Client Marlin Welch explains the ‘Elk & Elk difference.’

“There’s just a real caring attitude there,” said Marlin Welch, a 47-year-old lineman from Columbiana County, Ohio, whose personal injury case was handled by Elk & Elk attorney Matt Carty.

Welch, who said he logs about 30,000 miles on the road each year installing and maintaining cable television service for customers throughout eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, had never received so much as a speeding ticket in his more than 30 years driving.

But on July 5, 2005 on the job, Welch began making a left-hand turn into a residential driveway when the driver behind him tried to pass him. The other car struck the vehicle Welch was driving in its driver-side door, while traveling at an estimated 50 miles per hour, Welch said.

Despite the presence of a witness, Welch said, the Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper who investigated the incident did not issue a citation.

The crash left Welch with back, neck and spinal injuries. He was in and out of the hospital for weeks and weeks. He spent seven months undergoing physical therapy and racked up tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Injured and confused, Welch said he went through a veritable whirlwind of emotion for months while recovering after the incident.

“First there was anger,” he said. “Here I was, just doing my job, and this kid just ran up on me and hit me. I was in a lot of pain. I was out of work for a while and then I started experiencing a lot of anxiety. I was having trouble paying some of my bills. I mean, I had never been in a position like that before. ”Then there was the depression, he said.

But even after grappling with all of the collision’s fallout, Welch didn’t plan on taking legal action against the other driver until he learned a passenger in the other car sued Welch’s insurance company for injuries she sustained in the wreck.

“I felt like that made it look like I was in the wrong,” he said.

He said that’s when he began to learn how most insurance companies operate.

“They basically do everything they can to get out of paying people what they deserve,” Welch said. I mean, my own insurance company didn’t even call me to see how I was doing.”

Welch said after that, he did a little research and learned the other driver had several moving violations on his driving record and had even been in trouble with drugs in the past.

“And here I am. I drive anywhere from 50 to 300 miles a day for work and I’ve been doing this job for 27 years,” Welch said. “And of all the miles I’ve driven, for all that time, I definitely have never caused anyone any kind of trauma. Not once have I ever had any type of problem driving - not an accident, not even a speeding ticket – nothing. Not too many people can say that.”

So, more to clear his own name than anything else, Welch said, he began searching for an attorney.

After three phone consultations and one in-person visit to an area lawyer’s office, Welch was convinced he didn’t have a case.

“Then one night I was watching TV and I saw a commercial for Elk & Elk,” he said. “So I thought: ‘What the heck? I’ll give it one more try. This will be the fifth firm I talk to. If it doesn’t work, I’ll let it rest.”

He said he called Elk & Elk, got Carty on the phone and the rest is history.

“I just told him the facts and he said it sounded like I had a case. I was blown away,” Welch said. “Within three days, someone from the firm came to my house and went over the case. I signed all the papers and… I was just totally blown away.”

But it wasn’t just the swift action by Elk & Elk’s intake specialists and investigators that really impressed Welch, he said. It was the way Carty treated him and handled his case.

“The only time I’d ever dealt with an attorney or had any experience with the legal system before this was when I went with my parents when they had their will drawn up,” Welch said.

He added that it wasn’t the most pleasant experience and that, before that attorney would even talk to his parents, he had asked for half his legal fees up front.

“But with Mr. Carty, it was a different story. A couple times, I wrote him (e-mail messages) and he would always answer all of my questions,” Welch said. “He sent me information whenever he had it and, if I was starting to get anxious, like when I wrote a couple of times – he just said ‘Be patient.” Welch said he was in for a big surprise when he met Carty in person.

“He just came in and, like, just shook my hand and introduced himself just like a normal guy,” Welch said. “He was just like a real down-to-earth guy, you know? His personality just really put me at ease and the way he explained everything – so thorough and patient. He just really set my mind at ease.”

When it came time to negotiate on Welch’s case, Carty was able to settle out of court for $50,000 – after four other lawyers told Welch he didn’t even have a case. “Like I said, I was just blown away,” Welch said.

He said the way Carty and everyone at Elk & Elk made him feel good about filing his claim, and the time and patience they invested in him really taught him a lot about the legal system and his own rights.

“Most attorneys, it seems, are just out there making money – just worried about making a lot of money on big cases,” Welch said. “Like that attorney that handled my parents’ will. My mom – the first thing she did was write out a check before he would even talk to her.”

He said he got a completely different feeling from Elk & Elk.

“They just seem to want to help the common person,” he said. “That’s just what Elk & Elk seems to be all about. There really is a need for somebody like that.”

He added that “if anyone I know would ever need an attorney, I would definitely feel good about telling them about (Elk & Elk.)”