Plaintiffs counsel Andrew Garza had a choice to make: Take the $80,000 offered his client in a motor vehicle tort or do the extra work and preparation needed to resolve the matter. He chose the latter.

Faced with defense lawyers offering that amount of money to resolve the lawsuit in which the plaintiff had said he’d reinjured his right knee in a car accident just four months after surgery, Garza, a Glastonbury-based attorney, said he knew he could have a winning case in the six figures and not the five figures if he moved forward and did his homework.