Many attorneys in the legal field are incredibly adept and talented at their jobs. As a young attorney, injury and accident attorney Russell Nicolet spent his time trying to soak up as much information and influence as he could from the attorneys he interacted with. He sought to learn from exceptional attorneys and had the pleasure of meeting many of them, even when they opposed him in court.
Russell was inspired to make a genuine difference in his community and decided to take on the legal field. As the first person in his family to go to law school and become a lawyer, he wasn’t sure what to expect and didn’t necessarily know how to do it. But through perseverance, diligence, and establishing a rigorous work ethic, he triumphed in law school and has become one of the country’s most heavily marketed and successful lawyers. Russell says that a huge part of what sets him apart from his peers is his unique ability to work with people who need help in difficult situations and follow through to help them.
Russell’s Legal Roots
As a young man, after applying to two law schools (Milwaukee’s Marquette University and St. Paul’s William Mitchell College of Law), Russell was accepted to both and decided to attend the latter. “Law school is much more daunting than college,” he says, recalling warnings from other students and alumni about the profession. “And you’re competing with a lot of really hard-working, intelligent people. That was a wake-up call; I thought about dropping out.”
There were many challenges in law school, and there have been many challenges since. Still, Russell’s approach to overcoming such obstacles has remained the same: continuously working to become more knowledgeable. Whether that meant honing his skills with early mentors in the legal field or simply spending a lot of time as a young attorney doing research at the Washington County Law Library, he never stopped learning. In Russell’s own words, “I think becoming obsessed with getting clients’ problems solved and wanting to get better was what really made a difference for me.”
Expanding his Horizons
Upon succeeding locally, Russell realized he needed to expand his learning beyond Wisconsin and Minnesota. As a result, he began learning and training with some of the best injury law attorneys in the world by going to other states. He recalls listening to these attorneys speak, watching them work, and training alongside them to expand his catalog of experience. Russell has traveled everywhere from Florida to Georgia to New York to California and beyond, all in the name of accruing more experience and insight from some of the best trial lawyers in the business. He firmly believes that the most successful people in any industry remain students throughout their careers, consistently striving to learn more and keep open minds when finding the best methodology. He embodies this mantra in his work.
Russell has received numerous awards, including the Top 40 under 40 Trial Lawyers, the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association, and further recognition as a SuperLawyer by SuperLawyers Magazine. While such acclaim is beneficial to directing more clients toward his law firm, Russell clarifies that his “most notable highlights have been results for the great people I have had the honor to represent. I have settled and taken cases to verdict, including some of the largest amounts awarded in those counties.”
Final Notes
What began as a law school graduate starting his one-man law firm has since grown into a multi-state office employing dozens of people in the legal field. Moving forward, Russell sees himself continuing to represent injured people in the Midwest and holding insurance companies and large corporations accountable for those injuries. He hopes to see Nicolet Law grow and continue to serve more people while holding insurance companies and large corporations accountable. His goal is to advocate for hardworking people who have had the misfortune of experiencing life-altering injuries through no fault of their own.
Image credit: Photos provided by Russell Nicolet.
