Empathetic, Relentless Advocacy with William Mulligan of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen

William Mulligan has known what he wanted his career to look like since law school. Now a plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney with renowned Florida trial firm Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, back at Boston College Law School, Mulligan provided free legal services for clients navigating Social Security. “Seeing how these individuals were just repeatedly taken advantage of one after the next was the final experience that I needed to know this was the right area of law,” he says.

That empathy for his clients shines through in Mulligan’s current work. His practice runs the gamut, with landmark victories in plaintiffs’ medical malpractice, trucking and automobile crashes, defective products cases and more. He has been involved in three major shallow water spinal cord injury cases; in the first, he was a key part of the team that attained a $10.75M settlement from a Key West resort on behalf of a man who unknowingly dove into shallow water and was left paralyzed. In the second, he and partner Stuart Grossman achieved a confidential settlement for a young man who was rendered a quadriplegic after he dove into a sandbar outside a Ritz-Carlton property. A few years ago, the plaintiff, Andrew Gallo, married his high school sweetheart – and Mulligan was there to celebrate with him. In the third, Mulligan and Grossman similarly achieved a confidential settlement for another young man who unknowingly dove into water that was dangerously shallow.

Mulligan was also part of the historic Champlain Towers South litigation, in which the firm helped achieve a momentous $1B settlement on behalf of victims of a 2021 condominium collapse that resulted in the deaths of 98 people. The tragedy has spurred Florida lawmakers to take a hard look at building inspection codes and compliance. “Tragically, it took hundreds of lives to potentially save thousands and thousands more in the future. It shouldn't be that way, but that's why we do what we do,” says Mulligan.

Described as “unequivocally dedicated” by his colleagues, Mulligan’s empathy for his clients is matched only by his persistent pursuit of every detail that could make his case and bring his clients justice and security. His relentless, incisive commitment is just one reason Mulligan is a member of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers.

Lawdragon: What drew you to a career in the law?

William Mulligan: It really came down to a couple of courses that I took at the University of Florida in undergrad. I was a finance major, and during my junior year one class completely changed my professional path. That course was Trial Practice. Getting up on my feet and giving opening statements, closing arguments, directing and crossing witnesses, was exhilarating to me. It reminded me a lot of tennis in that I had to depend solely on myself in a competitive setting.

LD: That’s great. And you worked in insurance defense for the first couple years of your career?

WM: Yes. My cousin worked at a boutique personal injury firm doing the insurance side and he wanted me to come in and learn from him. I was there for about a year and a half, but he knew going in that at some point my goal was to move over to the plaintiffs' side.

LD: What eventually brought you to make that switch?

WM: I felt it inside. The time had come. I was nearing my two-year mark as an attorney, and an opportunity arose at GRYC – which was a firm I admired as a young boy due to stories and discussions I overheard from my parents. The stars aligned and I heard Grossman Roth was looking to hire. Safe to say, I went all-in for the position.

LD: And what have you enjoyed about working with the team at GRYC?

WM: Everything. I feel extremely fortunate every day to be part of GRYC. The senior partners, Stuart, Neal, Andy and Gary are not only the best attorneys I’ve seen, but they are incredible individuals. They care about everything they do, and they do it extremely well. Most importantly, they care deeply about the clients. We're passionate no matter the assignment or event, everything is done with care, effort and professionalism. It makes a significant impact when all team members at a firm are on the same page.

And while we’re all competitive, we’re not competitive with each other. Many times it’s all hands on deck with cases at the firm. The way GRYC functions was not by accident. The structure of the firm was established by the founding partners, and it was created in this manner to benefit the client. We're all rowing in the same direction. I don't believe most people realize how much the dynamics of a firm will significantly impact the result of a case.

LD: Looking back on your career, which cases stand out in your mind?

WM: The Ritz-Carlton case is one. We litigated that case for about two years. We went to trial, and it resolved just before closing argument.

I learned a lot of things from that case. One is that cases evolve and change. When this case first came in, we knew liability was extremely difficult due to the controlling Florida law at the time. Recent results were against us. But we believed in the case, and we thought that the law was just wrong.

I don't believe most people realize how much the dynamics of a firm will significantly impact the result of a case.

LD: Can you give me the nuts and bolts of the case?

WM: A young man named Andrew Gallo traveled to Miami Beach with his friends for his birthday. He was from New York, and he was unfamiliar with the beaches and their unusual and unpredictable ocean floor topography. His first time in the water, Andrew dove into a sandbar that was the equivalent of going headfirst into a brick wall. As a result, he broke his neck, suffering a drowning spell, and was eventually rendered quadriplegic. He survived, but he deserved to be warned about the unusual and hazardous condition of those waters. He was an innocent tourist staying on Miami Beach for the first time, and there were no warnings provided to him at the hotel or beach regarding the hidden sandbars and deceptive water depths.

LD: And what were some of the challenges you faced?

WM: In working on the case, we didn't get any of the real, beneficial information through discovery. We had to dig up all this information on our own. We flew around visiting other Ritz-Carltons to see what their practices were. We went through social media and found that there were quite a few of these Ritz-Carltons on the beach that did warn about diving into waves and spinal cord injury risks. Then we later learned through our own investigation that Miami Beach was providing information to the hotels in the area about the hazards involved in diving head-first into the water.

None of that was provided to us through formal discovery. We had to dig it all up through hundreds of hours of internal investigation. There is no substitute for going that extra mile. In many cases your best evidence will come from this type of extra effort. A lawyer needs to become an investigator and get out there in the world visiting sites and speaking to witnesses. Always think strategically. That’s what success requires – especially in these types of cases.

LD: That’s great. And what was it like working with Mr. Gallo and his family on the case?

WM: I developed a great relationship with Andrew and his father. Fast-forward to present day, Andrew is married to his high school sweetheart, and they just had a child. I went to his wedding. He’s going back to school. He’s still quadriplegic and in a wheelchair, but with the care and treatment that he's receiving now because of the outcome of the case, he's making significant improvements. He's not walking, but he has more use of his arms. It's only possible with the funds that it takes to get the best-of-the-line care that insurance typically won't cover.

LD: Touching on those tragedies that you can't change, tell me about working on the Champlain Towers case.

WM: It takes a tragedy like that for the city and the county to start taking billing codes and 40-year certifications and things like that more seriously. Now every condo, every apartment, every high-rise is under strict scrutiny in terms of the structural integrity of the building. Things that should have been done always, but over time people get a little more relaxed. They don't think the worst-case scenario can happen. So, tragically, it took hundreds of lives to potentially save thousands and thousands more in the future. It shouldn't be that way, but that's why we do what we do. When one product hurts someone or a group of individuals, you need us to be able to affect change. We take so much pride in our job, and then when you see a professional in another field dropping the ball on an issue that could have a significant impact on the health, safety and life of someone else, that frustrates us more than anything.

Always think strategically. That’s what success requires.

LD: Looking ahead, are there any developments you’re seeing on the horizon for the firm or the legal industry?

WM: Things are rapidly changing in the legal world due to artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies. It’s indeed a very interesting time for the legal profession. I know this has caused a fair amount of anxiety and uncertainty for many attorneys and firms, but these developments excite us at GRYC. We understand the technology and more importantly, understand how to effectively utilize it to our client’s advantage.

Indeed, AI and other technologies are converging in a manner that are already and will continue to disrupt certain practice areas – especially those that focus solely on the analysis of documents and writing. But trial attorneys will always be vital. Putting aside the speculative robot attorney that is still decades from becoming a reality (assuming no regulatory setbacks), AI or ChatGPT cannot investigate an accident scene, meet and build a rapport with witnesses and clients, effectively take a deposition and craft questioning based on the expressions and reactions of a witness, and it cannot argue to a judge or a jury in a court of law.

So, there's a lot of noise out there about AI disrupting the legal world, and I agree it has and will continue to do so, but I strongly feel that these technological advances are only going to benefit our firm and practice. In fact, at GRYC we view AI as just adding more ammo to the stockpile that we already have for our cases. We are locked and loaded and will continue to stay in front of the trends.