Videos
Practice Overview
The Law Firm of Andrew Gay, Jr.
Video Transcript
Speaker: Andrew Gay, Jr., Philadelphia Criminal Defense & Personal Injury Lawyer
“My dad practiced law in this town for 42 years. I remember going to trials of his in City Hall and I believe having those experiences as a young kid forms the type of lawyer that I am today.
I like to get to know the client. I like to understand what the client’s dilemma is and how it is that we can get the best outcome for them.
I believe what separates myself from other lawyers in Philadelphia, is that I truly make myself available to clients at any time of the day.
When people come to me for a criminal defense matter they come to me because their liberty is literally at stake.
When someone approaches me about a personal injury matter, they come to me because their lives have been turned upside down and they need someone to help them put it back to the way that it was before this accident occured.
If I had to use three words to describe the lawyer that I am today, I would characterize them as reliable, dedicated and prepared.”
Our Firm
What to Expect at Our First Meeting
Video Transcript
Speaker: Andrew Gay, Jr., Philadelphia Criminal Defense & Personal Injury Lawyer
“It’s important to be prepared for the first meeting with me to make sure that we can all get an understanding of what has happened, and what it is that needs to be done in a short period of time.
I like for clients to be involved in the preparation of their case. What I ask clients to do is to make sure they write down everything they remember about what happened—even if it’s something that they don’t think is particularly relevant. It would also be helpful during that first meeting for you to bring a list of witnesses who may have seen what happened and any list of documents that might be relevant to the case.
When I meet with you the first time it’s an opportunity for us to talk about what is to be expected over the next couple weeks.
I really try to educate clients to make sure that when we get to that first preliminary hearing together, you’re going to understand exactly what is happening in the courtroom as if you had done it a hundred times before.
It really is important during that first interview to make sure that there is a good start to the relationship with a client. Many times what I do is to make sure that you understand that you are dealing not only with a lawyer, but you’re dealing with someone who understands your problem, someone who’s willing to listen to what happened, so that we together can make sure that we deal with it as best as we can.
I’m going to shoot straight with you from the very first interview and let you know what it is that we could possibly expect as an outcome.
The initial consultation is always free and the sooner you pick up the phone to schedule an appointment, the sooner we can talk about your case.”
Criminal Defense
Trial Preparation
Video Transcript
Speaker: Andrew Gay, Jr., Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer
“In a criminal matter, preparation is key. Whether you are walking into a preliminary hearing room, or you are preparing for trial.
When I’m preparing for your criminal trial, I will look over every scrap of evidence that exists. I will look at police reports, witness statements, 911 tapes, transcripts of 911 tapes, preliminary hearing testimony, anything that is available for me will have been thoroughly reviewed and discussed with you before we walk in.
I will know what each individual witness has to say about the most important issues in your trial. And it’s honing in on those important issues and the differences in testimony between the prosecution witnesses and the defense witnesses that will better prepare me to make sure that the correct argument is made to your jury.
In order to make sure that I’m able in your criminal trial to attack the witnesses that are testifying against you, I make sure that I look at each and every statement and compare it to their prior testimony at a preliminary hearing to make sure that there is no way for them to change their story, to make sure that there’s no way for them to then embellish upon what they previously told the police, or what they previously testified to in court. And many times, being able to attack a witness based on prior inconsistent testimony is what helps us win criminal trials.
It’s very important for you as the client to make sure that you have someone on your side from the very beginning of the case. So waiting to hire a lawyer until after the preliminary hearing many times is a big mistake, because if the lawyer who’s representing you at trial also properly prepared for your preliminary hearing and interviewed your witnesses prior to your preliminary hearing, the trial result is going to be much better.”
Criminal Defense
Overview
Video Transcript
Speaker: Andrew Gay, Jr., Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer
“I believe that what people look for in a criminal defense lawyer is someone who’s really going to be on their side. Someone who they know is going to conduct that investigation for them. Someone who they know is going to keep in touch with them about how their case is progressing and what they’re looking at. They want to know how likely is it that they’re going to have a favorable result here.
One thing that I truly believe that I do differently from other lawyers is that I spend the time with a client to truly talk about their problem. I really do concentrate every single day on returning all calls that come into my office. I make myself accessible.
If you’re facing real serious charges, then of course you’re going to want your lawyer to explain to you what could possibly happen. I’m going to walk you through the bail process, to coming in for an interview to prepare for your preliminary hearing to handle the preliminary hearing and any subsequent hearings that happen after that right up to trial.
You need to know what to expect next. You need to know what to expect in the short run and you need to know how long the process is going to take. And you also need to know what it is that your lawyer’s going to do to prepare for your trial.
To get out of bed at 3:30 or 4 in the morning is ordinary for me and what drives me to do that is trial preparation wins every single day out of the week.
I want to hear from a client. I want to hear what happened. I want to hear their perspective on things and I want their thoughts to be incorporated into how the case is handled.
I never let up on my preparation. I don’t ever let up on my investigation and right up until the time of trial, I’m always prepared to win.”
Personal Injury
Trial Preparation
Video Transcript
Speaker: Andrew Gay, Jr., Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer
“In personal injury matters there are often times far more documents to review and cross-check to know how those documents will best establish how the incident actually occurred. Reviewing all those documents helps us establish who’s at fault for your injury. It helps us establish how the accident actually occurred.
When I handle your personal injury matter, if I need to, I will hire experts from our first initial meeting. It’s extremely important when we meet with you for the first time about your personal injury case, that we identify if there are any experts that we need to immediately engage, in order to preserve evidence that may later on disappear or become unavailable to us. For example, we have many times hired Engineers to photograph and take measurements at accident scenes to later find out before trial, that for instance, the roadway has been repaved and that evidence is no longer available to us. If we didn’t send that engineer out to your accident scene within a week or two after your injury that evidence would have been gone forever. Hiring experts from the beginning of your personal injury representation for you, is key to our success later on at the time of trial.
I’m always prepared to go to trial and your adversary needs to know that. Your adversary needs to know that particularly in a personal injury matter because insurance companies do not like to settle their cases for anything more than they absolutely have to. And when you have demonstrated to your opponent in a personal injury matter, that you are prepared to go to trial and you are prepared to go to verdict, then your settlements are far better than they are otherwise.
The initial consultation is always free and the sooner you pick up the phone to schedule an appointment, the sooner we can talk about your case.”
Personal Injury
Overview
Video Transcript
Speaker: Andrew Gay, Jr., Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer
“When I try a personal injury case, the most important thing to consider is what the client has been through.
Most of the time what you’re trying to do in a personal injury case is to develop a connection between the jury and your client, so that they can understand how this person is unable to provide for themselves and to provide for their family in a way that they were able to before an accident occurred.
I truly believe that it’s my responsibility to make sure that that person is properly compensated for their injuries.
In order to prepare for a personal injury case, you have to of understood everything that your client has suffered, not just the economic losses that your client has suffered but the pain and suffering that they have gone through as well.
It’s having that constant mindset of going to trial in a personal injury case that causes you to do the proper investigation and get the proper witnesses to present to a jury.
When I prepare a personal injury case I always prepare as if I’m going to try that case. And it’s that preparation for trial, that causes the insurance company to provide the right compensation. Insurance companies do not want to give up their money, and you have to be in a position to show them what their risk really is if we go to trial.
I’m always prepared to win. Trial preparation wins every single day out of the week. When you’re a lawyer and someone comes to you with their problem they’re really entrusting you with their life and you have to take that responsibility very seriously.”
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