If it hasn’t been made evident by now, we love people here at AAT! We love hearing about their stories and passions for our community, but we also love hearing about what our fellow locals do and why they do it! For example, we have some wonderful neighbors who own/manager some fantastic local businesses and serve our town tremendously by doing so! This fact is why AAT has partnered up with our good friends at B3 Glass, to bring you all “Small Business Fridays!” Each week, we’ll feature a different, local small business and talk with its owner and hear about their journey, their business in general, as well as their heart for their customers and our city!
This week, we’re joined by Denise Bradshaw of Bradshaw Law LLC. As someone who genuinely cares, Denise is a local attorney with a heart for assisting people in our community find help and justice from the legal system. But Anthony Around Town, you may be saying to whatever screen you’re reading this article on, lawyers don’t have hearts! A “lawyer who cares” would almost be an oxymoronic statement! Well, AAT can’t speak to your past individual experiences with attorneys, but we spent some time hearing from Denise herself about what drives her and her business every day. Her approach and motivations may be unlike most who are in her profession today. However, we’ll let her speak for herself, and you can be the judge of this lawyer’s testimony!
Denise, why don’t you tell us how you started practicing law?
“I moved to Elko in 1995; I was a paralegal for a law firm in Reno and a single mom. When I moved up here, I worked three jobs. I worked fulltime as a paralegal, did roofing contracts, and served process. When my son was about five years old, he became very sick. He had been in every room of the old hospital, sometimes twice; you could tell by the different murals they had on the wall. So, I went to Great Basin College at night for eight years to get my bachelor’s degree, and then I went ahead to law school in Wyoming for three years. However, because I love Elko, I came back! I felt very loyal to Elko because this community has been very good to me. I’ve been working as an attorney since 2007 and have had my own practice since 2013; next month with be Bradshaw Law’s five-year anniversary! I’m really proud of that.”
Thanks, Denise! Could you now tell us a little more about Bradshaw Law? Do you enjoy walking into your office every day and getting down to work?
“I love what I do! We do personal injuries like car crashes and other sorts of injuries. I’m doing a lot of medical malpractice. We only do plaintiffs work, and it is my, and my amazing staff’s, way of helping people. When somebody’s life is turned upside down, they go to the doctor, the doctor puts them back together, and I take it from there. Basically, we help people work through their injuries, the emotional aspects, with any medical expenses, and, hopefully, get them fairly compensated; I love it! I love helping people, and that’s what I do all day, every day.
“However, unfortunately, there’s a misconception in society, as a whole, about what I can do. I’m not a magician. I can’t just make the money truck come. I can only work with the deck of cards I’m given. But, I’ve made some pretty cool things happen with some pretty small decks of cards. We always do the very best we can. Our clients trust us with their lives, and we take that trust very seriously.”
Wonderful! Now, Denise, you could practice law anywhere in the country; you could be a hotshot lawyer in Texas, Wyoming, Reno, anywhere. However, you’ve chosen to stay in our town and represent the good people of this community. Why? Are there any challenges owning and operating a law firm uniquely in Elko?
“I love Elko. Elko’s been really good to me; we have phenomenal people here! A lot of my business is referrals from previous clients, or repeat clients; unfortunately, some people seem to get into many accidents. Going about conflicts is interesting here because of Elko’s size, maybe two out of ten times the person someone wants to sue is in my client family; I won’t sue someone in my client family. I have to know who the defendant is. We also must be a little more cognizant about who you’re suing here because you have to live here and there can be consequences. But, I’m here to help people, and if I can help make our community safer, it’s worth it.
“I came here as a single mom with my sick little boy, and if weren’t for the support of this community, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I try to help and give back because this community helped me.”
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If you would like to submit a FREE entry for The Around Town Bulletin Board, simply email us anthonyaroundtown@gmail.com
See you around, Elko!
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