The Boss
By: G. Grant Dixon III
Sometimes people ask, "What makes Dixon Law Office different from other personal injury law firms." My answer is simple, "the boss."
At Dixon Law Office, we value the Christian principles of honesty and fairness. But candidly, those things are really not that unique. Contrary to what the media says, most lawyers are honest and try and do the right thing. Honesty and fairness are not novel concepts, even in the practice of law.
Still, Dixon Law Office is different. How? We work on every single case like it is the most important case in the office. Whether the case is a multi-million dollar malpractice case or a car crash that will garner a much smaller verdict, we work on each case like it is the best case, the only case, in the office.
Why? It is rooted in two similar passages from the New Testament.
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Colossians 3:23 (NLT)
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Ephesians 6:7 (NLT)
These verses make it clear that when we do our work, we are serving not only our clients, we are working for God. That makes Him the ultimate boss. And when He is your boss, it changes your attitude. That attitude changes everything we do.
First, it means we give 100% for every case. Big or small, every case gets the complete effort of our lawyers and staff. We don't coast through it, mail it in, or just give partial effort. No, it means we give our best to every client.
But this principle also changes the cases we actually accept. We don't accept cases we don't believe in. We carefully screen every case and make a decision about whether we can help that person and whether we are the right lawyers for the case. That is one of the reasons we say NO more than 90% of the time we get consulted for a case.
This principle also means we sometimes take cases other lawyers won't. Sometimes we take on a case another lawyer said "No" to. Sometimes we take on those tough cases. Sometimes we will take that "small" case because it is the right thing to do.
That principle has guided me my entire career. I have taken on some of the biggest billion-dollar corporations in the world representing clients who heard "No" a dozen times, simply because I believed in them. It led me to take on a rapist who brutally attacked a young girl. That principle encouraged me to take on a drug dealer who killed a family's beloved son.
Where this principle really shines is in the "normal" case. The rear-end car accident case. The slip and fall at a store. The motorcycle crash. The work injury cases. Lawyers work on these kinds of cases every day and they can become mundane. But not for us. We dig into each case, learn the client's story, and work hard representing them like we would want to be represented. We do that because it is the right thing to do. We do it because that's what our boss says we should do.
It is not easy. I become invested in my clients' lives. I learn their stories. I learn how their injuries have effected their lives. I meet their families, I sit at their kitchen tables. I laugh with them. I cry with them. That takes emotional commitment. It also take a lot of time.
We can't take on every case. If we have the privilege of representing a client, they know we will give it everything we have. Whether the case is "big" or "small," they will get our best. We do it because our clients trust us and deserve our best. But we also do it because it is what our boss tells us to do every day.