Attorney Trenton Garmon finds ways to help others

As Principal Attorney for Garmon & Associates, Trenton Garmon has managed more than 4,000 cases and litigated more than 100 cases to a judicial decision.

Today, the experienced personal injury and civil rights attorney continues to look for ways to help others, especially frustrated, frightened, and possibly injured clients who don’t know where else to turn.

He has faced down big corporations, universities, and powerful individuals, and his opinions have been sought by national media.

‘ Helping others is what I think makes one successful,” he said. “Money follows justice, so the fees are a sign of success. But no one ever looked back at a lawyer’s life and said, ‘He sure made a difference with all that money.’”

Instead, Trenton Garmon believes lawyers are remembered for their impact on difficult areas of law and their efforts in situations where social pressures are especially intense.

“I have always maintained a private polygraph policy and only accepted cases that I believed in,” he said. “I think success is bound up in being the best efforts in the fight for natural law and justice to prevail.”

Trenton Garmon’s interest in the law started early: his father was also an attorney and felt it was important to represent individuals against big business or government systems. He also remembers watching “Matlock” and, “Murder She Wrote” with his parents regularly during the one night a week he was allowed to stay up late to watch TV.

In addition to the bonus family time, he and his father would also discuss the legal topics raised and procedural matters following each episode.

Trenton Garmon began clerking for his father while in high school and wrote his first brief at age 17 for the Court of Civil Appeals. The brief, a Response to a Motion for Summary Judgment, eventually led to overturning a Circuit Court Judge’s ruling.

“It pretty much lit a fire within me, and I have enjoyed the challenge of fighting against big corporations and big government abuses ever since,” he said.

Following college at West Point and Troy University, then the Birmingham School of Law, Trenton Garmon began practicing in Alabama, starting his own firm in a different town than his father. Early cases were mostly municipal contract clients, especially indigent clients who couldn’t afford counsel.

“It took about six months to a year to begin turning a real profit, given that many cases require a year or more for litigation,” he said. “There were months where we were spending more on investing in our cases than we would make in revenue, given that fees were delayed until the end of a case.”

After his father’s retirement, he assumed many of his cases and continued to be available to assist in civil litigation. He also expanded into civil rights cases, where the government may be the opposing party.

Many cases are challenging, especially when a client is going up against a big company or agency armed with legions of attorneys and potentially large damages at stake. But it’s still important to point out matters of the law, even if an appeal is necessary, and show that the system does work.

“Because I truly believe in our cases and the principles of justice, we just press each case to the end,” he said. “I believe strongly in best efforts and best practices, so we’re always fine-tuning our systems and actively learning.”

Trenton Garmon is excited to continue exactly what he’s doing now.

“ I am not simply called to be a lawyer, being a lawyer drives me,” he said. “I am passionate about justice, and so it seems the future will be serving others who need a strong advocate .”

Originally published at http://professionaltales.com.