The law means many things to many people. For most of us, it exists as almost an abstract concept, the general guidelines around which we’ve structured our society. If we ever think about the law at all, it’s only to ensure that we’re not inadvertently breaking it.
As an attorney, Patrick Carr sees the law a little differently. In fact, it’s fair to say he sees the law a little differently than most of his fellow attorneys. To him, the greatest and most noble aim of the law is to ensure that people are kept safe. And when the laws protect us from harm are flouted, he is not the type of attorney to let that danger go unaddressed.
“The societal menace that is presented to us by drunk and distracted driving remains a pervasive threat to health and safety of our community,” Carr said. “We have too many reckless drivers and too many reckless servers.”
To that end, he has made combating drunk and distracted driving a cornerstone of not only his legal practice, but his own personal crusade.
According to the National Highway Safety Administration, 3,308 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2022 (the last year for which data was available). That same year, 13,524 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths. Every one of these deaths were preventable. And while you may tell yourself you’re a safe driver because you never drive drunk, can you honestly say you’ve never snuck a peak at your text messages while out on the road?
“Nobody wants to be hurt in any setting, but when you’re hurt by someone who chose to break the law, or chose to do something dangerous like driving while distracted, it’s especially traumatic,” Carr said. “And the distraction, more often than not, is a cell phone. At-fault drivers rarely admit what they were doing, but it’s obvious to us and our clients what happened.”
Given the broad scope of dangers we all face and the staggering injustices that need to be fought, dangerous driving might seem like a small thing to focus on. But to the clients Carr has helped make whole again after suffering at the hands of drunk and distracted drivers, that dedication is no small thing. It’s everything.
Michael P. Bennett, Jared Shedd and Patrick Carr
“We like to think that getting justice for our clients makes a difference,” Carr said. “We try to give every case and every client a personalized approach and individual attention. We don’t treat them like numbers on a spreadsheet, because that’s what the big TV lawyers do. They spend millions of dollars trying to increase market share, but I’m not sure the attention they give to clients is adequate.”
As a native South Carolinian, cum laude graduate of the University of South Carolina Honors College, and Lowcountry resident for the past 15 years, Carr has lived his life among the people. Since leaving the insurance world behind to start representing the little guy, he has fought for the people. And now, he’s looking to his next chapter as he starts taking the fight back to the big guys.
“What we’re currently facing, as an organization of trial lawyers, is this concept of tort reform,” Carr said. “When people say ‘tort reform,’ it’s almost a catchphrase. It sounds cool. But what they’re really saying is ‘we want to help wrongdoers evade responsibility and take away rights that injury victims have.’ … You can have a positive impact on public safety and community wellness by holding wrongdoers responsible, so they change their behavior. If you take that away, there’s no accountability, and public safety in our community is eroded.”
