MY LEGAL LIFE - STEVEN FLORENDINE What has motivated your interest in assisting clients with brain injuries? Initially, I just fell into this area of law right out of law school in Texas in 1999. But immediately, I knew this was what I was meant to do. I am fascinated by the medical aspects of injuries, the science of injury and collisions, and the personal interactions with clients. Unfortunately, injury law reared its ugly head several times in a personal way for me. Many members of my family have suffered various injuries, including several that will last a lifetime. These have helped me experience what it is like to be the “loved one” who walks through the fog with the injured person. I have experienced loved ones who have and continue to experience many, if not all, of the symptoms described above. This has helped me immeasurably in understanding intimately what my client’s loved ones go though and to help to have some idea of the pain my clients are going though. Do you have a creed or philosophy that you follow when it comes to delivering compassionate care for your clients? It starts with the idea that this is not just business for us: it is personal. We are “open” 24/7/365. Our client’s problems and symptoms do not only exist Monday to Friday, 9-5. So, we strive to be available to them in some fashion, whether by email or telephone call, at almost any hour and any day. We have often responded to client questions and needs late at night on a Friday or at all hours on weekends. More About Steven Florendine APR 2022 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 19 What other sorts of injuries do you help clients in overcoming? While a large percentage of our clients have sustained a concussion, it is by no means the only injuries that we commonly help clients with. We see and help with every injury imaginably sustained in vehicle collisions. Vehicle collisions are almost always violent events and cause serious and lasting damage. We commonly see multiple fractures to all limbs, the spine, face, head and torso. Whiplash is also very prevalent. As with brain injuries, all of these injuries have varying degrees of severity. Many seemingly “simple” injuries, often of the whiplash variety, linger and linger and develop into what is known as chronic pain. A separate article could easily be written on the insidious impact of pain that lasts for longer than six months. This condition also leads to varying degrees of reliance on different pain medication, including opioids, which can help or lead to devastating addictions. How do you enshrine compassion as part of the services you offer? Compassion is an essential part of how I have been practising law for more than 23 years. It is often a race for the Kleenex box between me, my staff, and the injured clients and their family. It is not so much something we insist upon in our office; it is more the magnetism between like-minded people. I am drawn to people who are compassionate, who have a strong desire to want to help people who are suffering. Those who are not like this naturally simply do not seem to be drawn to or be able to handle the issues that always accompany injury cases. We are helping people through what is often one of the worst experiences they have ever had or will have. Being able to feel for these people and understand they need help and answers, sometimes at all hours of the day, is what sets us apart.
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