Interview with Gary Callahan
by Joan Stone

JS: Why Personal Injury Law?

Callahan:Well, I wanted something personally satisfying that would help people and hopefully make some little difference in the world I live in. My favorite course in law school was torts. Gordon Schaber, dean of my law school, McGeorge, upon learning that I wanted to be a civil litigator, called David C. Rust on my behalf. I spent 33 months in Mr. Rust's firm and another six years doing insurance defense before switching sides to become a plaintiff's attorney in 1979. Since then, I have enjoyed representing plaintiffs in tort cases. I hate to lose, and have at times, so I cannot honestly say that the last 21 years have always been "thoroughly enjoyable."

JS: Tell us a little about yourself personally.

Callahan: Between my wife, Sally, and me, we have six children, two of hers, three of mine and one of ours. They range in age from 17 to 35. Two girls and four boys. Sally is a lawyer with her own practice. Our favorite recreation is spending time together on our boat in Victoria BC. We enjoy cooking together, traveling and holidays with the children. I enjoy sailing, teaching and practicing law. I annually teach at Stanford and University of San Francisco law schools in their trial advocacy programs. One day I would like to sail around the world. Sally is not exactly in favor of this dream.

JS: Why in 1979 did you determine to, as you say, "switch sides" from representing defendants to plaintiffs?

Callahan: I came to feel, as a defense attorney, that each case I handled was just "business as usual" to the individuals and companies that assigned the files to me. I began to dislike the law. I concluded that I wanted to be where I could decide what cases I would give my efforts to. It seemed to me that progress in the law of torts came from the plaintiffs' bar. Justice Trainor, of the California Supreme Court, was my favorite justice probably due to his ability to cause the common law to move forward to a more civilized rule. It was, and is, my belief that advancements in human conduct, one to the other in a civilized society, such as ours in the United States, occur as a consequence of individuals fighting for their rights in the courts of this country primarily in the tort arena. This is true whether one speaks of civil rights, cigarette smoking, elder abuse, personal injury, or the right to have employment free of discrimination.

JS: Can you give us an example of a case or cases wherein you did enjoy yourself, help people and make a difference.

Callahan: Staying away from cases currently on appeal, one in Oregon and two in California, I can describe two favorite cases. The first was a case representing a janitor who was being wrongfully harassed by one of the largest collection agencies in the world over a bill of approximately $820. This resulted in a plaintiff's verdict in compensatory damages and nearly $900,000 in punitive damages for wrongful collection practices. This case significantly changed this large agency's collection practices. The other case that stands out was a case where we represented a 40-year-old woman who had became a respirator dependent quadriplegic as a result of a bicycle accident in Yosemite. It was learned during the course of this litigation that the concessionaire in Yosemite National Park had a rental fleet of bicycles numbering 600 without any regular maintenance program. As a consequence of a judgment exceeding $9 million, a routine maintenance program was instituted that continues to this day. In addition to changing the way these companies did business, the clients were appropriately compensated. In both of these cases the plaintiffs were outgunned in the number of attorneys opposing the litigation and the monetary resources utilized to oppose the cases.

JS: You are 59 years of age, or soon will be, how much longer do you plan to continue trying cases.

Callahan: As long as I continue to enjoy the courtroom, my health holds out, clients retain me, and I continue to win often enough to stay in business. As you know if we don't win, we don't get paid and we don't get legal costs back that we advance on behalf of our clients.

JS: Do you have any plans for the future you consider exciting?

Callahan: Yes, as a matter of fact, two other personal injury lawyers Clayeo Arnold, Daniel Wilcoxen, and I are in the process of merging our practices under a new name. Egos being what they are, we haven't decided on the name of the firm as yet and the best method to decide the new name may be the flip of a coin. I expect this firm to start practicing sometime later this year.