PERSONAL INJURY LAW IS ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE

At the beginning of law school, the Dean at U.C. Hastings gave a speech, telling all of the new students in the auditorium to re-read our personal statements once we became lawyers. We wrote these personal statements expressing why we wanted to go to law school and mine, like most of these statements, was filled with ideas about helping people and “making a difference.” I reread my personal statement years later and, unlike most new lawyers, I stuck to my guns and continued to follow my passion for representing regular, everyday people, not insurance companies and big corporations with big paychecks.
I became a lawyer to help people, just like me, and I truly care about my clients. Without a doubt, it is the sincere appreciation and gratitude my former clients have for me that continues to fuel my advocacy on behalf of all my current and future clients.

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY IS ABOUT BUILDING BONDS AND TRUST, NOT JUST ATTORNEY EXPERIENCE

During my last trial, which involved a relatively minor injury resulting from a rear-end car collision, my client leaned over to me after I delivered the closing argument and whispered, “ERIC! You’re a MONSTER.” My client and I worked up the case together, collaboratively, which allowed me to make the best case possible for him. We developed a personal bond, something that comes naturally to me, and the end result was a level of trust and mutual respect that allowed us to make the very best of a very difficult case. We have remained friends to this day, cementing my belief that effective advocacy is built on the bond between me and you, not just my experience.

WHEN I’M NOT BEING A LAWYER

I spend my free time snowboarding, cycling, and participating in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, where both my home and office are located. I enjoy as many trips to Minnesota as I can, to visit my father, brother, sister-in-law, and my nephew. I am an active member of my community and take interest in public affairs. I spend a good chunk of my daily free time reading current events. I co-founded and currently sit on the Board of Directors of Attorneys Bettering the Community (ABC), a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and coordinating group volunteer projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

BACKGROUND

I graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a Public Interest Concentration. While at Hastings, I earned several CALI awards and excelled in my trial advocacy coursework. I graduated magna cum laude from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota with a double major in Political Science and Sociology.