Alexander Shunnarah
Attorney, Chief Executive Officer
ASTA
Birmingham
In 2015, I opened my law practice, myself and two staff, in one room. In a city full of competition, we were underdogs.
A month later, I had two office rooms, then a few months later, I took over the whole suite. We were growing so fast; I had to break my lease within a year to move into an even larger space.
Top: Our hardworking staff
Bottom: Boston, Massachusetts
I based my law firm in Boston, where I was born.
I’m the son of a doctor and an academic. My mom’s an MD; my dad’s an educator. They emphasized empathy, compassion for people from all walks of life, and a drive always to do my best – including of course, academically. The problem was, I didn’t enjoy school whatsoever –
no passion for it – except for sports. I’m big into sports.
I’m a ticket holder to the Boston Celtics.
In high school, I was often in detention for having too
much fun; if I could have fun doing it, I did it. I wasn’t applying myself.
In college, I was basically the same person. Lots of fun,
lots of friends, not enough studying, and okay grades;
Not applying myself. But my strong suit was that people liked me, probably because I love people. I’ve always
had that going for me.
I didn’t know what I wanted to be after college, but I had this rich cousin who was a lawyer with a lavish lifestyle, so I was like, “I’ll do that!”
I decided I would be a lawyer based on all the wrong reasons: Twenty-one-year-old me wanted the fancy cars,
the big houses, the nice suits. (There you go. I’m real. I’m honest.)
So I took the L-SAT test to get into law school, and…
My scores the first time weren’t good enough to get into
the school of my choice.
And then it happened.
I got motivated.
I realized that I now wanted to apply myself.
I got a meeting with the Dean and learned what I needed to do. He said, “Your college grades aren’t high enough, so you’d have to retake the L-SAT and score VERY high….”
I puckered down, and studied my ass off as I’d never done before, and retook the L-SAT…
No problem, I got into Law School.
And then, in law school, I tapped into something that I’d previously only found in sports.
I stopped caring about my lifestyle and started waking up early to study how to use my capabilities to do good for my clients and win. I love to win.
I worked my ass off in law school, and by the time
I graduated, I knew how to do personal injury law
as well as anybody.
2010, my cousin, the lawyer, gave me my first job.
But from day one, I dominated like nobody had done in his business, ever. I was a case machine because I was passionate about what I was doing. It felt like sports.
Out of the gates, I was bringing in perhaps 50%
of the business for the firm. People kept saying to me,
“I like you. I want you to be my lawyer.” Then I’d win their case, and they liked me even more and told their friends about me. Maybe everyone is used to boring lawyers. I’ve never been accused of being boring.
Five years into my career, in 2015,
I wanted to be able to practice the way I liked—more people-centered.
Personal injury law is about people trusting a lawyer with their lives.
I am really good at building relationships with people because I really care about them.
Today, I’m at my desk every day at 5:30 A.M.
in the conference room with a cup of coffee and four sheets of paper in front of me.
Each piece bears a set of issues separated by who is best suited to handle those problems. The longest list is my own, with the problems that I’m tackling for my clients, who are the underdog up against giant powerful corporations. I wake up early every day to help my clients win.
Imagine if baseball teams got awarded fractions of runs for hitting singles or doubles. Most teams would just rack up lots of small fractions, and would never go for home base.
I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret. That’s what most personal injury law firms do. They settle too early, because they’d rather rack up easy but small wins, instead of going the extra mile and getting you every penny you deserve, and more.
That’s not how we operate. If you have a home-run case, then we’re going to hit for the stands. We’re not going to settle for a pittance. We believe the biggest threat we can make against the greedy insurance companies is to show them we’re willing to go all the way to trial. That’s the home base we’re always aiming for: a huge award, decided by a jury of your sympathetic peers.
Why aren’t other firms as aggressive as we are? First, they don’t have the patience—they’re out for a quick buck off of your injury. (They don’t call them “ambulance chasers” for nothing.)
Second, other firms don’t have the resources we have to fight your case to the end. Because of our success, we have amassed a huge war chest, and we’re ready, willing, and able to dip deeply into it, in order to fight for your full reward.
Third, other firms don’t have the chops. It takes a lot to win a trial. It’s a war. Most firms just aren’t up to the task. They’re not battle-ready. If you’re going to war with the 1,000-pound gorillas of the insurance companies, you better be ready to fight. Most other firms aren’t. But we do battle every day.
