s crazy. This didn’t actually happen, or it didn’t happen the way you said it happened. And it happened in a manner that was worse than what he told me. I mean, it was just awful. I am fortunate to be able to help that client in his pursuit for justice at this point in time. I’m interested to see how it goes for him.

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Now here is this episode’s “Closing Argument.”

David Klink: There are a lot of lawyers that enter the practice of law, especially young lawyers who are disillusioned because they enter a firm that requires X number of billable hours. The pressure is so great. They’ve never worked in a field that requires a billable hour, let alone your boss gets mad at you if you don’t meet your billable hour. I think plaintiffs’ lawyers are very fortunate in the sense that, one: we don’t have to work on the billable hour.

We get to choose the cases that we work on. I truly, every day I wake up and get to do this job, I am thrilled. It is a job that I love. And I don’t come to work dreading it. I really don’t. We’re fortunate to have the ability, the skill set, the desire, the shared vision of what tort law in America needs to be — not should be — but absolutely needs to be and why it needs to be there for people that have been harmed. People call my office and they are upside down sometimes in terms of “What do I do after this happened?” and you know “This person hurt me so bad, how do I put my life back together?” And it’s up to us to make sure that we help those folks access the justice system.

Something that we take for granted every single day because we’ve spent our entire professional careers existing in this system. Our clients have no idea what this system is. And they are scared. They are ripe to be taken advantage of. And they absolutely need lawyers like us to help them through this process so that they don’t get taken advantage of and they’re not making poor decisions under economic duress. The fact that we get to come to work and assist people with that process and assist and put their fears to bed and conclude a case for them after a long battle is one of the greatest privileges you can have in a professional.

Before I came on this podcast, literally 10 minutes ago, I called a young woman who’d been seriously injured in a car accident. And I told her, “Look, it’s all set and done. Here’s how much money you’re getting.” And she’s coming to my office this afternoon to pick up her check. But she started crying. Literally, this just happened 30 minutes ago. She started crying. She was so thankful that finally it had come to an end. That finally…she’s going to have some compensation. It’s never enough, but she’s going to have some compensation to assist her with her, you know, with her recovery and her life and make things just a little bit easier for her. It’s a good feeling. And that’s a really good feeling. And it makes me proud of the work that we do, the work that my staff does to help people every single day.

Chad Sands: That was trial lawyer David Klink. Thanks for sharing those stories. To learn more about David and his firm, visit www.davidklink.com. Alright, I’m Chad Sands, thanks for listening. See you 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.