It’s early Sunday afternoon at a Fox Point yoga studio, and David Gruber is struggling with the Warrior II Pose. His arms are bent at an odd angle, and his feet are too close together. The instructor walks over and corrects his stance. Later in the class, she adjusts his Triangle Pose.
After class, he remarks to the stranger on the mat next to him – that would be me – “If you think I’m bad at yoga, you should see me at the computer. I’m a yoga master compared to how I am with technology.”
There’s more to David Gruber than the brash, “One call, that’s all!” pitchman who grins – some might say leers – from television and billboard ads all over Milwaukee.
Gruber, for the three or so people in the Milwaukee area who might not be aware of him, is a personal injury lawyer, the founder and CEO of Gruber Law Offices in Downtown Milwaukee. He is well known not only because of his ubiquitous ads but because of his firm’s presence at numerous sporting events and festivals, where his “street teams” hand out branded t-shirts, caps, backpacks and pizza cutters.
In many respects, Gruber is, indeed, the brash, in-your-face PI attorney he appears to be in the ads. His job requires him to be tenacious and confrontational – that’s what wins settlements for his clients. “At the end of the day,” Gruber says, “we’re hardcore trial lawyers.”
Gruber Law Offices represents people who have been injured in auto and motorcycle crashes, in personal accidents such as falls, and from faulty medical and drug products. In other fields of law, clients pay attorneys hourly for their work. In personal injury law, however, it is common for a firm to take cases on a contingency basis. This means that if the plaintiff wins, the lawyer’s fee comes out of the money awarded, typically one-third of the settlement. The plaintiff does not pay any money out of pocket.
There is controversy over the contingency fee system. The biggest criticism is that big settlements yield personal injury lawyers much more money than they would have made billing hourly for the work. “I have a sour taste in my mouth about the contingent fee system,” says one local attorney who did not want to be quoted by name. “If you have a good case, you don’t want to give the lawyer one-third of your settlement. You’re better off paying hourly – but you can’t get a PI lawyer to take a case other than on contingency.”
However, the contingency system does have some obvious appeal. Many personal injury clients – who may be disabled and unable to work because of their injuries – do not have the resources to pay an hourly fee.
“The personal injury field is very competitive,” says Gruber, 62. “Insurance companies want your money, but they don’t want to pay out. It’s a war, and I’ve got the soldiers. We are very aggressive in representing the underdog.”
He adds that in half of the injury cases they represent, the insurance companies deny that the injuries resulted from the situation in question. The insurers claim the injuries are pre-existing, degenerative or unrelated. In addition, insurance companies try to contact the injured people before they have a lawyer and get them to sign releases, maybe even distort how the accident happened. “If people are not represented, they are frequently taken advantage of,” Gruber says.
Further, evidence sometimes gets destroyed, maliciously or not, or it can just evaporate – literally, in a case like a fall on ice. “We need to get there before it melts or someone puts down salt,” he says. “Witnesses and vehicles disappear all the time. Sometimes witnesses are transient, or don’t want to get involved. It’s important to try to get on a case as soon as possible.”
In a field that is changing rapidly, Gruber and his team work hard to stay on the leading edge. “It used to be ‘He said, she said,’ but now it’s rare that you have a corner without a video camera,” he says. “Banks, convenience stores, hotel lobbies. Now we can actually see the slip and fall, the bad car accident. It helps us.”
GRUBER’S “CHAMPION OF THE UNDERDOG” mentality was instilled at an early age. He grew up in working-class Passaic, New Jersey, the son of a police captain dad and a community volunteer mom who stayed at home to raise David and his two older sisters. “Even though my dad was a blue-collar guy, rough around the edges, we were very close,” Gruber says.
He credits his father for inspiring his own passion for justice. He credits his mother – who was smart but not educated past high school – with “brainwashing” him to become either a lawyer or a doctor. The law won because Gruber doesn’t like blood.
At that time, Passaic High School had five armed, full-time police officers but few math and science classes, Gruber recalls. “It was a good day if somebody didn’t get hurt.”
As a teenager, Gruber always worked: on the docks, as a go-fer at the Newark airport, in local parks. In between jobs, he ran from court to ballfield, playing basketball, baseball, then more basketball. “Sports are my life,” he says. “I used to sleep in my Mets pajamas. And there are all these pictures of me as a kid in baseball caps.”
The 6-foot-3 Gruber played basketball at the University of Delaware, becoming co-captain of the 1979-80 team. Gruber averaged 8 points per game as the Fightin’ Blue Hens limped to a 9-19 record. At Marquette University Law School, he met his future wife, Nancy Rice; both graduated in 1983.
Gruber is quick to praise his wife’s talents. “My wife grew up in Bayside and graduated near the very top of our law school class. I did not,” he readily admits. “She’s articulate, bright and got great grades. I’m a New Jersey street fighter, so personal injury work fits my personality. People used to think we were the ‘Odd Couple.’” They have been married for 35 years.
Their son, Steven Gruber, 32, a litigation attorney at the firm, says his parents’ different skills and styles complement each other. “My mom is very detail-oriented, analytical. Dad takes more of a global, visionary approach,” he says. “Their skill sets balance nicely.” The couple also have a daughter, Lauren (known as Jojo), 30, a physician assistant in pediatric oncology at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Says Gruber’s longtime friend Bruce Pearl, now head coach of the University of Auburn men’s basketball program (and head men’s basketball coach at UW-Milwaukee from 2001 to 2005), “David is very intelligent, but he’s got a little absent-minded professor in him. Nancy is just as intelligent. She finds his keys and his cellphone.”
For two years after law school, Gruber office-shared and handled a variety of cases: divorce, bankruptcy, criminal defense work and personal injury. He found his niche with PI, and in 1985 opened Gruber Law Offices. For several years, he was its only employee.
Nancy, meanwhile, began doing insurance defense work until she became drawn to the plaintiff ’s side of personal injury. “Eventually David convinced me I was wearing the wrong hat,” she says. Nancy has been managing attorney at Gruber Law Offices for over 20 years.
GRUBER FIRST APPEARED on television in 1988, in the early days of lawyer advertising. In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of lawyers to advertise their services, but even in 1988, the practice was controversial. Many attorneys thought it undignified.
He had received a cold call from a TV account rep encouraging him to advertise on her channel, telling him he was better looking than a lot of people on TV. “I was pretty unsophisticated at that time, a newcomer in Milwaukee, didn’t have any money and not one employee,” he recalls. “My wife and I were scratching by. I thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’”
He adopted the “One call, that’s all!” refrain in the late 1990s, purchasing the Wisconsin rights to the slogan from a Dallas media company. Since then, his spending on advertising has grown incrementally (he would not disclose the firm’s budget for it); despite sometimes lean financial times, he has never been off television since.
Another longtime friend of Gruber’s is Craig Karmazin, founder and chief executive officer of Good Karma Brands, a local company that owns and operates radio stations in four states. He has watched Gruber Law Offices change with the times.
“David built his brand through the Yellow Pages, but we now live in a digital, on-demand world,” Karmazin says. “David has a unique ability to adapt, which is why he has thrived as technology and media consumption have changed. He’s always been willing to take the chance and invest back in his business to be wherever his potential client is.”
That adaptability, plus plain, old-fashioned hard work, has led to Gruber’s success. In 30 years, the firm has grown from one employee to 145, 25 of whom are lawyers. The rest are investigators, paralegals, and records and support sta ff.
“I surround myself with brilliant people, and it’s important to this Jersey boy that they are loyal,” Gruber says. He also freely admits to a bias for hiring former athletes. “They’re competitive, disciplined, know how to win, how to lose with dignity and learn by their mistakes,” he says. “They keep on plugging.”
Gruber no longer handles cases individually but consults with sta on significant ones. “We handle very serious cases: deaths, a young boy whose face was chewed up by a dog, a 22-year old who was rear-ended by a drunk driver and is now disabled,” he says. “I interact with all of our lawyers about these cases. I’m also old school, so I like to meet as many clients as I can.” The rest of his 10- to 12-hour days are spent making sure things run smoothly at the firm.
Employees are expected to work hard. “It was a demanding but fun atmosphere to work in, very down-to-earth,” says Terese Reisinger, 31, a Shorewood native who worked as a paralegal at the firm and now does that work in Denver. “The Grubers were in the office every day, walking around, saying, ‘Hi, how was your weekend?’ They were never too important or too busy. It felt like family.”
Contributing to the homey atmosphere at the firm is the décor of the offices themselves, on the bright and airy 27th and 28th floors of the 100 East Wisconsin Building. Sports memorabilia abound: helmets, caps, framed jerseys, balls and bobblehead dolls, many of them autographed. One glass display case contains three football helmets signed by Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. There are photos of Gruber with Bill and Hillary Clinton, with Barack and Michelle Obama, and with numerous sports celebrities, as well as framed articles about Gruber and the firm.
“This deliberately doesn’t look like a law office of old because it’s important to us that it not be stuffy,” Nancy says. “People who come here have been victimized already as the result of an accident. We want them to be comfortable when they come in, and not be nervous.”
OVER THE YEARS, the Gruber Law Offices approach has satisfied tens of thousands of clients, many of whom who are eager to share their stories on television and in social media. Jessica Gross is one of them. Six years ago, she was hit by a car on her way to work, resulting in neck injuries and a torn rotator cuff. The latter required surgery.
She chose Gruber Law Offices to represent her because of the television commercials, and her description of her experience with the firm sounds a lot like another staple of Gruber’s commercials: the testimonial. “It turned out to be the best thing I’ve ever done,” says Gross, a Mequon preschool teacher. “Steve worked very hard on my case, and David would go out of his way to see me when I came in the office.” The settlement in Gross’ case covered her medical bills and lost wages.
Gruber client Ricky Price Sr. also volunteered his testimonial. “I was so impressed with the care that was given to me, I told David I wanted to do a commercial,” says Price, a pastor at Mt. Zion Assembly Temple on Milwaukee’s North Side. He was rear-ended in 2018, causing a pinched nerve that led to a numb right hand. The settlement paid for Price’s medical bills and the repair of his car.
Both Gross and Price felt they were served well by the firm. “They treat you more like family than a statistic,” Gross says. Price says, “I was so inspired by David’s passion and enthusiasm, it prompted me to do more in the community.”
They also enjoyed being on television. “We were at a studio near Mayfair where they do your hair and makeup, and feed you lunch,” Gross says. “I was nervous at first, but all I had to do was answer their questions. It was fun.”
“People are still saying they saw me on TV,” says Price. “I feel like a superstar.”
THE ATTORNEYS AT GRUBER’S firm have garnered numerous awards and professional affiliations, including Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America, Wisconsin Super Lawyers, Top 25 Brain Injury Lawyers and Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
It is heavily involved in the community, with formal partners in the Brewers, Bucks, Badgers and Marquette and UW-Milwaukee sports teams; the MACC Fund; Summerfest; and The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Gruber Law Offices also sponsors tents and tables at a variety of community festivals. The firm doesn’t just send checks, either. Often Gruber and his staff show up in person, such as to hand out Thanksgiving turkeys at churches and community centers.
The firm’s visibility at local charitable and sporting events is obviously good for business, but some of its contributions are behind the scenes. John Cary, recently retired executive director of the MACC Fund, admires this low-key approach. “David often wants it quiet,” Cary says. “He has been very generous in his support of many organizations and events without always taking credit.”
That said, Gruber enjoys being a local celebrity. “My friends laughingly call it ‘Milwaukee famous.’” He says his public persona – big sports fan, pretty nice guy, maybe a little awkward – is a true reflection of who he is. “What you see is what you get,” he says. At a recent Bucks game, for example, he probably let 50 people take selfies, and he shook a few hundred hands. “People are very nice,” he says. “It’s fun.”
Nancy, who has seen her husband interact with the public for years, says, “David is one of the more personable individuals I’ve ever met. He is as comfortable talking to someone who may not know where the next meal is coming from as he is talking to presidents.”
To keep himself in shape, Gruber works out every day: some combination of “boring” cardio – 20 minutes on a recumbent bike, 10 on an elliptical machine – and weight lifting, tennis or yoga. And he plays basketball, although no longer every day. “Working out helps keep me sane,” he says – and keeps him below his college playing weight.
And, at an age when other attorneys might be eyeing retirement, Gruber plans to keep on. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says. “I’m just getting warmed up.”
‘He’s a rainmaker’
Many people distrust attorneys, and personal injury attorneys – sometimes derisively called “ambulance chasers” – are among the least trusted.
“Are all personal injury lawyers bottom feeders?” asks D. Michael Lynn, a retired federal bankruptcy judge in the Northern District of Texas. “Certainly those who go around emergency rooms soliciting cases. So are those who operate ‘mills,’ running people through as fast as they can just to get settlements.”
But, Lynn adds, there are many reputable PI lawyers, those who are “honest with the court, with their clients and with opposing counsel.” He says clients who are better educated are more likely to find a reputable PI lawyer through their personal networks than through advertising. In either case, he advises doing one’s own due diligence.
To research this story, I checked several public websites (Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Office of Lawyer Regulation, State Bar Association of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Attorneys’ Professional Discipline Compendium) to learn whether there had been any public discipline of Gruber Law Offices based on client complaints for ethics violations. I found none.
Martindale-Hubbell – which posts peer-review attorney ratings in the areas of legal knowledge, analytical capability, judgment, communication and legal experience – had nine reviews of David Gruber, posted between May 2012 and November 2014. He received a respectable but not perfect average score of 3.9 out of 5.
In addition, I interviewed four attorneys and a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge to solicit their thoughts about David Gruber’s reputation in the legal community. None agreed to be named in this story.
One hates Gruber’s ads: “They’re so annoying and off-putting, it has to be intentional.” Another was skeptical about the honesty of the testimonials; he also wondered whether Gruber’s firm pressures clients to settle cases without going to trial.
But another interviewee directly refuted those concerns. “Gruber is not like a whiplash mill that will sell out the client to settle a case,” he says. “They do a good job.”
“Gruber is not a lawyer’s lawyer,” another says. “I don’t think someone will go to him for cutting-edge legal theory. But he’s a great businessman and good at sales. He’s a rainmaker.”
As another put it: “He’s an advertising genius. Those t-shirts are walking billboards.”
Sports trivia guy
You don’t want David Gruber as your opponent in a personal injury case. And you probably don’t want him as your opponent in a sports trivia contest either.
“I’ve always been ‘that guy’ people called if they had a question about sports trivia,” Gruber says.
If you ask him to name some baseball players whose last names are spelled the same forward and backward, he immediately pops up with Robb Nen, Truck Hannah, Dave Otto, Toby Harrah, Eddie Kazak and Mark Salas.
The lineup for the 1969 World-Series-winning New York “Miracle” Mets? “Catcher Jerry Grote, first base Ed Kranepool, second base Ken Boswell, left field Cleon Jones, center field Tommie Agee … ”
What about the 1969 world champion New York Knicks? “ Walt Frazier and Dick Barnett in the back court, Dave DeBusschere and Phil Jackson, power forwards, Bill Bradley, shooting guard …”
But Gruber may now have stiff competition in the family. Last summer, his daughter, Lauren, married Stephen Watson, sports reporter for WISN-TV Channel 12.
Gruber isn’t worried. “I’m still really good at sports trivia,” he says.
