People ask me this question all the time: “Ibrahim, you were a prosecutor. You were putting criminals behind bars. Why would you leave that to become a personal injury attorney?”
It is a fair question. And the answer is rooted in something I experienced repeatedly during my years as a prosecutor — a realization that the people who need the most help in our legal system are not always crime victims waiting for a conviction. Sometimes they are accident victims being crushed by insurance companies that have no intention of treating them fairly.
My Start in Criminal Law
I began my legal career at the District Attorney’s Office in Whitfield County, Georgia. Fresh out of Georgia State College of Law, having passed the bar on my first attempt, I was immediately thrown into the deep end. Over the course of my time there, I prosecuted more than 100 felony cases — everything from armed robbery and aggravated assault to a dozen child molestation trials and a murder case.
That experience was invaluable. I learned how to try cases under pressure, how to prepare witnesses, how to present evidence that would persuade a jury, and how to stand up against skilled defense attorneys who were doing everything in their power to get their clients acquitted.
From Whitfield County, I moved to the DeKalb County Solicitor General’s Office, where I worked in the Special Victims Unit. This is where I handled cases involving domestic violence, child abuse, and crimes against vulnerable populations. It was gut-wrenching work, but it taught me something fundamental about the law: it exists to protect people who cannot protect themselves.
The Moment Everything Changed
The turning point came when I started seeing accident victims in my personal life — friends, family members, members of my community — who were being devastated not by criminals, but by insurance companies. I watched good people get injured in car accidents, trucking collisions, and workplace incidents, only to be told by billion-dollar insurance corporations that their injuries were not that bad, their medical bills were too high, or their claim was not worth what they thought.
These people had done nothing wrong. They were following the rules, driving safely, living their lives — and then someone else’s negligence changed everything. And when they turned to the system for help, the insurance companies treated them like adversaries.
I realized that the skills I had built as a prosecutor — trying cases, cross-examining witnesses, building airtight arguments, commanding a courtroom — were exactly what these people needed. They did not need a lawyer who would shuffle paperwork and accept whatever the insurance company offered. They needed someone who would fight for them the way I had fought for crime victims in criminal court.
The Prosecutor’s Advantage in Personal Injury Law
Most personal injury attorneys have never prosecuted a criminal case. They went straight from law school into PI work, and many of them have never tried a case to verdict. That means when an insurance company calls their bluff, they do not have the courtroom skills to back it up.
My background is different. I spent years trying the most serious cases our legal system handles — cases where the stakes were someone’s freedom, someone’s safety, sometimes someone’s life. When I transitioned to personal injury law, I brought every one of those skills with me.
This is why the Awad Law Firm consistently achieves results that other firms cannot match. Our $900,208 jury verdict in Cobb County happened because I was willing to take a case to trial when the insurance company offered only $100,000. Most PI attorneys would have taken that offer. But I knew — from years of trial experience — that the evidence supported a much larger recovery.
Our $2 million wrongful death settlement, our $754,000 recovery for what the insurance company dismissed as a “minimal damage” rear-end collision, our $625,000 settlement for cognitive impairment — these results happen because the insurance companies know I am not bluffing when I say I will take their case to a jury.
Fighting for a Different Kind of Justice
In the prosecutor’s office, justice meant holding criminals accountable. In personal injury law, justice means something different — it means making sure that when someone’s negligence destroys a person’s health, livelihood, or family, the responsible party pays the full cost of that damage.
Both forms of justice require the same thing: a lawyer who is not afraid to fight.
The insurance companies in Georgia spend millions every year training their adjusters and defense attorneys to minimize payouts. They study psychological tactics designed to pressure injury victims into accepting low offers. They hire medical examiners to dispute legitimate injuries. They delay claims until victims are so desperate for money that they will accept anything.
I saw the same kind of manipulation in criminal defense — and I learned how to beat it. Every tactic an insurance company uses has a counter, and my years as a prosecutor taught me every single one.
Building the Awad Law Firm
When I founded the Awad Law Firm, I built it on the principles I learned as a prosecutor: thorough preparation, aggressive advocacy, and an absolute refusal to back down from a fight. We now serve clients from three offices across Georgia — in Atlanta, Marietta, and Dalton — and we have recovered over $60 million for injured victims and their families.
I also founded Awad Academy, where I train personal injury attorneys from across the country in trial advocacy. I teach them what the prosecutor’s office taught me: that the attorneys who get the best results are the ones who can actually try a case, not just negotiate a settlement.
My Promise to Every Client
I left the prosecutor’s office because I believed I could do more good fighting for injury victims than I could putting criminals behind bars. Every day, I see that belief confirmed. When a family comes to me after a wrongful death, or a worker comes to me after a catastrophic injury, or someone walks through our door after an accident that was not their fault — I know that my years as a prosecutor prepared me for this exact moment.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident in Georgia, you deserve a lawyer who knows how to fight — not just negotiate. Call my office at (706) 890-0000 for a free consultation, or visit us in Atlanta, Marietta, or Dalton. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
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