Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacques Alpacino Barker.
Hi Jacques, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Usually, I like to start my story with when I was a young knucklehead in the streets of Atlanta (with the hope that sharing my story may help someone else). I made many poor decisions that ultimately led me to running afoul of the law. However, I believe that getting into trouble as a youth and facing those consequences possibly changed the whole trajectory of my life. It was a wake-up call that I needed to get my act together ASAP. Oddly enough, it inspired me to eventually enroll in college, where I discovered that higher education was not as difficult as I thought. As a result, I started feeling like I could conquer anything that I put my mind to, and all of my earlier experiences gave me the courage to attend law school and to start my law firm. Thus, here I am today… still striving to be a better person today than I was yesterday.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was definitely not a smooth road. There have been plenty of ups and downs and struggles along the way. For example, I incorporated my business with very little startup money. Therefore, the thought of failure definitely persisted in the back of my mind as it was initially a struggle to obtain clients. At first, clients didn’t come knocking at the office door. We had to find innovative ways to hustle, network, and market the firm—which was not an easy task when startup funds were limited and marketing is also not your strong suit. I also had a health scare at some point after starting the firm (which was basically another wake-up call for me to do better health-wise). However, I believe that staying focused and determined while keeping faith in God—typically gets you over any obstacle or roadblock. So even though I’ve faced challenges, I view them all as temporary inconveniences and nothing that will actually stop me from forging ahead.
What are you known for?
My firm is committed to zealous legal representation for our clients, which primarily concerns matters of personal injury litigation (car accidents, workers’ compensation, slip and falls, etc.) and criminal defense. We are known for truly fighting tooth and nail for our clients as if they each were personal family members. We are also known for relating to our clients’ issues on the injury and criminal defense side as we have similar backgrounds and experiences as most of our clients.
What sets you apart from others?
We are unique because we provide clients with both a small and large firm feel at the same time. As our motto states, we strive to be the gold standard in advocacy and counsel. This means that we truly strive for our clients to refer to us as the best in the industry once their matter is resolved. This goal can only be accomplished by providing zealous advocacy and personalized attention to each case-no matter how big or small. Similar firms talk about being large in scale, but they are simply legal paper mills or factories that attempt to turnover as many cases for a profit as possible without any fight or genuine concern for their clients.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
The most important advice that I can give is to believe in God and yourself and to aggressively continue your efforts to achieve your goals. I believe that everything else will fall into place.
Anything you wish you knew when you were starting out?
Law school trains one how to think objectively and outside of the box. However, it does not typically demonstrate the day-to-day skills of lawyering. I believe that this type of learning comes from hands-on experience, networking, and establishing relationships with others that already know the game or what to do when certain issues arise. If I had to do it over, I would participate in a vast variety of school internships, legal organizations, etc. to build my network base as opposed to waiting to build it once I became a practitioner.
Contact Info:
- Email: jacques.barker@blgatl.com
- Website: blgatl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blgatl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blgatl/
Image Credits
Photographer for headshots – Josh Chavez of Joshua Chavez Photography
