Virginia’s Go To Lawyers – Workers’ Comp Law: Bryn Swartz

Bryn Swartz
Owner
Pathfinder Injury Law
Glen Allen

Education

BA, Randolph-Macon College
JD, University of Richmond School of Law

Best known for:

I strictly practice claimant-side workers’ compensation. I represent people injured at work.

Most satisfying:

While law practice has a lot of downsides and is not as fun as lots of other lines of work, it is gratifying to help people in their time of need. Given my preference, though, I’d probably go start a medical cannabis company to provide patients relief through non-pharmaceutical means. But as law practice goes, being your own boss is probably as good as it gets, because at least you can set your own schedule, make your own rules, be responsible for your own success, and not have to give anyone else any of your money.

Working with clients:

We firmly believe you do not have to wear expensive suits and uncomfortable shoes to get great results for people. We don’t bother with pretense; we just do this job and we do it better than most anyone else. We get results that make other people’s heads spin, and we do it while wearing jeans and tee shirts to the office. We do some of our best work on mountain bikes in the middle of the woods.

Best career advice:

I learned early on that success is about more than money or prestige. It’s about purpose, self-determination, autonomy, and lifestyle. It’s getting to raise your son with his parents around, teaching him cool things, bringing him to depositions and mediations, and showing him what struggle, grit, toughness, and resourcefulness look like—not just in words, but in actions. It’s getting to take bike rides in the middle of a weekday. There’s no dollar value to those things. That’s because they’re actually priceless. So indeed, success isn’t just about money.

Looking ahead:

I hope to see an increasing acceptance of non-pharmaceutical pain and symptom management through the use of things such as medical cannabis rather than opioids and conventional painkillers. While insurance companies will likely push back on paying for medical marijuana at first, I firmly believe it is in the interest of not only injured workers to avoid chronic opioid use, but also in the interest of insurance companies as well to avoid widespread use and dependence upon addictive and destructive painkillers.