rejection? Most of the time, that’ s correct. Are they afraid of failure? Often, that’ s the problem. Are they too comfortable with the life they’ ve built to take any chances? That’ s another common situation.
You know, 1-800-CAR-CRASH is easy. Workers’ comp is easy. But lawyers need to show courage and jump into more difficult and more complex situations where American consumers are being killed, they’ re being injured, they’ re being defrauded. These types of things are happening all around them, but so few lawyers are willing to fight the corporate machine and everything that powers it.
SGS: Cara Deketomis represents a new generation of lawyers stepping into battles that are deeply personal and profoundly dangerous. What does her storyline say about legacy, mentorship, and the responsibility trial lawyers carry when the fight becomes generational?
Papantonio: If we, as trial lawyers, aren’ t willing to teach the next generation how to confront big, complex problems that threaten our culture and American consumers, the bad guys will win again. And by the way, I’ m very optimistic that I’ m seeing a generation of lawyers who are willing to step in, but they still need direction. They need mentorship, they need encouragement, and they need examples.
SGS: There’ s a moment in the book where the threat to the law firm becomes personal and violent. It’ s something many lawyers prefer to believe could never happen to them. Were you deliberately challenging that sense of professional invulnerability?
Papantonio: Well, any lawyer who puts themselves in the spotlight has to understand that there will always be bigger forces pushing back. We like to think that we’ re so important and so powerful that when we step into a firefight, bullets aren’ t going to hit us. But nobody has a big“ S” on their chest in this business.
78 The Trial Lawyer
“ It’ s about what happens when one case becomes more important than reputation, convenience, or fear.”— Mike Papantonio
SGS: You’ ve written many legal thrillers, but A Death in Arcadia feels different. It feels angrier, more intimate, and more urgent.
Papantonio: Yeah. I mean, the most awful trial lawyers I’ ve ever seen are the ones who have no capacity to get genuinely angry about the way that Corporate America treated their client. If a lawyer doesn’ t have the capacity to feel genuine outrage and anger to the point that they wake up furious about the facts that they’ re confronted with, they really never have the capacity to be an effective trial lawyer. Some lawyers are better suited to do transactional work, shuffling papers, because they don’ t have the ability to feel genuine anger and outrage towards bullies. And these lawyers have no place in a courtroom.
SGS: It really is about bullies, isn’ t it?
Papantonio: Absolutely. It’ s the same bullies that terrorized people back in elementary school. They just grew up and got an MBA.
SGS: In your real-world advocacy for Dozier survivors, your firm, Levin Papantonio, emphasized action over profit— even telling survivors they didn’ t need lawyers to access state funds and helping survivors pro bono to access compensation from the state. What does that say about the plaintiff bar’ s role?
Papantonio: It says the plaintiff bar has to decide what kind of profession it wants to be. Justice isn’ t always billable. Sometimes the right thing to do is to make sure acknowledgment happens, policy changes, and that history doesn’ t repeat itself. If that makes some lawyers uncomfortable, that discomfort should tell them something. It screams that our obligation to society doesn’ t end at contingency fees.
Troy Rafferty, my partner, and I understood that we were out of options with helping the Dozier survivors and that the only thing that could be done was to try to get the state to pay these people $ 20 million. We accomplished that and didn’ t take any fee for it. It’ s what we, as the plaintiff bar, should be willing to do. I mean, we ought to have the heart for that. And anyone who doesn’ t have that heart should reevaluate how serious they are about their work.
SGS: What would you say to a successful but risk-averse lawyer reading this who thinks,“ This isn’ t my kind of case”?
Papantonio: I’ d say that’ s exactly what lawyers say before harm becomes normalized. I think that if a lawyer can’ t read that book and understand what their bigger responsibility is, they should be doing something like domestic law, social security law, or patent law, because those practices don’ t have a human factor to them.
You don’ t have to abandon your practice to do extraordinary work, but you do have to choose one fight that actually matters and refuse to walk away from it. Ask yourself who is being harmed because no one in a position of power is paying attention. If you can’ t answer that, you’ re not looking hard enough.
SGS: Final question: Why should a mass torts lawyer reader pick up A Death in Arcadia?
Papantonio: For one, it’ s an entertaining read. Second, it’ s a road map to the challenges we face in almost every case. But most importantly, it’ s a reminder of why this work matters when it’ s done right. On the surface, this book appears to be about hero lawyers. But it’ s really about accountability. It’ s about what happens when one case becomes more important than reputation, convenience, or fear.
If that idea still matters to you, you’ ll recognize yourself in these pages.
Sara G. Stephens is Editor-in-Chief of MTMP Magazine, a bi-annual publication covering mass tort litigation.