Top Lawyers: Jess Jordan On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law

An Interview with Eric L. Pines

Always use problem-solving skills: A case never goes the way you expect and in fact, there is no such thing as a perfect case! Many clients may have a misconception that if I was rear-ended or I was personally injured it should be straightforward, but as I shared there is no such thing as a perfect case. For these reasons, it’s critical to have stellar problem-solving skills to make the best arguments, so that a jury can believe it’s a perfect case.

The legal field is known to be extremely competitive. Lawyers are often smart, ambitious, and highly educated. That being said, what does it take to stand out and become a “Top Lawyer” in your specific field of law? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law”, we are talking to top lawyers who share what it takes to excel and stand out in your industry.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jess Jordan.

Jess Jordan, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, is a passionate personal injury attorney based in Chicago, a journey that stemmed from a childhood experience witnessing the aftermath of a fatal motorcycle accident involving his family. Motivated by the injustice he observed in the insurance process, Jess became determined to advocate for those facing similar losses. His personal encounters with a car accident in high school, where he played a crucial role in the arbitration process, solidified his commitment to providing a calm and supportive presence for others navigating legal challenges. Outside of his legal pursuits, Jess is an avid traveler, history enthusiast, and “proud pug parent” who enjoys exploring Chicago and recommending gems like the Harold Washington Library with its stunning views of Lake Michigan.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is the “backstory” that brought you to this particular career path in Law? Did you want to be an attorney “when you grew up”?

Of course, I am happy to share the story that led me into the personal injury legal space. In my youth, I was involved in several formative situations that led me toward the legal profession, particularly personal injury law. This interest stemmed from a car accident I experienced with my mom when I was younger. The case eventually went to arbitration, during which I was deposed — a process that was quite traumatizing for me. I suppressed these memories for several years until another incident occurred: my family witnessed a fatal motorcycle collision. This event reignited my interest in personal injury law.

Being in these situations where you may feel helpless as a witness came back into my mind when it came to going to college and selecting a career that was right for me. I knew I wanted to go into something that would help people. Entering into this field not only helped me for the future, but enabled me to get over these traumatic experiences and apply good outcomes for my potential clients’ future cases. It was important to me to showcase a powerful voice and get justice for people who deserve to be heard based on matters that happened in their lives.

Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?

At McCready Law, we represent people who were injured through no fault of their own and it’s often called personal injury law. It’s all that we do and all we’ll ever focus on in our offices. We follow this path as we are incredibly passionate about our work and serving our clients to the best of our ability.

You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?

As far as the three character traits that were most instrumental to my success thus far, here’s what I believe has applied most:

1. Being adaptable to situations: It’s critical to adapt, whether you are speaking to your client when sharing updates or making an oral argument to a judge. Being adaptable enables you to protect your clients’ rights and defend your position.
2. Always have a desire to improve: Remaining curious and always striving to learn more is critical. Laws are constantly changing, in fact nowadays everyone is talking about AI and rules are ever-changing. There’s a lot of politics behind the scenes that create some of the laws that affect people and you constantly need to be curious about what’s going on in your community and the legal world so that you can remain at the forefront of these changes to advise clients.
3. Be passionate: Having passion is the most critical of the characteristic traits because if you don’t have passion for what you do — what are you doing in your career? You need to believein your case and showcase why you believe your client should come out on top. Whether you are a new graduate in your field or an attorney practicing for 30 years — never lose the passion that keeps you committed to your clients.

In terms of unique qualities, I think the biggest one that has contributed to my success throughout my career thus far has been empathy. Clients come to us during the most difficult times of their lives and it’s critical to remain completely empathetic to their position. I know this can be hard for many who’ve served in our career for years, but it’s so important and builds a stronger relationship with our clients.

One example is a client we supported that went to nine different law firms before coming to ours. He was walking across a drawbridge when the bridge began to rise, trapping him on the bridge, causing him injury. . We believed in his case, took it on after he had been dismissed many times by others and in the end we were able to find a witness which allowed our client to make a full recovery for his injuries. In the end, it’s critical to have this open-mindedness with regard to meeting people and believe what they have to say.

Do you think you have had luck in your success? Can you explain what you mean?

I think that in the traditional sense I am lucky to be given opportunities that have enabled me to learn and grow. From these experiences, they have lent themselves to becoming a successful lawyer in my field of law. While the initial opportunities led to a chance for me to take the leap it was ultimately what I did with these opportunities which have allowed me to translate them into success.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

It was a lengthy process for me to decide which type of law school and program that I would explore for my future. I wanted a program that would make me practice ready and prepare me for the bar to begin my legal career. A lot of schools I saw were focused more towards cerebral thinking and theory that didn’t translate into the outcome I was searching for in my educational path. The school I went to was focused on teaching law students about the real life skills that they will be using as a lawyer.

Certainly, there are advantages to going to a top-tier law school particularly if you want to go into being a professor or work in a corporate setting. For my niche practice, none of my clients have asked about my educational background, but are more interested in my experience that I have after law school and types of real life cases I’ve handled.

Based on the lessons you have learned from your experience, if you could go back in time and speak to your twenty-year-old self, what would you say? Would you do anything differently?

This is a great question since this was only a few years ago for me and I’ve learned a lot since . I was twenty. I don’t think I would do anything differently as I’m very happy with how the opportunities and situations led to where I am now.

I think if I were to give myself advice I would tell myself to stop worrying about the destination of where I was going and enjoy the journey. I spent a lot of time worrying and not taking on the full experience to enjoy everything along the way. I would also tell myself to worry a little bit less — it all works out in the end.

This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?

My primary motivation and drive behind the work I do in personal injury law is helping people and making sure that nobody is taken advantage of in life. I was bullied as a child and I never want anyone to feel that they are being silenced or being taken advantage of during an important situation affecting their lives. Helping people is important to me and making sure there is justice, fairness and that each situation is equitable.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

One of the most exciting projects at McCready Law is that we are expanding our firm into different markets. We started in the Chicago area over 25 years ago and now we’ve expanded into Indianapolis and we’re testing the waters in other midwestern states. We are excited to continue this expansion, so that we can spread our message of how we handle cases and how we help people — it’s really exciting!

Where do you go from here? Where do you aim to be in the next chapter of your career?

It’s only up from here — I am very enthusiastic about heading towards leadership levels within the confines of our law practice. I know that senior leadership team members are ready to pass along the torch as we continue to evolve and grow at McCready Law. I look forward to mentoring new attorneys and taking on higher level roles as my career continues to grow within the firm.

Without sharing anything confidential, can you please share your most successful “war story”?

I’ve been lucky as I’ve had quite a few successes thus far in my career. One that I think about often that I’m most proud of is from a woman who was getting out of an abusive situation. She was washing her baby in the faucet that they had at the homeless shelter and the baby suffered severe second-degree burns and it was a harrowing experience for the mom as she had recently escaped domestic abuse. The mom had been accused of abusing her baby from the burns that she suffered, so we came in to help to demonstrate that she didn’t cause these burns and it was due to the negligence of the shelter itself. We were also able to get her a nice recovery for the baby, so that when she’s ready to go to college she’ll have everything she needs to be successful.

In terms of funny cases, one time we had a client who was rear ended and the person was dressed up as a clown on the way to a birthday party. That was pretty funny and kind of stuck out of his mind as you typically see more than one clown in a car — not just one.

Ok, fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing some advice for aspiring lawyers. Do you work remotely? Onsite? Or Hybrid? What do you think will be the future of how law offices operate? What do you prefer? Can you please explain what you mean?

For the most part, I do a hybrid schedule which finds me on-site at our McCready Law offices at least three days a week. This schedule also depends if I have an on-site court case or a meeting with a client. I think the fact that we can work remotely and that we can do Zoom court and Zoom depositions is great as the legal industry evolves. It also allows more remote access because it increases access to justice. We still have clients that want to be in our offices for meetings and in fact I do have quite a few clients that insist on in-person meetings, which I can understand because oftentimes the cases are very personal. They want to meet face-to-face with the person who will be the advocate that’s going to be fighting for them.

How has the legal world changed since COVID? How do you think it might change in the near future? Can you explain what you mean?

The legal world has changed drastically since COVID as Zoom depositions were not that popular and were only done periodically. They also expanded out to Zoom court and with COVID they had to adapt to continue to support cases since a lot of proceeds became virtual and remote depositions. Almost four years later, now all depositions are exclusively done through Zoom since attorneys have realized it is a solid way to conduct this part of their cases — effectively and quickly.

Based on your experience, how can attorneys effectively leverage social media to build their practice?

I think that the best and most successful way that I have seen attorneys use social media is by talking about cases and case results. I think it’s something that attorneys should be proud of and it also allows potential clients to see unique cases that might be similar to theirs allowing them to not feel alone. Also another great way is to teach prospective clients what to look out for. The more educated the client is, the better the case can turn out. Finally, it’s a great marketing tool to see videos or content on social media versus only viewing a website with generic topics that don’t really interest them.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law?”

There are so many critical things you need to become a top lawyer in every specific field of Law, but here are are the top five that worked best for me and has helped me into the role I stand in today:

1. Deliver a client-centered approach: By delivering this approach and following a structure technique for how you develop your firm it will run effectively. Remember, your clients are the whole reason that you exist in your practice and they are the sole purpose of your law firm. Be sure to keep them involved in constant communication of what’s going on with their case and also carry along the appropriate amount of empathy to their specific situation.
2. Specialize in a field that aligns with you: With so many specific fields of law, it’s critical to specialize in one specific area and not to dabble in other fields of practices. Always remember that it’s 100 percent of what you represent on a day-to-day basis. By following this direction, you’ll encounter the same judges and lawyers on a routine basis and build a rapport in your area. As you learn how these judges think and make rulings, you’ll begin to gain a better understanding and. On how to get the best result for your client.
3. Never stop learning: Continuous learning is an area that we should never stop focusing on as we build out our careers and educate ourselves as the world as well as legal issues evolve on an ongoing basis. Always be sure to stay up to date on the cases that come down the pipeline from local, State and the Supreme Court to keep abreast on issues facing your field of service. Leaders from higher levels are constantly discussing amending or changing rules and oftentimes since we are staying on top of items we can educate insurance industry executives or other attorneys. By having this background, you can strategize ahead about how matters might affect the overall welfare of your case.
4. Always use problem-solving skills: A case never goes the way you expect and in fact, there is no such thing as a perfect case! Many clients may have a misconception that if I was rear-ended or I was personally injured it should be straightforward, but as I shared there is no such thing as a perfect case. For these reasons, it’s critical to have stellar problem-solving skills to make the best arguments, so that a jury can believe it’s a perfect case.
5. Stay optimistic: This is one area you most likely did not think I’d apply to the list, but a continued level of optimism is critical for success. I personally think that people that are negative or exude that cases are not in their favor will never have a positive outlook that you need to be a beacon of hope for not only your client but for your staff and everyone that you encounter. Optimism is going to get you through tough times and then it will make your victories even greater because you were optimistic through it and you believed in yourself.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!

About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.

While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.

Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.

Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.