Meet the man behind the name: Personal injury lawyer Michael Akiva

“The word 'normal' is so boring until life isn't.” That's the belief of attorney Michael Akiva, managing partner for pre-trial counseling at the Los Angeles, California-based law firm of Jacoby & Meyers. He and the rest of the professional legal staff at Jacoby & Meyers are dedicated to helping clients get their lives back to normal after an accident.

Pursuing personal injury cases involving accidents such as hit-and-runs, car and truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, and negligent homicide can prove difficult and even traumatic for those who have just experienced these accidents, which are frightening and disorienting in and of themselves. Fortunately, experts like Akiva are on hand to assist every step of the process, from securing medical care to achieving the best possible outcomes for their clients.

Seek justice and provide support
For Akiva, being a lawyer is more than just making sure a client leaves the courtroom with a settlement. After representing companies for some time, he missed the personal, impactful force that lies behind fighting for victims' rights, so he decided to leave the firm he was working for.

As he puts it, “Helping people get through one of the most difficult times of their lives and helping them regain a sense of normality.”

The goal of helping people get their lives back on track is very important to Akiva and has motivated him to become the personal injury lawyer he is today. However, his new position also brings challenges, as he recognizes that his profession requires both resilience and adaptability. “One of the biggest challenges is dealing with the emotional burden that comes with my clients' experiences,” Akiva explains, emphasizing how difficult many of his clients' lives become after their accidents.

He overcomes these challenges by striving to get his clients the maximum possible compensation for their injuries, knowing that this is the best thing he and his team can do to make them feel whole again. “The reward of helping my clients regain a sense of normalcy and get justice,” Akiva adds, “makes it all worthwhile.”

More than just another lawyer
Many practicing lawyers fall into the trap of having little professional experience outside the legal field. This makes them inflexible and they rely on others to make up for their lack of knowledge or understanding of problem solving. Akiva avoids this trap by acquiring a comprehensive knowledge base that he learned during his studies.

Before going to law school, he studied business administration with a focus on finance, which gave him a deep understanding of the financial implications and intricacies of personal injury cases, enabling him to examine cases from both a legal and financial perspective to help his clients obtain the full compensation they deserve.

While in law school, Akiva also served as an editor of the UCLA Law Review, honing his argumentative and presentation skills. Finally, his management experience has given him the ability to handle multiple cases simultaneously while ensuring that each client is properly served, giving them the attention and dedication they need to see the case through.

It is these experiences and roles that have allowed Michael Akiva to thrive as the personal injury attorney he is today. Since the beginning of his career, he has won his clients millions in settlements, helping them reclaim the lives that were taken from them by the negligent actions of others and return to a welcome state of normalcy.

Members of the Laguna Beach Independent Newspaper (Indy) were not involved in the creation of this content.