Pedaling a Practice: Meet Peter T. Anderson, D.C. Bike Lawyer
Ever wonder what it’s like to turn a personal passion into a practice area? Peter T. Anderson an associate at the small, D.C.-based practice, Grenier Law Group is doing just that; leveraging his love for recreational biking and familiarity with the rules of the road to represent cyclists in the nation’s capitol. Learn more about what Peter has done to distinguish himself from other lawyers who practice in the bike law space as well as Peter’s thoughts on the implications of D.C.’s move to a comparative fault system on his practice area, and where bike law is heading in an age of ride-sharing, electric bikes and self-driving cars. And stay tuned for the second part of our interview next week where Peter graciously shares his tips for lawyers who want to take up biking either recreationally or for commuting. You can also visit Peter’s website, DCBikelawyers.com and follow him on Twitter at @dcbikelawyer.
Q. Tell us a little about yourself, your legal experience and the firm that you currently practice with.
A. I was born in Denver, Colorado and then moved to Ithaca, New York, when I was very little. My family went back to Colorado many times when I was growing up for vacations. I think spending a lot of time in Denver and Ithaca made me appreciate the outdoors and being active. I used to bike a lot when I was a kid, but recently picked it up again as an adult as a more exciting way to do cardio and to avoid the D.C. Metro system.
I ended up in D.C. when I went to law school at George Washington University. I graduated in May 2009 at the height of the recession and started practicing with Ashcraft & Gerel, a personal injury firm in Alexandria, Virginia. At Ashcraft, I handled primarily defective drug and device cases and was able to work on some very interesting litigations. For example, I was part of a team that represented multiple miners injured in the 2010 Massey Mine explosion. I also helped represent a group of Abu Ghraib detainees against a defense contractor.
I transitioned to the Grenier Law Group in October 2015 to continue to hone my trial skills and to develop my own book of business. It is a firm that handles very large and complex civil cases, including civil rights, mass shooting, and police misconduct cases.
Q. What made you decide to develop a niche practice in bike law?
A. I have always loved sports and fitness and I’ve been trying to find a way to combine my interests in the law with my fitness hobbies. The only problem is that I could never find a good way to do that and still practice personal injury law.
In November, shortly after I began working with the Grenier Law Group, I took a bike ride through Israel with three of my best friends on a whim. On that trip, I realized that it would be a great niche practice area to represent injured cyclists in the D.C. area. D.C. is one of the top cities in the U.S. for cycling and, with programs like Capital Bike Share and increased cycling infrastructure, the number of cyclists will only increase. That will inevitably lead to more injured cyclists who need representation. Cyclists should be represented by an attorney who understands what it is actually like to bike in a big city and who also knows the bike-specific regulations.
Q. What types of issues does bike law encompass?
A. Bike law has some unique issues due specific laws for cyclists. For example, D.C. is in the process of changing the law from contributory negligence to a comparative negligence standard only for cyclists. Currently, if a cyclist is injured, he or she is barred from recovery if they were even 1% negligent in the accident. The new law will make it so that a cyclist will be able to recover in D.C. as long as they were less than 50% negligent.
Also, there is an entire set of D.C. Municipal Regulations that pertain solely to cycling (D.C. Municipal Reg. Chapter 18, Title 22). This set of regulations contains provisions for overtaking and passing, proper signaling, coasting, required lights and equipment, etc. This makes bike law very different from the standard motor vehicle injury case.
Q. And what about emerging and future issues on the horizon? Probably not self-driving bikes (like this) but do you anticipate more lawsuits by bicyclists against rideshare companies that rely on independent contractors (e.g., Uber or Lyft)? Or what about electric powered bikes?
A. I wouldn’t be surprised if self-driving bikes became a thing! As for rideshare, we are already seeing in our practice an increase in cases against rideshare companies. Actually, another associate with my firm, Stan Doerrer, was interviewed in the LA Times about this exact issue.
My prediction is that rideshare won’t last another 15-20 years because self-driving cars will be in wide use by then. Taxi drivers, rideshare drivers, and long-haul truckers will be the first professions to go. The era of self-driving cars will create new product liability cases. Such a complex and novel technology is bound to have problems right out of the gate. The auto industry is not known for its safety record.
Product liability and negligent maintenance claims could develop into a bigger practice area with the rise of bike share programs and electric bikes. There is a new company in D.C. called Riide that really intrigues me. It is a subscription electric bike service for $79 per month. There is also Capital Bikeshare. I am not saying that either of these services have, or will have, any problems, but I could certainly see accidents happening in services like this with defective parts or failure to properly repair bikes.
Probably the most important emerging legal issue for cyclists now is D.C.’s move to a comparative fault system. Under the current law, if a cyclist is only 1% negligent in accident, he or she will not be able to recover any compensation. This summer, that could change when the D.C. Council votes on the bike bill.
Q. What steps have you taken to get the word out about your practice?
A. I am really just scratching the surface of what I want to do in terms of marketing and promotion. First, we hired a local web designer to build http://dcbikelawyers.com. I plan on increasing and improving the content on there to draw more clicks. The ideal scenario is that I have one really long and informative blog post per week. I may also do pay-per-click advertising for it.
Second, I’ve been contacting local groups to let them know my intention to represent injured cyclists in the D.C. area. We’ve spoken to the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Potomac Pedalers and the D.C. Bar. I’m thankful to the D.C. Bar for quoting me in two blog posts it ran this month, which you can read here and here.
Lastly, I’m experimenting with Twitter. You can catch my tweets @DCBikelawyer. It’s a good way to keep up with the DC cycling community as there is a great hashtag #bikedc that has caught on. I’ve had multiple people tweet to me about cycling accidents they have had or witnessed, one of which was right next to my office.
Q. According to your website, you are actively involved in the local cycling community. What sorts of activities are you involved in and have you had any feedback from the community on your practice?
A. While I’m just getting started with this niche practice, I am trying to get more involving with the local cycling community through educational events and the legal community through CLEs and brown bag events. I would like to do a safe cycling seminar at a library, or possibly through one of the many local cycling organizations.
A while back, I moderated a CLE/debate for the D.C. Bar that received some local news and blog coverage. I hope to do some more events like that in the future.
Q. As you know, even many niche practices can become easily saturated – or overtaken by a national network. What distinguishes your practice from other bike law practices in your region or nationally?
A. Before jumping into bike law, I looked at cycling injury statistics, google search term frequency in google adwords, and the potential competition. While there are several personal injury lawyers in D.C. who represent cyclists, I feel that there are still plenty of cyclists who need attorneys.
I have also found that cyclists will find the national groups through TV ads and the internet and then those national firms will contact my firm to act as local counsel. That means there are local cyclists getting injured that we could represent if we make ourselves more visible.
I also try to differentiate myself in a number of ways. First, I am an avid cyclist who bikes through D.C. very frequently. This means I understand bike lanes, 3-foot passing rules, and the fear of getting doored. Second, I have experience litigating very large and complex civil cases. While there are many attorneys out there who are athletes, there are few who are athletes and have also gone toe-to-toe with multi-national corporations defended by armies of big-firm lawyers. I think my combination of knowledge in cycling and big cases make me unique in the bike law arena.
Q. Since you work for a small firm, some of our readers who are currently associates at other law firms may be interested in how you obtained your firm’s support to create a niche, and any advice you might have on steps they can take to persuade their respective firms to allow them to start a niche?
A. I am lucky to work for an entrepreneurial firm that understands the cost-benefit analysis in attempting to attract new business. When I first pitched the idea to the owner of my firm, I stressed the fact that this would be a relatively low-cost endeavor and that much of my efforts would be word of mouth. One new bike injury case would pay for the minimal advertising we have done thus far.
I think that associates, especially younger associates, need to stress to partners that having an entrepreneurial drive is a win-win. While there are some up-front costs in funding a new niche practice area, the return on the investment will outweigh the costs as long as the idea is sound. Also, partners should recognize that law firms do not survive long term unless associates are incentivized to bring in new business. If only the older attorneys are bringing in all of the business, what happens when they retire, or their productivity naturally decreases over time? Associates and partners should have a symbiotic relationship; otherwise, it won’t work.
Q. Any final thoughts?
A. Thank you for this great interview! Your website is awesome. Also, if there are any cyclists out there reading this – hopefully you do not ever need my services. But if you do, or if you simply have a question, give me call!
Do you have a unique niche that you’d like MyShingle to profile? Drop us a line at elefant@myshingle.com