Reflections from a Hartford, CT Personal Injury Attorney

In December, I tried five workers' compensation cases to conclusion.

These were full trials — exhibits, sworn testimony, medical evidence, a judge, and a court reporter. One of them involved the death of a pilot due to an occupational disease. There were no settlements and no shortcuts. Just preparation, testimony, and decisions that mattered to real people.

That same month, I attended the first meeting of a regular mastermind group I belong to — a standing group of law firm owners who meet to talk candidly about leadership, growth, hiring, systems, and the less glamorous realities of running a law practice.

I've been in masterminds before. I know how valuable they can be.

Still, sitting there with other firm owners — many of whom run multi-million-dollar practices — I felt something familiar creep in: imposter syndrome.

For injured workers and families in Hartford and throughout central Connecticut, trial experience matters. As a Hartford, CT personal injury attorney who has spent decades handling complex workers' compensation and serious injury cases, I've seen firsthand how preparation and persistence change outcomes. Whether a case resolves early or requires formal hearings and trials before a judge, my firm approaches every matter with the same mindset: know the law, master the medicine, and be ready to prove the case. That approach was built here in Hartford, refined in Connecticut courtrooms, and continues to guide how we advocate for injured clients every day.

The Long Way Here

When that happens, I find it helpful to rewind.

In 2006, I was fired from a job I had held for 20 years. Overnight, I went from employee to solo practitioner. What I had was about 20 files, one employee working ten hours a week, and an “office” in the attic of a funeral home.

There was no master plan. No growth strategy. No coaching group.

There was just work.

As a Hartford, CT personal injury attorney handling workers' compensation cases, that meant learning the law the hard way — reading statutes, mastering medical records, preparing witnesses, and standing in front of judges when cases didn't settle.

I took cases others didn't want.
I tried cases others avoided.
I learned from mistakes because there was no alternative.

Year after year, I gutted it out.

What Grit Actually Looks Like

People like to talk about growth in neat, sanitized terms — scaling, leverage, optimization.

That wasn't my experience.

My experience was showing up every day, representing injured workers and families, and doing the unglamorous work that personal injury and workers' compensation cases demand. It was learning how to try cases, how to cross-examine experts, and how to carry the weight of outcomes that affect people's lives.

Slowly, twenty files turned into hundreds.
One part-time employee turned into a team.
A funeral home attic turned into a real law firm.

Somewhere along the way, the work added up.

Trials and the Mastermind Table

So what does trying five cases in a single month have to do with sitting in a mastermind room with high-level law firm owners?

Everything.

Both are the result of the same thing: persistence.

I didn't end up in that room because of branding or luck. I earned my seat the same way I've earned credibility as a Hartford, Connecticut personal injury attorney — by preparing cases thoroughly, trying them when necessary, and not backing down when things got difficult.

The trials reminded me of that.

When imposter syndrome shows up now, I recognize it for what it is: self-inflicted noise. I've gone toe-to-toe with insurance companies, expert witnesses, and opposing counsel for decades. I've handled serious injury and death cases where the stakes were real and the pressure was high.

That experience matters.

Closing Thought

Growth rarely looks impressive while you're in it. Most of the time, it just looks like grinding through another hard case, another trial, another long day.

But if you keep doing the work — especially the hard work — one day you look up and realize you're sitting at tables you once thought were out of reach.

Not because you were invited.
But because you earned it.