A Conversation With ... David W. Ransin

I’m a sole practitioner and have been for 16 years. I’ve been practicing in Springfield since 1982. I have four employees. I’m a St. Louis native. I graduated from law school – University of Missouri in Columbia – and came down to Springfield. I limit my practice to plaintiff’s claims for catastrophic injuries and death, predominantly car and tractor-trailer crashes.

What drew you to focus on those cases?

I was 12 years old when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer, and from that point forward, everything I did was geared toward that. But I was going to be a business lawyer, so I went to business school, got a banking and finance degree, with minors in accounting, insurance and real estate. I had an offer here (and) came to Springfield with a firm doing insurance defense work – the exact opposite of what I do now. I got frustrated being told what to do by insurance companies, oftentimes knowing it was the wrong thing. I was hired by a client to do what they said, but I didn’t appreciate feeling like someone else was pulling my strings. They were making financial decisions … on dollars, not justice, and I couldn’t handle that. I would still defend a case just as fast as I would pursue a plaintiff’s case, so long as I was convinced the position was just. The problem with being a defense lawyer is you don’t get to pick your client, and even if you know in heart and soul that the client was careless, hurt someone and deserves to make them whole … you have to create a case. Now, there are a lot of extremely good defense lawyers around, and I respect them.

Now you can choose your clients. Is that difficult?

Difficult’s a hard word. I will turn down 95 percent of prospective clients. There are all kinds of reasons … . Largely, my practice has grown to where I’ll only take the more serious permanent, catastrophic injuries and deaths.

Do you think society as a whole is growing more litigious?

I don’t think so. Statistically … that’s not any more true than it ever has been in the private sector of the layperson, Joe Public. Because of the media popularization – everything from L.A. Law to Boston Legal – that misperception has been perpetuated, (so) people believe it’s the truth. Now when it comes to corporate litigation, absolutely. More than two-thirds or three-fourths of the lawsuits are corporations suing corporations. Certainly, over the past 20 or 30 years, the greatest increase in volume of lawsuits and size of awards … have been the result of corporate lawsuits, not Joe Public injury claims.

Describe Missouri’s legal climate.

Tort reform … wasn’t needed. It was passed as a subterfuge to protect the corporate interests of the insurance industry. In terms of the climate, there are still good citizens who serve on our juries, who still recognize that when someone has been wronged and harmed through the carelessness of others, justice requires that the person be made whole. The problem is that they’ve gone back and tinkered with 200-plus years of established American law, exclusively to protect the insurance industry … . The civil justice system is not perfect, but it’s the best in the world. In fact, that’s what they’re trying to institute in Iraq. When Russia fell, they adopted our system. It’s still the envy of the world.

Why did you decide to be a sole practitioner?

I’m pretty headstrong and like to do things my own way, and that’s difficult in a firm setting where you have to put up with more politics. I’ve always had difficulty (when) the politics have control over practicalities and achieving the real goal: doing the best possible job for my clients. ... I’ve decided that I’ve seen too many good friendships ruined by partnerships, and I have found that everybody is happier at the end of the day by keeping separate businesses but working together on cases. We’ll work together on a case, but we maintain our separate offices, identities, staff. They keep their headaches, I keep mine.

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading some good books on jury trials and neuro-linguistic programming – verbal and nonverbal communication and understanding how people think. … I find the metaphysical-thought process intriguing. That’s kind of recreational. I’m also reading about and self-teaching Tai Chi. It’s relaxing and empowering. Plus I read all the farm and cattle journals I can get ahold of.

Do you have a farm?

I do. I married a farmer’s daughter, my wife, Lynn. We’ve been married 20 years. That’s my escape – to go to our farm. When I’m on my tractor, I’m in heaven.

What else do you do for fun?

The kids and I are into mountain-biking now, and I’m teaching them to windsurf. My daughter, Laura, is 16, and my son, Donald, is 13. [[In-content Ad]]