Daniel G. Williams
After
earning both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree
in occupational safety and health, Daniel G.
Williams began working for an insurance company as a
risk manager. Somewhere along the way, Williams
realized he had a passion for helping injured
people. Today, as an attorney at Gordon & Doner in
South Florida, Williams is literally on the other
side of the courtroom from his early career. He now
represents injured people instead of insurance
companies.
“I went to law school because I wanted to be the best risk manager I could be,” Williams said. “After graduating, I ended up working for several years with two large insurance defense firms—and that gave me the perfect foundation for becoming a personal injury attorney.”
Williams' experience working on the other side of personal injury claims has given him valuable insight into how insurance companies will respond when he’s litigating insurance claims. This past work experience is a key advantage to his clients.
“I gained an understanding of the claim evaluation process from the defense side,” Williams said. “I know what the defense firms and insurance adjusters are looking for in these cases, and it helps me focus on advocating certain areas of a case that I know they will find important.”
Since making the switch to representing injured clients, Williams has developed a strong track record litigating clams such as construction accidents, vehicle accidents, product liability, brain and spinal cord injury, nursing home neglect and wrongful deaths.
Williams' proudest moments as a litigator involve representing an injured person or their family.
“In one case I helped a gentleman who was working on a scissors lift at a job site,” Williams said. “The lift toppled over and the man fell 20 feet. He was badly banged up and had incurred several hundred thousand dollars in medical bills.”
The defense lawyers only offered his client $100,000. That amount was far less than the man needed and deserved, and far less than what Williams was willing to accept.
“So we took the case to trial,” he said. “It was one of the hardest cases I have ever worked and I put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears.”
About a week into the trial, the defense lawyers realized how strong of a case Williams had prepared.
“We got a call from the defense lawyers on a Thursday afternoon after a day in court,” Williams said. “They wanted to mediate. It was Easter weekend and the Court was closed the next day for Good Friday. We mediated the case all weekend long.”
On Monday, Williams’ phone rang with the offer. “The case settled for a substantial confidential amount. That was the proudest moment for me because I had to fight for it so hard.”
The most memorable case in Williams’ career was helping clients recover from a tragic accident.
“The case involved a husband and wife that were on I-95 at midnight in the middle of a torrential downpour,” Williams said. “Their car flipped over and spun around and they landed upside down, facing north in the southbound lane. Moments later, a tractor-trailer came along and killed them in one of the most violent collisions I have ever seen as a lawyer. It was a horrible, tragic death; both the husband and the wife died.”
Williams represented the family members of the couple that was killed. His investigation focused on the trucking company and the truck driver.
“We found out some really bad things about the truck driver and the trucking company and we were able to settle the case for a substantial confidential amount, providing a recovery that allowed the family to move on with their lives.”
Williams' ability to persevere when working through hard cases is something he attributes to his underlying personality.
“I see things through to the end; I have a lot of endurance,” he said. He sees an overlap in this regard between his career and his experiences as a triathlete.
“I have done two Ironman competitions,” Williams said. “There are many times when you are racing that things go wrong. When this happens you can slump your shoulders and feel sorry for yourself or you can keep on moving. And that’s what I do - I keep on moving. There are always going to be bad days when you’re working a case, when things don’t go your way. You can either give up or you can keep on moving.”
For his most recent Ironman triathlon competition in Lake Placid, NY, weather conditions were dreadful.
“There was more rain falling from the sky than I have ever seen, and I have lived through three hurricanes,” Williams said. “The rain just kept coming and coming, and there were many times in the race that I wanted to quit. But I just made myself keep moving, and 15+ hours later I crossed the finish line. It is the same thing with litigation. When it gets hard, you just keep going.”
Williams’ favorite legal movie is My Cousin Vinny, the Oscar-winning comedy starring Joe Pesci and Marissa Tomei. His favorite legal book is Reptile: The 2009 Manual of The Plaintiff's Revolution, by David Ball and Don Keenan.
Professional Background
Admitted to Bar: Florida, 1999 .
Admitted to Practice in: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pennsylvania, 2003; New Jersey, 2003
Education: Indiana University of Pennsylvania (B.S., 1992; M.S., 1994); Widener University School of Law (J.D., 1998).
Member: Florida Bar; Pennsylvania Bar; New Jersey Bar; American Bar Association; Florida Justice Association (Eagle Member); Palm Beach County Justice Association; Million Dollar Advocates Forum; Certified Safety Professional.
Practice Areas: Personal Injury; Wrongful Death; Construction Accidents; Products Liability; Nursing Home Liability; 18 Wheel Truck Wrecks; Brain & Spinal Cord Injuries.
Email: dwilliams@fortheinjured.com
