Description
Personal injury attorney W. M. Chanfrau, Sr., tells us about the beginnings of his career. He was drawn to helping individuals who otherwise would not be able to resume their lives in a normal way following accidents. He dedicates himself to his client's needs.
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When I first started practicing law, I was with a large law firm in this community who did a great deal of insurance defense. My heart was not in my work. I made a change back in 1976, three years after I had started practicing, to the plaintiff side, and I did that because I felt more comfortable dealing with people that really needed an attorney, that weren't just hiring an attorney to use him.
My name's William Chanfrau. My friends call me Bill. I've been practicing law, in May of this year, 40 years. And it's as exciting today as it was when I first began. I've been practicing here since 1973. I opened this office, by myself, in 1976. My son and my daughter now practice with me, and I'm proud to say the office is still Chanfrau & Chanfrau. It's a family practice. I'm a lifelong resident of Volusia County. I grew up here. I went to elementary school and high school here at Seabreeze, went to state college at Florida State University, and to law school at Stetson.
What's rewarding about this is seeing that people's needs are met and satisfied, and that they have advocates who strongly believe in their claims and them personally. And that's different from other firms. You can see in the client's eyes, their despair, their frustration. Many of them don't want to see attorneys. In fact, many of them have never seen a lawyer before. But what's satisfying about taking their claims and their cases is advancing our cases with someone who believes in them, someone who's their advocate, who takes them into the fold of our office, and provides regular support, advice, counseling.
All of our initial conferences with our clients are with an attorney who will be handling the claim. So as a result, we provide a great deal of personal service, and I think that's what sets us apart from other law firms.
