An inconspicuous home-turned-office-building in Franklin County may very well be the mission control center for one of Illinois' most rapidly rising stars in litigation. My business partner and I were (and unfortunately, continue to be) at challenging places in life, from both personal and corporat...e standpoints. In early 2018, we engaged Aaron Hopkins as our legal counsel, in desperate need for some efficient, affordable, and productive help. After having an attorney on our payroll for three years that had failed to take a single case to the finish line, Hopkins has accomplished more in three months time than our previous thirty-six month long hamster wheel ride with former counsel, one that unnecessarily drained vital resources during times when every penny mattered.
Aaron and his staff are completely up-front and honest about costs, and their response time is almost immediate. When we pay legal fees to Aaron, we aren't paying for billboards across southern Illinois, where a photographer has tried to capture the expression of what we thought we needed in an attorney; we are paying for one of the brightest, contemporary minds in the profession, a man who knows exactly how to resolve a matter, even when a situation seems insurmountable.
His gift in the art of negotiation is the bang for the buck that closes the case. To date, Hopkins has brought to conclusion every matter (or mess) we have brought to him. His business model is not centered around charming his clients into forking over jacked-up retainers or wowing them with his latest PR move; he's providing a service, and he's doing a damn good job--his case load speaks for itself.
All business matters aside, what's been the second best part for us, since we engaged Aaron Hopkins as our attorney? During hard times, it's those tiny, fringe benefits you get when you're least expecting them, those unexpected moments that somehow cause you to have a glimmer of hope for the decency of the human race again.
When you hit like on the firm's Facebook page, you'll laugh at a ridiculously hilarious and borderline inappropriate post early in the morning, and sometimes it will be easier to face a tough day. There might be a moment when you turn your head and realize you just heard Hopkins quote a line from a classic work of literature, or maybe he'll offer up a juicy tid-bit of local history in the middle of a tough discussion in one of the waiting rooms at the courthouse. You'll find yourself feeling better about what you're facing because you'll know you're dealing with a litigator of profound intellect, someone that has paid attention to the world around him, but a man that also knows not to take himself too seriously.
For better of for worse, Hopkins is honest, brutally so at times, even about his own struggles and past life experiences; as for my business partner and me, he has enabled us to see matters as they actually are, not the giants they sometimes appear to be, and, above all, he does this without ever stopping-- he's always doing his job, with the least amount of interference possible, and he is always, always, always thinking, navigating, and maneuvering towards a speedy conclusion to the imminent matter at hand.
Hopkins is the real-deal, southern Illinois; the courtroom is not his stage and it's not an act; it is where he is getting stuff done. As his number of clients and his caseload continues to surge, our best decision of 2018 was making sure we got this closer on our side, while there was still enough of him to go around.
