Roni Sokol explained how her experiences have fueled her career, making a choice to pursue law school and a career before starting a family. Sokol is a personal injury lawyer at The Sokol Law Firm in Beachwood.
Q. Do you find that your experiences continue to motivate you in your work?
A. One of the reasons I wanted to become a lawyer was to be able to give a voice to people who are unable to fight for themselves, or those who have been victimized. I was also intrigued by the notion of solving problems and winning battles based solely upon the use of brainpower rather than physical strength or other forms of intimidation.
After 21 years in practice, these desires continue to motivate me daily. It is deeply gratifying to help people who have been wronged or mistreated by others. In our world, this usually involves financial compensation to the party who has been wronged. However, sometimes it can involve nothing more than eliciting an apology or an agreement to cooperate. These types of results are equally gratifying.
Q. In an Attorney at Law article from 2016, you allude to feeling pressure to conform to societal norms to start a family and abandon your career. What advice would you offer to the young people who are struggling with this choice?
A. I would not say that I was under immense pressure to abandon my goals. It has more to do with the pressure that society has traditionally placed on women to do it all. We are constantly reminded that whatever we choose to do with our lives, we should or could be doing more. If we choose a career path, we are seen as lacking in one facet of our lives. If we choose a stay-at-home mom path, we are seen as lacking in another facet.
Thankfully, we live in an ever-evolving world. I have seen so many changes in the way women are perceived just in the past 20 years. I think there is less of a stigma attached to how a woman chooses to live her life than there used to be. What I would tell young women today is to do what you enjoy. Whether it is working full time or staying home with your kids. There is no longer a right or wrong answer. Whatever gives you personal satisfaction is what is right. It’s that simple.
Q. Would you recommend going straight to law school after completing an undergraduate education? What would be the best course of action?
A. Personally, I did not go straight to law school after college. I wanted to make sure that I was ready to take on the commitment associated with law school. Instead, I worked for a few years, in law firms and other offices. I learned what the everyday life of a lawyer looks like. I learned what it was like to earn a paycheck and pay bills. Essentially, I learned what it was like to be an adult and I learned that it was not easy. After three years of working, I was anxious to go back to school and I had a new appreciation for the opportunity I had been given. I had a base understanding of what it was like to practice law, and I was able to use what I had learned at work to my benefit in school.
In fact, I believe I excelled in my legal research and writing class because I had been reading and editing legal briefs at work for so many years. I don’t know that the previous work experience is necessarily something that law firms look for, but it certainly could not hurt an applicant to a law firm. In terms of seeking employment, my personal belief has always been that networking is the key. Nearly every job I have had in this profession has come through personal contacts I made either in school, in practice, or just socially. You can never know too many people.
Civil litigation, with emphasis on personal injury. Attorney at Law; Owner of The Sokol Law Firm, LLC
Attorney Roni Sokol was well established and highly respected in her career when she decided to quit her job in 2013. At the time, she was working in the severe bodily injury unit of an insurance company when she came to the realization that she’d be much more satisfied if she started representing those who were injured or wronged instead. She gave her two weeks notice and founded The Sokol Law Firm, LLC in Beachwood, Ohio.
The decision to practice a different type of law came easily, but opening a new law firm took careful consideration. Prior to owning her own firm, Roni spent two decades working for large firms representing and defending insurance companies and their policyholders as well as litigating general civil disputes in both Ohio and California. In addition, she worked in-house for one of the largest insurance companies in the country managing severe bodily injury claims in litigation.
“Although I defended insurance companies for years, I would often feel that I was on the wrong side of the legal dispute,” she said. “I found more personal satisfaction helping people who have been wronged or injured. Many people balked at my decision to open my own firm, warning me that I might go months without making a dime. I knew from experience that
if I listened to every negative comment I ever heard regarding the career path I should take, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Roni’s previous work gave her an intimate understanding of the claims process and how insurance adjusters evaluate cases. Today, she uses that knowledge and experience to represent plaintiffs against insurance companies.
The change meant giving up a steady paycheck plus benefits.
In Roni’s field of work, it is feast or famine. She only gets paid if she wins or settles a case, but she finds that the risk is worth the reward. At first, building up a client base took old- fashioned networking, starting with her husband, who knew a woman who had gotten in a serious car accident and needed representation.
“Then people refer you to their friends and co-workers, and the calls start coming in,” she said.
Today, Roni finds having her own practice to be far more lucrative than working for larger firms. Within a year of opening her firm, Roni won the Cleveland Metropolitan’s Bar Association’s Club 50K award, for being one of the three highest grossing attorneys on the Lawyer Referral Service’s panel.
“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my career is don’t take a job opportunity just for the money,” she said. “If you have a job you enjoy, think twice before dumping it for another position that might pay more. You cannot put
a price tag on an enjoyable work environment with people who like and respect you. You might not find the same is true everywhere you go.”
The Sokol Law Firm handles an average of 30 to 40 personal injury or civil litigation cases at any time. As the owner of the firm, Roni does everything from typing her own documents
to appearing in court; all the while offering her clients highly individualized attention. Roni makes it a priority to return client calls and e-mails as quickly as possible. Putting clients at ease is of the utmost importance. She is both an attorney and a counselor for her clients, who are often times suffering from debilitating injuries or unbearable personal lost. Her compassion has earned Roni a reputation as a premiere mortuary negligence attorney, helping families whose loved ones have been wronged by funeral homes and mortuaries.
“My job is difficult,” she said. “I go up against insurance companies on a daily basis, and it is not easy. But, I am representing people at
their most vulnerable. It always feels great to be able to give a client closure and get him or her a well-deserved result. I care about my clients and they know it.”
Roni has always been a go-getter. Her father, a supporter of feminism way before it was in style, always taught her that women can do anything men can do, and better.
“He encouraged me not to ever think that I can’t do something just because I’m female, and I never have,” Roni said.
While attending college at UCLA, Roni got her start in the industry working part time as a legal secretary for a female lawyer. It was then she became interested in law, but did not want to jump straight into law school until she was sure where her career path was headed. After college, she worked for three years as a legal secretary before deciding to go to law school. In 1995, Roni became a lawyer.
Like many, Roni faced numerous challenges in her career, including being a petite female, and for a long time, not having enough experience to get the positions she desired in her industry. These challenges, and many others, inspired Roni to work harder to be accepted on the basis of what she has to offer. Roni utilized her networking strategies to obtain the job offers she wanted.
“One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is don’t turn down any opportunities!” she said. “Even if you are offered a job in an area of law you don’t think you’re interested in. That opportunity might lead to another, better
opportunity, which in turn might lead to another, and so on.”
Another upside to owning her own firm is Roni’s ability to dictate her own schedule. The mother of a teen and a pre- teen, and wife to an equally hard working husband, free time is hard to come by. Between working on her cases and drumming up new business, Roni values the moments she
can steal away from the office to attend her children’s sporting
events or simply have dinner together as a family.
An award-winning attorney, Roni frequently speaks at professional organizations and encourages young people to follow their dreams. When asked what advice she gives to young women starting their career, Roni advises “Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you can’t do something! If you have the drive and the passion, you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Given the right circumstances, it is likely Eleanor Roosevelt and attorney Roni (pronounced “Ronnie”) Sokol could have been good friends. Certainly, Sokol subscribes to Roosevelt’s sage advice, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right-for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” Sokol’s own experience bears this out.
“When I was single and focused on my education and then career, friends would chide me, ‘You need to get married and start a family. You’re running out of time!’” she says. Then, she did get married and started a family. Although she was on partnership track, she knew if she kept working at that pace she would have little time with her new baby. So, she essentially walked away. But that elicited equal criticism! “Are you crazy, throwing away a six-figure career to be a housewife?” Sokol took these comments in stride.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Sokol continues. After her second child was born, her firm welcomed her back with open arms, agreeing to a part time basis, allowing her more time with her family. But change was in the air.
Decisive Decisions Not one to vacillate or second-guess, once Sokol makes a decision she takes action. This is not to say that she doesn’t carefully weigh the pros and cons, but once the choice is made, her focus is on making it happen.
Like many undergrads, while attending UCLA, Sokol did not have a clear vision of what she wanted to do with her education. A part-time job with a female solo-practitioner however, kindled an interest in the law. During her senior year she took some law classes.
“I was definitely interested,” she admits, “but I didn’t want to make such a huge financial commitment until I was sure.”
After graduating, she worked for a few years as a legal secretary for litigation attorneys. “I read everything that came across my desk from top to bottom,” she says. “Co-workers would ask me, ‘When are you going to law school already?’ I would answer with a grin, but there came a point where I knew I was ready.”
Unfortunately, there were many other voices determined to convince her otherwise. “So many people will tell you, ‘Don’t do it! It’s the worst!’” she recalls. “I never understood why they would want to discourage someone from seeking an education and bettering herself. I was especially disappointed when women tried to talk me out of it.”
“Sure it is hard and there are some less than pleasurable aspects, like studying day and night and having a limited social life, but I would never tell anyone not to do it!”
Quite the contrary. Sokol, now an award-winning attorney, frequently speaks before various professional groups and is particularly encouraging to young women to follow their dreams.
Always an avid student with a zeal for learning, Sokol threw herself wholeheartedly into her studies. Upon graduation in 1995, she found she had not one, but three attractive employment offers from prominent Los Angeles law firms. For the next seven years, Sokol immersed herself in her work as a defense attorney specializing in construction and insurance bad faith cases. As always, she strived to be the best.
“I became very good at it,” she acknowledges. “I was known as the ‘go-to’ person for all types of insurance questions.”
Of course this constituted long days, sometimes up to 60-plus hour weeks. Working primarily with male counterparts with wives at home to see to the domestic side of their lives, Sokol felt compelled to match them hour-for-hour without complaint. But when she and husband Brian welcomed their first child, that schedule no longer seemed viable.
“The baby went to bed at 7 p.m., so that meant I would see him for less than an hour a day. That seemed crazy,” she says. “I gave my notice. Brian was very supportive, and my employers were very kind; they even offered me a part time schedule. But I wanted to focus all my time and energy on my child.”
Once her second child came along, and Sokol felt she’d given her a good start with plenty of mommy time, she knew it was time to return to law. As mentioned, she was welcomed back enthusiastically and arranged to work a part time schedule. Still, Los Angeles commuting can be daunting. Despite the reduced work hours, Sokol was still spending up to two hours in the car every day. It was time for a change, and one of her famous decisive decisions.
Onward to Ohio
“We’d been talking about moving to my husband’s home state even before my daughter was born,” she says. “We felt it would be a great place to raise our children. Also, we looked forward to being close to his whole extended family.” Her husband was not sure that a California girl could adapt to Ohio winters, but she assured him that she would try her best. “Every time we would come visit his family and got out of L.A., I always felt so relaxed and calm. It’s a very mellow and welcoming environment. I wasn’t going to let a little snow stand in my way.”
Unfortunately, because California doesn’t permit reciprocity, Sokol was forced to take the Ohio bar exam prior to practicing in her new home state. She passed with flying colors, and landed a position with a local defense firm. Though she excelled at her work, Sokol soon felt her passion fading. Whether it was the tedium of endlessly tracking billable hours, or even the fact that she often found herself empathizing too much with the plaintiffs, she was feeling restless.
To effect a change, she took a highly coveted job overseeing severe bodily injury claims with a national insurance company. As she explains, “At first it felt like a dream job—monitoring litigation rather than actually litigating. Also, I learned an enormous amount about how insurance companies evaluate claims. At the same time, I found that I was feeling sorry for the injured claimants and wanted to have the ability to pay them as much as possible. It was a hard position to be in. I’d work day in and day out with all these plaintiff attorneys and thought, ‘I could do that!’”
After agonizing briefly over the risk of starting her own practice, she decided to take the plunge. Although she didn’t know where her first client would come from, that was revealed when her husband came home and advised that he had just given her phone number to a woman at work who had been involved in a serious car accident and didn’t know where to turn.
That was the first of a steady flow of clients to follow, and today The Sokol Law Firm in Beachwood handles an average of 30 to 40 personal injury or civil litigation cases at any given time, often with sizable settlements.
Once the doors opened, Sokol’s practice seemed to take on a life of its own. She did a bit of advertising, but most of her clients come either from word of mouth, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Attorney Referral Service, or from her extensive networking.
Justice for All
Sokol’s website is filled with accolades; the same empathy and compassion she found disconcerting while representing insurance companies, make her clients feel like they are her friends. Offering large firm experience with small firm service, clients receive her undivided attention. In fact, callers are often shocked when they realize the person answering their call is not a receptionist, but Sokol herself.
“Here for you when you need me,” is not just a slogan, but a promise.
“I feel like I have a purpose here,” she says. “I like to be able to help people. I don’t take a case to get rich, in fact, many times I know a case is not going to be particularly lucrative, but I take it anyway because I know that I can help. I represent people who I know have been mistreated and deserve to be compensated.”
A petite dynamo with a warm and welcoming smile, male opponents only underestimate Sokol one time. “Once they spend some time with me, they know I am a force to be reckoned with,” she says with a chuckle. “A couple of attorneys have actually said to me, ‘You seem so sweet and kind, but I definitely wouldn’t want to go up against you in court!’”
Attorney Roni Sokol was working in the severe bodily injury unit of an insurance company when she had an epiphany: Representing the other side would be more satisfying. Empowered, she sent a text to her husband, Brian, who was away on business.
“What if I quit my job and started my own practice?” the text read.
“Something to think about,” he answered.
Sokol had already thought about it and immediately gave two weeks notice to her employer.
“That was the first time I had the courage to do it,” Sokol, who is licensed to practice in Ohio and California, says. “It was the greatest move I ever made for many reasons, and I wish I had done it sooner. The timing was right. I learned so much about personal injury (law) that I didn’t know before I worked for an insurance company.”
That was 2013. Today Sokol Law Firm in Beachwood handles an average of 30 to 40 personal injury or civil litigation cases at any time. Over the past two years Sokol has settled cases involving a man whose remains were found in a dumpster, a mother who was given the wrong baby by labor and delivery nurses, a disabled nursing home resident who lost a toe as a result of the staff failing to recognize an infection, and an asthmatic child who was hospitalized after a substitute teacher refused her access to her inhaler.
“I like to take unusual cases, especially cases where clients were told by another attorney they had a no-win case,” Sokol says. “I take particular interest in cases involving children, maybe because I’m a mother myself, and it’s very hard for me to see children suffer.”
Sokol’s law practice is thriving — 2014 was her most lucrative year as an attorney. But building up a client base took old-fashioned networking, beginning with her husband, who knew a woman who had gotten in a serious car accident and needed representation.
Subsequent cases came from a combination of word-of-mouth referrals, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Attorney Referral Service, and networking with groups such as BNI, the Beachwood Chamber of Commerce, Women in Networking, and the Ohio Association of Justice. Networking can be difficult, Sokol acknowledges, but it has led to business relationships in which she and other professionals refer clients to and mentor each other.
Being a woman, especially a woman with a male-sounding name who is petite, can also be challenging. Prospective clients have phoned the office, requesting to speak with a man. When she first began practicing law, she was often mistaken for the court reporter or insurance company representative in court or at depositions. And she recalls being addressed by her first name while her male colleagues were referred to as “Mr. Smith” or “Mr. Jones.”
“Once they read a motion I’ve written, hear me in court or negotiate with me, then I get respect, but I think it’s something women have to earn,” Sokol says. “It’s changing, though. I think there’s more tolerance now than when I first started practicing in the 90s.”
An award-winning attorney who frequently speaks at professional organizations, Sokol encourages young women to follow their passion unabashedly.
“My kids understand that mommy works,” she says. “When they were little, I did feel somewhat guilty, but I learned that it’s actually good for their self-esteem — and mine — to have a mother who has a professional career. It’s good for my kids to see that their mom is able to do many different things.”
Roni Sokol explained how her experiences have fueled her career, making a choice to pursue law school and a career before starting a family. Sokol is a personal injury lawyer at The Sokol Law Firm in Beachwood.
Civil litigation, with emphasis on personal injury.
Roni Sokol Named Attorney of The Month.
By Nina Polien Light | Photo by Doug Khrenovsky