Retired Army officer joins exclusive group of attorneys having obtained multi-million dollar settlement for a client
Connor becomes one of “the fewer than one percent”
By Chris Carter
ORANGEBURG AND MOUNT PLEASANT, SC – Colonel (Ret.) William M. “Bill” Connor, V, joined an exclusive class of practicing attorneys – becoming one of the “fewer than one percent” – in late July when he obtained a multi-million dollar settlement for one of his clients in a case that was scheduled for trial in August. Having worked on the case for several years, Connor and all parties finally came to an agreement in favor of Connor’s client when the suit was settled in a final mediation, July 25.
Connor’s client (whose name will not be revealed for privacy’s sake) was a heavy equipment repairman who in December 2017 was “crushed by a 25,000-lb. trailer when the hydraulics failed while my client was working beneath the trailer” according to Connor. The client’s co-worker was able to quickly raise the trailer, but according to Connor, “the damage was catastrophic.” Initially believed he wouldn’t survive, the badly injured repairman was rushed to the emergency room, and wound up spending a month and a half in the intensive care unit (ICU): During that time, he endured multiple operations, including the removal of his spleen, and twice-coding (essentially expiring and then being resuscitated).
Connor was approached by the repairman’s loved ones and asked to represent him while he was still languishing in the ICU. Connor himself, then as today a practicing attorney, was nearing retirement from the Army when he took the case. Shifting gears, he immediately began working with attorney and fellow combat veteran Andre Rembert to resolve the client’s worker’s compensation. The client’s medical bills exceeded a million dollars (and it was quickly determined that he likely would not – and will not – be able to work again).
Just under a year before retiring from the Army in 2020, Connor brought suit against the rental company which owned the vehicle that crushed his client. Connor and Rembert were immediately faced with a renowned multinational law firm with a plethora of experienced lawyers and substantial resources. “The litigation was tough and time-consuming,” said Connor. “And as in most cases of this nature and involving these dollar amounts, a larger plaintiff’s firm with massive resources will inevitably take these kinds of cases from the smaller firm. Well under one-percent of lawyers will act as principle counsel in a case that resolves for over a million dollars.”
The case was scheduled for trial in August, but the parties agreed to a final mediation in July. Two prior mediations had taken place but both times parties were not close and those mediations failed.
Connor opted for the final mediation after Connor, Rembert, and Rembert’s partner Baker Allen “spent a great deal of time drafting and answering a slew of motions,” Connor said. At mediation, Connor used his Army staff briefing experiences to concisely explain to the other side (which included representatives of the company and their insurance carriers) the reasons they should consider settling.
“The other side was reasonable in the late July mediation, whether due to persuasion at mediation or the work during litigation,” Connor said. “The day was long and involved the same type of analysis I used in the military, like the intelligence preparation of the battlefield and enemy course of action and reaction. If the case didn’t settle, my client faced the possibility of the jury determining he didn’t prove the liability and give him nothing.”
Connor added: “Judgment was critical, and this is something else the military taught us as well.”
In the end, the case settled in the $-millions for the client.
“Despite perceptions from television, a multi-million-dollar resolution is something few lawyers will experience,” said Connor. “Beyond the hard work of Rembert and his law partner Baker Allen in helping me with the case, I ensured many prayers went up throughout the litigation.”
God answers prayer, said Connor, who constantly prayed with his law firm staff about the case. He also regularly prayed with his client for peace, endurance, and success. “This was the same thing I did when going outside the wire in Afghanistan, and God answered prayers on both ‘battlefields,’” he said.
Connor, a graduate of The Citadel, who also today serves on that institution’s prestigious Board of Visitors, will continue to practice law, but this experience, he says puts him and Rembert “in a new category” among his legal peers. “All glory to God,” he adds. “I give God all the credit and I love the satisfaction of knowing that my client can live the rest of his life with life-changing money to get him through all the physical pains he will have to bear.”
Upon his graduation from The Citadel in 1990, Connor spent half his working life as an Airborne and Ranger qualified combat Infantryman, including multiple deployments to the Middle East. During that time, he served in a variety of Infantry units, commanding both light Infantry and Ranger training companies. Following a decade-plus of active duty, Connor entered the Reserve component (remaining Infantry) and attended law school at the University of South Carolina. Shortly after becoming a lawyer, he returned to active duty as an Infantry officer, deploying to Afghanistan from 2007-2008 and becoming the senior U.S. military adviser in Helmand Province. Returning home, he became the lead Command and General Staff Officer Course instructor for South Carolina, was promoted to colonel and became the senior Army North officer to South Carolina. He also became a distinguished graduate of the Army War College.
Connor is the founder of the Bill Connor Law Firm.
For more information, please visit the Bill Connor Law Firm at https://www.billconnorlaw.com/.
– Chris Carter is a former semi-pro football player and U.S. Air Force veteran whose articles have appeared in Ops Lens, Human Events, Canada Free Press, Deutsche Welle, NavySEALs.com and other publications.