Keith Fuicelli knows what it means to have your life change in an instant. After being struck by a car while jogging in 2007 and suffering a traumatic brain injury, he experienced firsthand the fear, uncertainty and long road that can follow a serious accident. Today, that experience shapes not only the way he practices law, but the way he shows up for the people who find themselves suddenly standing where he once did.
Before you were the attorney helping people through life-changing injuries, you were the person lying in a hospital bed facing one yourself. Can you take us back to 2007, and what you remember about the accident and the months that followed?
Well funny thing is I was a personal injury attorney when I was run over while jogging out near City Park. What stands out to me is the uncertainty of knowing what my future would look like. Would I be able to practice law? Jog again? Honestly, I think that perspective helps me tremendously in dealing with clients now.
You’ve talked about how vulnerable and frightening it is to suddenly lose the life you knew. What did that experience teach you about being on the other side of the table, the person who needs help rather than the person providing it?
Being on the other side of a personal injury case helped me understand how frightening it is when our world is turned upside down. How we take the small things for granted and how the big things, like being able to provide for our families, are so fragile. And it helped me realize how valuable little moments are in our lives…a walk in the park, a glass of wine on a patio, laughter from our kids…those sorts of things.
Was there a moment during your recovery when you realized the accident was going to change not just your life, but the kind of attorney you wanted to be?
Well, I was a PI attorney when I was hit. What the accident did was humble me tremendously. And that has made me a much, much better trial attorney and truly helped me connect with jurors when a case is forced to go to trial.
You work with people who are often meeting you during one of the worst chapters of their lives. Having lived through that kind of uncertainty yourself, what do you think injured people need from an attorney that has nothing to do with the actual law?
People need hope. Being hurt through no fault of your own is so frustrating and creates such a feeling of helplessness. People need to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel…even though the tunnel may be long.
Personal injury law can sometimes get reduced to billboards, settlements and dollar amounts. What do you wish people better understood about the very human side of the work you do?
Behind every large “award” is a life that will never be the same. Almost without exception every person who receives a significant award would trade it back in a second to have the life they had before. Nothing is truer than health = wealth. Without our health, nothing else really matters.
You’ve remained deeply connected to brain-injury advocacy, including serving with the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado. Why was it important to you to stay involved in that community even after your own recovery?
I feel so fortunate when it comes to my brain injury recovery, something I feel like I owe to Craig Hospital. So, it feels natural for me to help every chance I get to give back to the brain injury community. Plus, from a trial standpoint, because brain injuries are often “invisible injuries” prevailing at trial can be very challenging. It feels so good to overcome insurance company nonsense and prevail on these types of cases.
You’ve built an incredibly successful career, but you’re also a dad, a Denver neighbor and someone who came very close to losing all of it. Did that experience change the way you think about ambition, family or what actually constitutes a good life?
A near-death experience is one of the most profound things that can happen to a person. I know that sounds strange, but it really is a gift, the gift of perspective. It strips away the noise. Suddenly the deadlines and the case load matter less, and the people around the dinner table matter more. Ambition doesn’t disappear, but it gets reordered; success stops being the point and becomes the byproduct of a life that’s actually worth living. That’s what I try to carry with me every day now, both as a dad and as someone lucky enough to still be practicing the work I love.
You’ve built a team around you at Fuicelli & Lee. What were you looking for in the people you brought into the firm, and what do you think your team brings to a client’s experience that you couldn’t provide on your own?
Having the right team around you makes all the difference. When I think about who we bring into the firm, I’m looking for true self-starters, people who show up already driven, because that drive has to come from somewhere real. Someone once told me “you can’t teach hungry,” and I’ve found that to be true. I can teach someone the law. I can teach them our process, our standards, how we build a case. What I can’t teach is the fire to do the hard work required to get a client a just result, that has to come from inside them.
Your own experience gave you a very personal understanding of what it feels like to need someone in your corner. How has that shaped the culture you’ve tried to build within your firm, and what do you hope clients feel when they walk through the door?
What that team brings to a client’s experience is something I genuinely couldn’t provide alone: depth. A client dealing with a serious injury needs more than one attorney’s attention; they need a team that’s thinking about their case from every angle, that’s available when they call, that’s tracking every detail while I’m in trial or in a deposition. My team lets me be fully present for clients in a way that would be impossible if I were trying to do it all myself. That’s not a nice-to-have, because for someone going through the worst moment of their life, it’s the whole difference. I feel like empathy is the greatest thing I took from my experience. What I hope people see and feel when they reach out to us is a true sense of caring. I hope people see and feel the commitment we all have to doing whatever we can to make things better.
We always like to end Meet Your Neighbor by getting outside the résumé. When you’re not Keith Fuicelli the trial attorney, where are we most likely to find you, and what still makes Denver feel like home?
When I’m not sitting at my desk working cases, you may find me jogging around Wash Park and chasing little white golf balls around the course. I also love live music and try to see as much as I can, usually with one of my kids or wife. And I love a nice glass of wine on a patio.
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Keith. If you would like to learn more about Keith, his practice and his team, visit coloradoinjurylaw.click.