“Jury trials are the great equalizer,” said Tool, a University of Minnesota law graduate who practices in state and federal courts in both Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“Once you’re standing in the courtroom, it’s not up to them,” Tool said of powerful defendants in personal injury cases. “It’s up to the 12 people in the jury box.”

Personal injury cases often involve a power imbalance between an injured party whose life may have been radically altered and a defendant who wants to minimize what occurred and to pay as little as possible. “I think we achieve for our clients – and I achieve in particular for my clients – great results in the face of odds that may at first blush appear to be strongly against us,” said Laule, who in 2017 was named Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Wisconsin Association for Justice as well as being chosen 2023 Lawyer of the Year, Personal Injury Litigations – Eau Claire from Best Lawyers.

While both attorneys are licensed to practice in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, they spend most of their time advocating for clients on the Wisconsin side of the state line. Like all other partners at Bye, Goff & Rohde, Tool and Laule have been certified as trial specialists by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Only 3 percent of attorneys have such board certification.

“Jury trials are the great equalizer.”

Laule said his interest in becoming an attorney was sparked by watching the TV series L.A. Law as a child as well as the fact that several family members are social workers. He was attracted to the legal field, he said, but in a way that would allow him to help individuals. Likewise, Laule was drawn to Bye, Goff & Rohde because of the firm’s commitment to its clients.

“I really pride myself on getting to know my clients throughout their case,” he said. “I know the ways in which a traumatic injury has really derailed their lives and the ways in which they can be – and the law best account for – putting them back to where they would have been and as best you can getting their life back on track.”

Clients can count on Bye, Goff & Rohde’s willingness to take cases to trial, rather than simply seek out-of-court settlements. If a defendant knows that a plaintiff has retained an attorney who isn’t willing to go to court, they will make a business decision and not pay a fair amount on those cases, Laule said. “In our view, it is only attorneys who try cases that get the best results for their individual clients,” he said.

Tool agreed that a commitment to fighting for fairness and a track record of success are key to Bye, Goff & Rohde.

“The biggest motivator in our field, at least to me, is seeing unfairness to the average person, especially if you can see that what’s happening to this average person is happening to other average people in the same situation,” Tool said. For example, he’s seen circumstances – such as patterns of neglect in nursing homes – in which the powers that be would rather ignore or minimize problems than rectify them.

“There’s nothing I’d rather do than make the guys sitting on the money piles and in the ivory towers actually be reasonable and be real with the people who are being harmed,” Tool said.

“We can’t hide from the fact our system operates in dollars,” he added. “But that’s not really what it’s all about. It’s about helping people get back on their feet, get justice, get treated fairly by the insurance companies, and take worries off their minds.”

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