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Bio information for
John Klonoski
About
John
Klonoski
Mr.
Klonoski hasbeen practicing law in Atlanta for 13 years.
He has a BA in philosophy from The University of Scranton
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and studied at the University of
Louvain in Belgium. After working for the Ford Foundation
in New York City in the late ‘70's and early 80's his
interests shifted to the law. He received his J.D. from Georgia
State University in 1989. His practice focuses on personal
injury and business law, and his years with the Ford Foundation
and study abroad have instilled in him a life long interest
in international issues which he incorporates in to his practice
and hobbies.
-John Klonoski on
the firm:
-John
Klonoski on clients:
-John Klonoski
on what it takes to run a successful Plaintiff’s practice:
-Hobbies:
John Klonoski on
the firm:
The
thing that sets us apart as a law firm, I think, is the energy
and time we put into working our cases. Whatever it takes,
that's what we do. Whether it is getting on a plane and traveling
halfway around the world to personally meet a party or witness,
or just going out to an auto accident site and measuring skid
marks, I personally put in the time and effort. I can't tell
you the number of times I have had opposing counsel remark
on the effectiveness of our aggressive style of investigation.
Thoroughness is important, because when you come right down
to it, a trial is about what you can prove. It's not about
what I think -- and it most certainly is not about what the
other side thinks.
John Klonoski
on clients:
Over
the years I have taken great personal pleasure in representing
clients with extremely diverse cultural, geographic, ethnic,
and social backgrounds. R&K has represented a multinational
Saudi Arabian Development Corporation, Costa Rican businesses,
a Belgian financier, an injured elderly British couple, an
Argentinean Credit Card company, a Parisian divorcee, a Canadian
Manufacturer, Kuwaiti investors, and numerous artists, writers,
and musicians. We have represented clients with holdings in
the billions of dollars and clients that were indigent. I
take personal pride in the fact that as diverse as our clients
are they have in common a loyalty to Rowen & Klonoski
that remains years after our representation has ended. We
joke that once someone is a client of R&K they are a client
for life.
John Klonoski
on what it takes to run a successful Plaintiff’s practice:
I
have played competitive racquetball since the mid ‘70's.
Over the years I have played with and against some of the
best players in the sport. I see a revealing similarity of
attitude in competitive racquetball and a Plaintiff’s
practice that defense attorneys may not fully appreciate.
In racquetball there is no one else in that little 20' by
40' room except you and your opponent. You must be self-sufficient,
in skill, athleticism, “court smarts” and the
ability to see your opponents weaknesses and attack those
deficits. Self-reliance is the name of the game. Just as it
is in a Plaintiff’s practice. Defense firms employ large
numbers of attorneys. Several hundred is not uncommon. The
defense firm relies on numbers of specialized individuals
working on a particular case. Often at trial the lead attorney
for the defense is not the same attorney handling the case
throughout the year or two of prior litigation. His job is
exclusively trial work. And therein lies the Achilles heel.
The Plaintiff’s attorney on the other hand handles the
case from the initial interview through verdict. He has help,
of course, but the ability to win that he brings to his practice
is not limited to one specialized skill but rather it is a
combination of attitude, legal skill, intimate knowledge of
his case and clients, and the ability to find the opponents
weaknesses and exploit them.. Leaving a racquetball court
knowing that you just beat a higher seeded player and that
player still can’t figure out why he lost is only second
in satisfaction to leaving a court of law with the defense
rubbing their heads in disbelief after a jury returns with
a substantial plaintiff’s award.
Hobbies:
When
he is not in a court somewhere, you may find John canoeing
the whitewater rivers of the southeast U.S., rafting the mighty
Zambezi river in Zimbabwe, or simply water skiing or horse
back riding with his wife and 9 year old daughter Elena at
their home outside of Atlanta.
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Bio
information for
Sharon Rowen
About Sharon Rowen
Ms.
Rowen has litigated in Atlanta for twenty four years. She
received her B.A. in humanities from Emory University, and
her J.D. from Columbia Southern College of Law. Her practice
focuses on civil litigation, including injury cases, domestic
relations, and probate litigation.
-Sharon Rowen on
the firm:
-Sharon Rowen on clients:
-Sharon Rowen on
community service:
-Recent Seminar
Presentations:
Sharon Rowen on
the firm:
When
I look back at all the cases I have handled -- and the ones
I am handling now -- they cover a wide range of subjects,
but they all have one thing in common, that we represent people.
We commit to doing more work than other lawyers think is necessary.
We have to be able to present a real picture of what happened
to the other side - and ultimately to a jury or a judge. Sometimes
that means tracking down a witness no one has spoken with
in five years. Most of the time it is much less glamorous--
it means going through boxes and boxes of documents to find
the one document that will help our case. Whatever it takes,
we do it. I am always aware that the case is important to
my client -- and part of my job is doing what it takes to
make the case important to the other side.
Sharon Rowen on clients:
Sometimes,
my clients don't know themselves exactly what happened in
a particular case. Some of them just have the idea that something
just wasn't right. This is especially true in medical malpractice
and product liability cases. A good lawyer has the knowledge
and experience to know how to recognize a valid claim. I also
think it is important that a client be able to make an informed
decision about the resolution of a case. What my clients need
from me is clear communication about how a case is going and
what it is going to look like to the other side, what it is
going to look like to a judge, and what it is going to look
like to a jury. I try very hard to communicate all these things
to my clients. I am constantly in contact with my clients
about their cases. Getting frequent input from my clients
from e mail makes a big difference in the outcome of their
cases.
Sharon Rowen
on community service:
I
think it is important that we as lawyers share our
time and expertise with others, in whatever medium presents
itself. I have been a speaker at various seminars and conferences,
(see links at the bottom) and a guest on several radio and
television shows where various aspects of the law were discussed.
I have been invited to speak at the Annual Conference of the
Brain Injury Association of Georgia. I have volunteered to
represent people, without charge, for Georgia Volunteer Lawyers
for the Arts and for the YWCA Volunteer Lawyer Program and
Women's Help Line. I am a member of the Georgia and the Atlanta
Bar Association, as well as the Georgia Trial Lawyers. I have
been active in community theater and documentary film making
for more than 20 years, and I received a grant from the Georgia
Civil Justice Foundation which allowed me to direct and produce
a 45 minute video titled "Georgia's Women Lawyers".
That project was a truly unique opportunity to get close and
personal with the Georgia women lawyers that paved the way
for so many of us to follow. I interviewed such different
women with such different histories; solo women practitioners
in rural south Georgia in the 1930s, the first women litigators
in Atlanta, the first woman to sit on the Georgia Supreme
Court, the first African American female to sit on the Georgia
Supreme Court. The story is extraordinary. I think that community
service, and activities outside of the office allow me to
maintain a broader view of my clients -- not just as clients,
but also as individual people who have individual needs and
expectations from their attorney.
Recent
Seminar Presentations:
-10th Annual Conference of the Brain Injury Association
of Georgia
-A Practical Guide to Estate Administration in Georgia
-Coming up - “Georgia Probate: Beyond the Basics”
-- October, 2003 |
