#7: Chris Searcy in The Heart of Law

Faithful to the beating rhythm of her show, Mirena Umizaj invites prime among primes, Chris Searcy, to mark the seventh episode of The Heart of Law. As our keen anchor draws us into their heart-rending conversation, we discover an exponent defender true to his legendary name. 

Plunging into the deep dive, Chris shares two monumental  (yin and yang-like) events, paradoxically defining him and his purpose: “ ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,’  just like A Tale of Two Cities, ” he says.  First, Chris reminisces childhood aspirations of becoming a cowboy, a baseball player, and later a gladiator; he takes us back to an idyllic oeuvre of family memories living by the beach and watching ball games, all rivaling a Norman Rockwell painting—that is, until the day his mother's old Fleetwood Cadillac spun out of control on June 1, 1961. His sister, Angie, suffered a traumatizing brain injury and his brother, Henry, lost his life. Almost mysteriously, the day after the tragedy, he met Priscilla, his future bride. Horrifying pain one day and exhilarating bliss the next … Second, Chris takes us years later to Priscilla suffering during the birth of their firstborn son, Henry, and recounts the unnerving details of the roughly mishandled delivery. Unknown to the couple then, the medical negligence eventually caused the mental handicap of their son. Overwhelming elation one moment and crippling helplessness the next.

Shrouded in the mystery of sorrow and joy, these two pivotal events planted seeds of a valiant, purpose-driven career in catastrophic injury law. Sometime during his practice, he encounters two cases mirroring the loss his loved ones faced, lending him the rare opportunity to give the victims unrivaled defense. All for the sake of yielding justice to injured victims—and over four decades of indomitably winning millions in verdicts—Chris breaks record victories year after year and becomes a consummate legend.   Alongside legal champions like Bill Colson, J. B. Spence, Murray Sams Jr., Robert J. Beckham, and Ted Babbitt, they become fissures of light calibrating the American justice system, one case at a time.  

Chris may not realize it, but he extends beyond his childhood heroes. Better than a cowboy, he becomes the perfect marksman avenging the weak in blazing glory. Better than a baseball player, he epitomizes the slugging outfielder, making perfect home runs out of every case he represents. Better than a gladiator, he salutes the crowd in the arena of justice, facing every courtroom battle with stalwart fearlessness and chanting deeply into our souls: "Morituri te Salutamus."  … So with Mirena, we proudly cheer him on.

EPISODE SURVEY

[00:09:41] Two defining moments of Chris’ life that sets his trajectory
[00:10:13] One tragic accident with death echoing through Chris' life to this day
[00:15:51] The hard birth of Chris’ eldest son causing a traumatic brain injury
[00:23:18] When Chris decided to turn to God and the amazing hope he finds
[00:32:00] Navigating the beginnings of a career in law while nurturing a young family
[00:59:23] Deja vu case, part 1
[01:14:06] Deja vu case, part 2
[01:37:12] A law firm refusing the ⅓ cut

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

• “My disgust [of] my fear is greater than my fear.”
• “Intellectually, I knew there was not anything I could do … emotionally, it feels terrible to me that I failed to protect my loved ones ...That’s why I do what I do.”
• “It’s not God’s fault … If He didn’t let accidents happen in the world, we would all be in test tubes. Life would not be fun; [it] would not be exciting no matter what we did. It would make no difference. That would be a horrible way to live.”
• “The most important thing in running any business is to compensate everybody fairly ... If you can get that right, doesn't matter how much you screw up." 
• “I love helping people that have been wronged or hurt. Why am I still doing this? I really love it.”
• “It's not God's fault. He's even sadder than I am because he's so much more capable of pain than I am.” 
• “I can't let fear into the equation unless there's something that makes sense that I need to stay away from.”
• “I'll be scared to death every time I have some type of challenge or crisis … I can overcome it  … with the help of God.“
• “Was I scared to death of every one of those cases that I was trying? You bet! Just as scared as I could be. But I was convinced that I was never going to let that fear affect me.”
• “I don't care what happens going forward; I'm going to give it all I got!”
• “Before we can teach anybody anything, we first need to understand that ourselves.”
• “I think that as far as being great trial lawyers for our clients, I think the professional detachment is way overrated. I think we need to get as attached as we can. We need to try to know what it feels like being in their shoes because we can teach it best when we do.”
• “I got to try three cases with my dad and he was so proud of me that he was the best PR guy anybody ever had. He'd go around telling people, ‘I've been practicing [law] for 40 years and my son was already better than I was.’ He was a great dad.”

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Chris Searcy

• President and CEO of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A.
• Vice President of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Foundation
• Graduated with a Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law in the top ten percent of his class
• The youngest lawyer in the nation to get a million-dollar verdict in 1977
• Member of the elite, invitation-only Inner Circle of Advocates
• Recipient of the 2006 War Horse Award
• Honored with the Florida Justice Association’s Perry Nichols Award
• Named in Harvard’s The Best Lawyers in America
• Member of the world-renowned, exclusive International Society of Barristers
• Holds the title of “Lawdragon Legend”
• Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America
• Serves on the Florida Justice Association’s Constitutional Revision Committee

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Visit Mirena’s Chic Website and LinkedIn
• Stop by Mirena & Co.'s LinkedIn
• Listen to The Heart of Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 
  
• Learn more about Chris Searcy’s company, Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A.
• Check out Chris’s prestigious awards and affiliations: The War Horse Award,  The Perry Nichols Award, Lawdragon Legends’ Hall of Fame, Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame
• Shownotes and podcast content management by Caryl Veloso, Founder & COO of  Almond Tree Writers' Ink, LLC