Betting on Yourself to Win with Conal Doyle

Elawvate

When Conal Doyle started his plaintiff’s practice, he faced long odds and daunting obstacles. But as one born without one of his legs who went on to become a ski racer, long odds and obstacles were nothing new to Conal. Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with Conal about how he bet on himself and his clients time and again, achieved monumental verdicts and changes to the legal system on his way to becoming one of California’s most successful trial lawyers.

About Conal Doyle

https://conaldoylelaw.com/

Conal Doyle is an award-winning trial lawyer who has received national recognition for his courtroom victories that have had broad reaching impact on society. He is one of the few attorneys in history to argue before the United States Supreme Court and obtain multiple seven and eight figure jury verdicts.

His international human rights victory in Castaneda v. United States was a catalyst for the reform of the United States immigration healthcare system, and garnered widespread acclaim from his peers, legal publications and the international media.

For example, he received the 2012 California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) Award in Human Rights, and the 2011 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA). He has been listed in both Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers for the past ten consecutive years, and his courtroom victories have been chronicled in newspapers around the world, including a piece on the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes.”

Conal’s reputation as one of the finest trial attorneys in America was further cemented with two stunning back-to-back verdicts in Kern County, California, one of California’s most “conservative” jurisdictions.

In December 2013, Conal obtained as lead trial counsel a $26.8 million medical malpractice jury verdict in McKnight v. Spain. This result was the largest medical malpractice verdict in County history and was recognized by The Daily Journal as a Top 10 Verdict in California for 2013. The National Law Journal recognized the verdict as a Top 100 Verdict nationally and the Consumer Attorneys Association of California (CAOC) named him a Finalist for the 2014 Consumer Attorney of the Year Award. The highest pre-trial offer by the defense was $300,000.

In March 2014, Conal obtained as lead trial counsel a $3.8 million jury verdict in Doe v. Jack In The Box. In this premises liability case, the highest pre-trial offer was $200,000.

The foundation of this success is a passion for justice and a commitment to client service. Conal was born without his right leg, and like many of his clients, has overcome great obstacles and endured daily struggles. These experiences provide him a unique insight into his clients’ challenges and help him guide his clients through difficult times.

Conal’s personal experience has led him to focus on the representation of amputees in both first party bad faith and personal injury claims. The Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) honored Conal as the 2020 Street Fighter of the Year for his work on behalf of amputees in Trujillo v. United Healthcare, a national ERISA health insurance class action. The case required the nation’s largest health insurer to change its claims practices and reprocess claims related to the denial of prosthetic devices to amputees. Conal is also prosecuting two other class actions for wrongful denial of prosthetics-against Anthem and Blue Shield of California, among numerous individual bad faith claims for wrongful denial of prosthetics.

Conal is well known as an advocate for amputees in injury and bad faith insurance claims. His article, “Glimpsing the Future for an Amputee,” is used as a guide for litigating limb loss cases by attorneys across the country.

Conal has never backed down from a challenge or started a fight that he couldn’t finish. When he isn’t challenging corporate giants in the courtroom, Conal enjoys skiing the Rockies, a remnant from his past as an alpine ski racer.

Honors & Awards

2020 Consumer Attorneys Association of California (CAOC) Street Fighter of the Year Award

2014 Finalist-Consumer Attorney of the Year-Consumer Attorneys Association of California (CAOC)

The National Law Journal Top 100 Verdicts, 2013

The Daily Journal Top 10 Verdicts, 2013

2012 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award

2011 Trial Lawyer of the Year-Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)

2011 Attorney of the Year-The Recorder

The Best Lawyers in America, 2012 – Present

Finalist-2011 CAOC Consumer Attorney of the Year

2011 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America

The National Trial Lawyers Association Top 100, 2008 – Present

The Daily Journal – Top 20 Under 40 in California, 2010

Super Lawyers-Southern California Superlawyer, 2012 – Present

The Daily Journal – Top 10 Verdicts, 2010

Martindale Hubbell – AV Rating, 2007 – Present

San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association – 2011 Civil Justice Award

The National Law Journal-Appellate Lawyer of the Week, 2010

2011 Public Justice Achievement Award-Public Justice Foundation

Public Service

Conal devotes a significant portion of his practice to public interest work and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Justice Foundation, a non-profit public interest law firm. Mr. Doyle frequently acts as “lead cooperating counsel” on cases with Public Justice, where he donates a portion of his fees as a pro bono contribution to the organization.

Prior Work History

Conal comes from a “big firm” background, where he served as a trial attorney for six years at one of Florida’s largest and most respected law firms. Conal won his first federal jury trial in a civil rights excessive force case at age twenty-seven. By age thirty-one, he was lead trial counsel of an eleven-hundred-member law enforcement agency, where he litigated civil rights, torts, class actions, and employment cases.

Conal participated in a dozen jury trials as a defense attorney, winning eleven of them. His jury trial experience includes cases involving medical malpractice, breach of contract, insurance coverage, premises liability, negligent security, 42 U.S.C. 1983 civil rights violations, excessive force, false arrest, automobile negligence, traumatic brain injury, wrongful death, and employment law.

Personal

Mr. Doyle is a right leg amputee. He is an avid alpine skier and has competed in Giant Slalom and Slalom alpine races against the best disabled athletes in the world, including the U.S. Ski Team, Canadian Ski Team, and Australian Ski Team. He is a former member of the Board of Directors (1998-2002) of Self-Reliance, Inc. and is active in community efforts to improve the lifestyles of Americans with disabilities. He regularly draws on his unique life experiences in representing clients who have sustained significant injuries or have suffered discrimination due to their disabilities.

Public Speaking

Mr. Doyle is a frequent lecturer and author on the topics of civil trial practice, civil rights, and personal injury litigation at law schools, Continuing Legal Education seminars, and the FBI NAA National Convention, where he has been recognized as an expert in civil rights litigation. He has also been quoted and featured frequently in national newspapers, radio, and television regarding constitutional law issues and civil rights.

Bar Admissions

California, 2003

Florida, 1997

New York, 2006

District of Columbia, 2006

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit

U.S. District Court Central District of California

U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court Southern District of California

U.S. District Court Northern District of California

Education

Florida State University College of Law, Tallahassee, Florida

Juris Doctor cum laude – May 1997

Book Awards: Trial Practice, Litigation Seminar

Florida House of Representatives-Legislative Internship/Scholarship

Florida Bar Scholarship-Top 10 Law Students in State 1996

Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg, Florida

First Year of Law School – 1994

Class Rank: 1/159

West’s Outstanding Scholar Award-#1 ranked first year law student

Book Award-Torts

Book Award-Civil Procedure

Book Award-Criminal Law

Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida

B.A. – 1993