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Personal Injury Lawyers Greenville Sc
Of all the words used to describe a law firm, �cool� probably doesn�t come up often.
But that�s what comes to mind when you walk into the converted garage that houses Iron Horse Motorcycle Lawyers.
�You�ll never see an office like that,� said Kirk Fisher, who opened the practice on 817 E. Stone Ave. in 2013.
A Furman graduate and avid motorcyclist, Fisher arrives at work on a recent morning in jeans and a polo shirt � no suits here � and looks as if he was made for this job.
In reality, Fisher practiced law for two decades before he found his niche, first as the lead traffic prosecutor with the 13th Circuit Solicitor�s Office, and later as a personal injury and environmental attorney.
The idea for Iron Horse � slang for motorcycle � was born in Las Vegas, at a brain injury seminar Fisher attended while researching a case in 2009.
He recently had returned to school for his masters degree at Vermont Law School, which has one of the top environmental law programs in the country.
In the midst of a recession, however, Fisher was getting fewer environmental cases as development projects were postponed and construction ground to a halt. Work dried up. To make ends meet, he started taking on personal injury clients.
At the seminar, Fisher met a group from an Arizona firm who told him about the need for lawyers to handle motorcycle accident cases.
He had never come across such a concept before.
�It took me about 13 seconds to go, �Man, I could do this. This is right up my alley.��
And he was right.
Biker�s advocate
Fisher rides his Harley Springer to the office most days.
There are normally a few motorcycles in the parking lot, since everyone who works there rides or has a spouse who does, Fisher said.
The office itself is hard to miss.
Renovated and painted black with a logo that Fisher�s high school girlfriend designed, the two-bay garage dates to the 1940s. It�s one of two nearly identical service stations on Stone Avenue, relics from the days when such businesses proliferated on Stone.
The other now houses Universal Joint restaurant.
As a vintage motorcycle enthusiast, Fisher had pictured opening a practice in such a place after setting out on his own.
After the seminar in Las Vegas, Fisher wound up signing a three-year contract to open a Greenville office for the same law firm that had introduced him to the idea. The Arizona-based company was called Law Tigers, which caused a lot of confusion in South Carolina. People thought the name had to do with Clemson University, Fisher said, so marketing the business was difficult.
But was there really a demand for motorcycle lawyers in the first place?
Absolutely, Fisher said.
A motorcycle operates differently than a car, so it makes sense to have a different kind of lawyer, especially one who understands the dangers a rider can face on the road.
�The feeling you get when somebody turns left in front of you when you�re feet away from them � you can�t describe it,� Fisher said.
In a lot of ways, Iron Horse functions like a victim�s advocate for motorcyclists.
As part of his advocacy efforts, Fisher spends a lot of time educating riders about how to protect themselves and their families by having proper motorcycle insurance.
He also partners regularly with the Motorcycle Awareness Alliance, which promotes safety on the streets for motorcyclists.
�He represents a group of people and specifically their rights as a group,� says Kay Nicholls, director of the Greenville chapter of the Motorcycle Awareness Alliance. �There�s a lot of accident injury attorneys, but riding a two-wheeled vehicle is a completely different animal.�
It was Fisher who designed and purchased the templates used in the nonprofit�s �Look Twice, Save a Life� campaign, Nicholls said. The templates are used by local coroners in Greenville, Spartanburg, Pickens and Laurens to paint white crosses on roadways where motorcyclists were fatally injured.
Nicholls hopes the program will soon go statewide.
Vehicle vs. motorcycle
South Carolina has an average of 2,400 motorcycle collisions a year, 65 percent to 75 percent of which are caused by the other vehicle, according to Fisher.
Most often, these wrecks happen when a vehicle turns left in front of an approaching motorcycle.
�The excuse I always hear from the car driver is, �I didn�t see him,�� Fisher said. �That�s just not true.�
He�s referring to the fact that most motorcycles manufactured since 1979 come equipped with automatic-on headlights. About 90 percent of motorcycles are designed with the feature to make them more conspicuous and reduce right-of-way violations, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Even with the headlamp, people are more likely to fail to yield to a motorcyclist because there�s no perceived danger to the driver, Fisher said.
Motorcycles are far more vulnerable.
Victims in motorcycle wrecks typically sustain grievous injuries to their extremities and head or internal trauma, Fisher said.
He�s visited victims in hospitals and ICUs, gone to their homes because they�re confined to their beds.
Then there are the times he gets 3 a.m. phone calls from the emergency room.
�People call me early in the morning, late at night,� Fisher said. �I�ve had people call me, and I can hear the fire trucks coming in the background while they�re lying on the side of the road.�
He credits some of his firm�s success to hiring a full-time marketing director whose sole job is to promote Iron Horse and travel to motorcycle dealers and rallies around the Southeast.
On the weekends, Fisher often can be found at bike nights and poker runs or participating in charity rides. He often sends monetary contributions to events he can�t attend, including gifts like Iron Horse T-shirts and waterproof insurance card holders.
Printed on the card holder is a toll-free number that goes straight to Fisher�s cell phone.
He has gotten calls from as far away as Michigan.
The firm has now grown to the point where where Fisher is looking into opening Iron Horse offices in Myrtle Beach, Columbia and in Georgia.
He wants Iron Horse to grow, but not too fast.
Besides practicing law, Fisher is also a full-time firefighter with the Duncan Chapel Fire Department.
He was a volunteer at first, but when an opening came up, Fisher said he decided to jump on it. It�s his way of giving back to the community after having been successful in his practice.
�Some people are on the boards of charities; this is the way I do it,� Fisher said.
This weekend: Thousands of motorcyclists camping out in Darlington
Thousands of bikers are rolling into the Pee Dee for this weekend�s 38th annual National Biker�s Roundup at the Darlington Dragway.
The National Bikers Roundup (NBR) was first organized in 1977 by a group of African-American motorcycle clubs, according to the group�s website. The roundup is among the largest camping rallies nationwide, traveling to different cities annually but returning every 10 years to the founding city and headquarters of Kansas City, Mo.
More than 1,000 motorcycle clubs attend the event annually, the website said. The event includes camping, exhibits, vendors, stunt shows, entertainment and other motorcycle-related experiences.
�Right now everything is looking good. Once the initial crowd got in, after the gates opened, everything evened out,� S.C. Highway Patrol Cpl. Sonny Collins said earlier this week. �Bikers have been trickling in all day and that will continue into the weekend.�
Event organizers expect the event to draw at least 20,000 people over the weekend. The event runs through Sunday.
Florence Morning News, staff reports
