Trenton Garmon Defends the Rights of Those In Need — Quality Checks

Trenton Garmon grew up watching crime dramas with his parents, trying to figure out “who done it” when he was allowed to stay up late. Today, he leads a personal injury and civil rights firm, Garmon & Associates, and has managed more than 4,000 cases.

Garmon has been active in the law from a young age. Clerking for his attorney father in high school, a 17-year-old Trenton Garmon wrote a brief for the Court of Civil Appeals that helped overturn a Circuit Court decision. That lit a fire under Garmon and has helped shape his career, which has focused on taking on big corporations, big government, and other institutions to combat abuses.

Garmon earned his bachelor’s degree from Troy University and earned his J.D. from the Birmingham School of Law. He also holds a master’s degree in theology from Regent University and has served as associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church and an associate evangelist at Evangelism International.

As a civil litigator, Garmon represents victims of civil rights abuses, medical malpractice, and other injustices. He has sued large corporations, hospitals, and others and has appeared on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC.

Early Days of Garmon & Associates

When Garmon started his firm, it took a year before he turned a profit. Many civil cases take a year or more to resolve and fees are not paid until the end of a case. That meant months when the firm was spending more on cases than it was bringing in.

Early on, Garmon took on whatever contract cases he could find. He would visit city courts and eventually became friendly with the court clerk, asking to be assigned to cases of indigent defendants, those who were poor and could not afford their own defense.

Garmon cut his teeth on city court cases, building a client base, forging relationships, and starting to market his services. When his father retired, he took on some cases that were still pending.

He eventually shifted from doing contract work for the government to taking on cases against the government. His first civil rights case was representing an activist he had met at an event and offered to help. Garmon got a call during a seminar and left to file an emergency request for equitable relief which was granted by the court.

He had worked on personal injury cases with his father, but that area did not become a focus until Garmon & Associates was about five years old. Today, he receives referrals from other attorneys and former clients to drive that part of the business.

Trenton Garmon Reflects on Meaningful Career

There have been powerful moments in his career. His most satisfying came while defending a civil rights activist in a packed courtroom full of media and community members. Before his closing argument, Garmon asked a 7-year-old boy sitting in the front row with his mother to pray for him.

When the judge ruled in his client’s favor, he turned to the boy and said, “It was your prayer.” The boy smiled back at him convinced it was due to his faith.

He left the courtroom and stuck with the plan doing no interviews, letting his client speak for herself. While driving home, his client’s vindication and the boy’s reaction resonated with him.

Garmon often struggles with turning down cases that appear legitimate but are not winnable due to what he calls “bad law.” Oftentimes, he notes, there are unintended consequences to laws passed or case precedent that make cases difficult to win, unless they are the right client and the right set of facts to challenge established thinking.

For Garmon, it’s the connection and commitment to helping others that drives him. The future is about continuing to challenge large corporations and insurance companies to uphold client rights and dignity.

Learn more about Trenton Garmon by following on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Originally published at http://qualitychecks.org on December 10, 2020.