Profile: Jonathan Davis Former Labor Union Rep Goes All in As a ‘Proactive’ Lawyer for the Underdog

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www.plaintiffmagazine.com NOVEMBER 2018 Profile: Jonathan Davis Former labor union rep goes all in as a ‘proactive’ lawyer for the underdog

BY STEPHEN ELLISON trial, it’s like Davis said, because it puts people at ease skiing in when they can speak to the attorney in Devotion has multiple levels of deep snow: their native language. depth, no matter the object, and in some You’re all in, “Because no one wants to be in a people it may be difficult to gauge. But and you’re lawyer’s office, right?” he said. “I always plaintiffs’ attorney Jonathan Davis makes fully com- say to people, ‘I’m sorry you’re here, but no bones about his zealous approach to mitted, and we’re glad you’re here – we’re going to his work as well as a similarly devout en- that’s what take care of you.’ The minute you walk thusiasm for family life. you are in the door, you’re part of our family. Davis, the managing partner with the doing. And We’re gonna take care of you like Arns Law Firm in San Francisco, believes that’s a great you’re family.” passion, a sense of justice and a willing- feeling, it’s a Union rep turned plaintiffs’ great experi- ness to work hard are indeed crucial to Davis lawyer the success of any plaintiffs’ lawyer, even ence. referencing a colleague’s mantra to “Prac- “It’s exhil- Originally from Connecticut, Davis tice law like the client is in the office with arating and exhausting and perilous, but did not take the conventional route to the you.” But then he takes it a step further. in the end just a very gratifying way to law profession. He graduated from Con- “I think empathy is a really impor- work,” Davis continued. “It’s an honor to necticut College in 1988 and went to work tant characteristic because we have to un- be able to do that. There aren’t very as an international representative and na- derstand on some very deep level the many people who have the opportunity tional field director for the Amalgamated suffering our clients and their families are in life to go try cases and advocate for Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. going through,” Davis said. “We have to people who have been injured or That was back in the day when there were be immersed in that in order to really wronged.” still unions and factories that made tex- embody the cause when we’re standing in Davis and his team at the Arns firm tiles and clothing in the U.S., he said. front of a jury. And just having a love for recently took on a high-profile wrongful Davis traveled across the country, the challenges we face every day, looking death case against Bay Area Rapid Tran- working on various campaigns, taking on at it like ‘I love doing this.’ I feel like that sit. In July, 18-year-old Nia Wilson was manufacturers violating labor laws and fi- every day.” stabbed to death in an apparent random nancial institutions that were essentially That daily devotion and dedication is attack at the MacArthur BART station in underwriting the demise of those indus- not just about the client. It’s also very Oakland. A suspect was arrested and tries, he said. much about the law. Davis considers him- charged, but Wilson’s family believes the “I worked with some very creative self a trial lawyer, but his interpretation of transit agency failed to maintain its own strategists, and we put pressure on enti- that aspect of the job is that he is more of standards for riders’ safety. ties to try to change their behavior,” a civil litigator. While a mere one out of “That has been a transformative ex- David recalled. “We had some successes every 10 cases goes to trial, he and his perience for us on a number of levels,” and some failures because working in the colleagues live and breathe litigation, he Davis said in August, “and hopefully labor movement is like dealing with a said, with depositions and discovery and we’re going to get some civil justice for stacked deck. use of subpoena power that puts pressure this family and make some changes “I was interacting with a lot of law- on the other side. within the BART system that will benefit yers, and there were times I felt like the Davis thrives in that arena, to be everyone in the region who uses BART.” lawyers were telling us what we couldn’t sure, handling personal injury cases that Davis also pointed out how, at the do, and I wanted to be a lawyer who told often arise out of workplace incidents and Arns firm, justice truly is for all. Four of people what they could do,” Davis contin- product defects causing injuries or wrong- its lawyers, including Davis, are bilingual, ued. “I wanted to be a proactive lawyer ful deaths. And when one of those cases as are four associates, which broadens that was taking the fight to the other does go to trial, there’s nothing else like the firm’s client base in such a way that side as opposed to being reactive. it, he said. reflects changes in demographics. It also I worked with people that were very cre- “I love going to trial. It is a full-on allows them to communicate with people ative, and one of our iron rules of strat- commitment,” he said. “When you’re in in their first language, “a great advantage,” egy was to always escalate, and when in

doubt, continue to attack. So, I went to Taking down big companies, our client’s last name was Frias instead of law school when I was 30 after six years in countries Jones or Davis,” he said. the labor movement.” That history has a number of seven- Balance it out Davis may have also drawn some in- and eight-figure verdicts and settlements, fluence from his upbringing in a family including an $11 million result in a When not in court or at the office, that was “very politically involved” in local wrongful death case involving a delivery Davis spends as much time as he can with and state politics in Connecticut. He said driver who was killed by a Toyota trans- his family. He makes a point of awaking his parents were great believers in the law port truck and a $7.5 million verdict in a at 5-5:30 a.m. for some quiet time and and the institutions that have such an im- ladder collapse at a construction site in meditation, he said. Then he tries to eat pact on people’s lives. It was a very pro- Manteca. In the latter case, Davis remem- breakfast with his sons every morning be- gressive upbringing, he recalled, in a bered bringing in a key witness who fore they’re off to school. “It’s a mindful family that believed in doing the right proved to be the turning point. practice of mine to have a quiet breakfast thing and fighting for the underdog. “I had found a witness in Arizona in the household,” Davis said. “I don’t come from a family of that the other side had essentially over- He also enjoys skiing, yoga and just lawyers,” he said, “but I do come from a looked,” he recalled. “We tracked him being outdoors. He is a backyard bird family of people who have strong values, down and put him on the witness list; watcher and likes to read. that those who don’t have power need to brought him up from Arizona, put him “I’m involved in a mindfulness of law be given the tools that speak truth to on the stand, and he just blew the case program now, with an organization called power, and law is probably the greatest wide open. Our guy’s leg was nearly sev- Warrior One,” he said. “I’m learning and way we can do that on a daily basis.” ered but saved. Bringing in this witness training in mindfulness practices and try Davis attended Temple University and putting him on the stand was very to apply those to the work that I do as a School of Law in Philadelphia, where he satisfying because it felt like we had done lawyer and in the office and community earned the Barristers Award for Excel- the extra work.” work we do here on a day-to-day basis.” lence in Trial Advocacy and the Moot Another case of note, Davis said, When it came to advice for young Court Award. During law school, he originated at the Port of Oakland and in- lawyers, Davis said it’s too easy just to tell worked as a clerk for a union-side labor volved a large crane brought in from young and aspiring lawyers to find their firm in San Francisco. At around that China, he said. Their client was the fam- passion, follow their hearts and do what time, he and his wife Susan, having lived ily of a mechanic who was crushed to they love. It’s no longer that simple, he all along the East Coast most of their death in a pinch point that should have said. lives, decided the Bay Area was where been engineered out of the crane. The “The truth of the matter is kids are they wanted to live. crane was supposed to have mechanical coming out of law school with [tens of] “We had been coming out here quite access areas that would comply with thousands of dollars of debt; I mean, often; my wife was a foodie before it was OSHA, and it didn’t, Davis said. they’re really in a squeeze,” he said. “Giv- cool,” Davis said. “And I can drive to “We were able to get a service on a ing advice can sound like passing on judg- snow, and she doesn’t have to go. I’m bi- state-owned enterprise in China and then ment, but I would say be mindful of the coastal; I have family in Napa, Santa made a very difficult summary judgment first work you take just out of school be- Cruz, San Gabriel Mission. My family motion,” he said. “We were able to get cause it can put you on a path, and you walked into California from Mexico in through some pretty nasty litigation and don’t want to get locked into something 1780, and it’s been part of my dad’s fam- get a good result for our client, and that that in five to 10 years you wish you’d ily since. His dad, my grandfather, met was satisfying because we essentially sued never done. The worst thing in the world my grandmother in San Diego. He was a the Chinese government and were able to is a miserable lawyer. We chose this profes- Navy man, and he brought her back to get some justice.” sion, we went into it with our eyes open, so New England. The other part of my fam- One other memorable case for Davis take on responsibility and ownership of it. ily emigrated from Ireland and also has was a wrongful death case out of Stockton Whining and complaining about what been in New England for a long time. that got him a nomination for SFTLA you’re doing is just no way to live. Be But this is home.” Trial Lawyer of the Year. In the case mindful of what job you take, whatever it After many arbitrations with that San against California Materials, the defense is, and commit to it 100 percent.” Francisco union-side labor firm, Davis de- offered $750,000, and Davis obtained a cided he wanted to get into trial work, so $2.9 million award. “That was satisfying Stephen Ellison is a freelance writer he answered a blind ad and walked into because we felt the other side was based in San Jose. Contact him at the Arns law firm, “and the rest is his- discounting the case for a lot of reasons, [email protected]. tory,” he said. but one of them may have been because