A Day in the Life of Three Chicago Injury Attorneys

[00:00:03.12] - Brian L. Salvi
When I'm able to, I like to go to an area where I have just established a little garden with the city still quiet. Watering the plants is a nice, calm way to enter my day. Best part of my morning routine is waking up my kids when they're just waking up. They don't have the energy to be loud and crazy, but they still are aware enough to tell you that they love you. That's usually the best part of the day. While I'm on my way to work, I honestly just think about what the day has ahead of me. If there's something going on in the morning, I'm probably trying to recount the things I had prepped on either earlier that morning or the evening before. If I don't have something strenuous going on in the morning, I'll probably just listen to a podcast or listen to music to ease myself into the day.

[00:00:51.09] - Heidi L. Wickstrom
The first thing I do to set the tone for my day after I wake up is I pretty immediately go and walk my dog, which I very much enjoy doing. It's a nice to get the day started and charge up for whatever I'm going to do that day. On my drive into work, I'm typically thinking about all the things that I have to do that day a lot of times, getting the calendar in order of what I need to accomplish that day or what needs to be done for the upcoming days. And then also when I drive, a lot of times I'm listening to podcasts.

[00:01:19.00] - Tara R. Devine
I would say the moment that I look forward to in my day is the mornings because it's when I get to have coffee or caffeine, and that's always a good jolt to start the day. The first thing I do to set the tone for the day is I typically listen to or watch the news. I'm someone who always likes to be in the know, so it's important for me to understand what the day's events are. I don't like to find out from someone else. I would say on my way to work, what I think about is work. It's a great time to go through what the day is going to have ahead for you and to strategize. So by the time you get to work, you're ready to go.

[00:01:56.11] - Heidi L. Wickstrom
I drink a lot of coffee in a day. If When I'm left unchecked, I would just hammer down coffee at an aggressive rate all day. I look forward when I get to the office to seeing my coworkers. I work with a lot of really great people, and it's nice to catch up with them when I get to work.

[00:02:14.14] - Tara R. Devine
I would describe my work style as targeted, organized, and direct. In my work, to help me be creative, I try to collaborate with others, others that are typically more creative than I am individually.

[00:02:28.11] - Heidi L. Wickstrom
A good way for me to unwind during a busy day is sometimes just popping out to take a walk. We're very fortunate. We work in a beautiful area of the city, so we can go walk by the river. Or sometimes it sounds strange, but I will unwind by just going to Starbucks and grabbing coffee.

[00:02:42.13] - Brian L. Salvi
Something I do every day to make me feel productive is checking in with my assistant, Suzanne. Suzanne is on top of my life more than I am on top of my life. And so if I check in with her and she gives me the green light that things are okay and things are good, and it gives me a sense of calm. I'm Barry I'm really lucky. I get to work with my wife, and so I get to walk by her office probably a handful of times a day. And so anytime I need to pick me up, I just walk over there.

[00:03:08.07] - Heidi L. Wickstrom
I think one of the surprising things about our job as attorneys for Injured People is that we actually deal with people, our clients, a lot more than people expect. I think people believe that lawyers are pushing paper or just talking to other lawyers, but a lot of our day is spent interacting with and talking to our clients.

[00:03:28.22] - Brian L. Salvi
I pick myself I grew up in the middle of the day by doing one of a few things. One easy one is to get up out of my chair and walk around the office, do a lap, just to take my mind off of whatever I was previously doing. And then, of course, an easy pick me up is to get some caffeine in your system. So midday coffee or a Celsius that I steal from my wife is certainly something I'm used to doing.

[00:03:50.21] - Heidi L. Wickstrom
I feel like it's a successful day when the items I had on my to-do list that morning are almost or all checked off. There's a lot of times that I will have a list in the morning. Sometimes I'll even write it out and put a little Post-it on my computer of things that I need to get done that day. And you'll leave and there's a few things that aren't done. But a very successful day will end with knowing I did everything. All the things that I need to do that particular day were checked off. So the next day, you start a new with a new list.