Rafael Gonzalez
Rafael Gonzalez
Fighter. If only one word could describe attorney Rafael Gonzalez, fighter would be it. Particularly with personal injury cases, it takes a warrior’s willpower to win in court.
Born into poverty in a small mountain village in rural Puerto Rico, Rafael came to America when he was just seven years old. Raised on the Lower East Side, he grew up as a street kid in what was then a tough neighborhood, where he learned to survive and live by his wits. He vividly remembers many instances of the police removing dead heroin addicts from the rooftop of the tenement building where he lived.
Whereas these difficult life experiences crush many people, Rafael learned to think in terms of possibilities instead of limitations, and turned challenge into success. He takes the same approach to representing clients. "The first thing I do is take the time to hear what it is they want, and then help them see what’s possible," says Gonzalez.
After graduating Hunter College in New York City, Rafael was awarded a full tuition free scholarship to Boston University Law School, one of this country’s top ten law schools. He excelled there in trial advocacy.
Multi-cultural clients are very comfortable with Rafael, as he too is bi-cultural and bi-lingual. For those who feel intimidated by the legal system, his reassuring manner eases their anxieties and concerns. He calls it "confianza." In Spanish, it means "confidence" and describes a unique kind of rapport, where clients feel comfortable entrusting him with their most important matters. And they do.
If you ask him what accounts for his success, he replies "Preparation. Preparation. Preparation." As fate would have it, many of Rafael’s law professors at Boston University were also judges. They drilled the importance of case research, planning and organization into him. It certainly has paid off. Rafael Gonzalez has a 20-year history as a successful trial lawyer.
Rafael’s trial skills made a major contribution to a $550,000.00 case triumph for the daughter of a man who died in a tragic swimming accident. "I looked at the evidence and reports, and was able to put together a second-by-second sequence of the events that caused his death. It was the kind of very close reasoning and knitting of facts I like to do, that doesn’t leave the other side any room for dispute."
Rafael is a long-time martial arts practitioner of the ancient Fu Jow Pai "Tiger Claw" system of Kung Fu, and is a winner of the Eastern Regional Lightweight Championship. He enjoys competing in chess tournaments worldwide on the Internet, and reading novels by famous authors in Spanish. He is now living the "American Dream" with his wife Farida and teenage daughter.
