Robert J. Francavilla

Francavilla started out in the early 1980s as a defense lawyer for insurers. It didn't last. In 1985, he joined the plaintiffs' firm that is now CaseyGerry and never looked back.

"I made a quick turnaround," he said. "My philosophy is that if I prep every case as if it's going to trial, I'll get the trial value in any settlement." He focuses on serious personal injury, wrongful death and head trauma cases.

His peers recognized his skills in 2016 when he was chosen as Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego. For Francavilla, it was vindication. "That was a big deal for me because I was never the smartest kid in law school," he said. "But I overcame self-doubt through hard work and now I fear nobody."

He has won major sums for clients in a wide range of complex cases including those involving paraplegia, quadriplegia, severe burns, traumatic brain injury, loss of limbs and major orthopedic injuries. His recent wins include several multi-million-dollar confidential settlements. One was for $2.5 million in an auto versus motorcycle matter.

A major challenge, Francavilla said, was the one facing client Henry P. Flores, a high school junior and skateboarder who suffered an injury to a big toe in auto shop class when a hydraulic lift tipped over. Defense lawyers for the school district were dismissive, pointing out that he was unlikely to sway jurors to award much in damages because the toe wasn't broken, medical expenses were minimal, there was no major reconstructive surgery involved, the ongoing severe nerve pain Flores reported was subjective in nature. Flores' doctors pronounced the damage fixed.

"One defense lawyer told me, 'I have a son and if it was him I'd tell him to get off his ass and get to work,'" Francavilla said.

Even so, Francavilla attained a $1.25 million settlement in April 2019. The key was the deposition he took from the school nurse.

"She was a very cool person who had known my client for years and saw profound changes in him after the accident," Francavilla said. "He went into a shell, turned from a happy kid into a recluse who seldom left his house. His entire social life was taken away. She was concerned about him."

After the deposition, the defense lawyers' attitude changed. "One called her amazing," Francavilla said. The settlement soon followed. Flores v. Sweetwater Union High School District, 37-2017-00042039-CU-PO-CTL (San Diego County Super. Ct., filed Oct. 30, 2017).

"For me, it was about bonding with this terrific kid in a righteous case," Francavilla said. "It characterizes how I care very deeply for clients."

-- John Roemer