“Dad would have been proud.”
The sentiment shared by Hector Rojas’ (J.D. ’17) clients in November 2023 after he successfully secured an almost $19 million verdict in their father’s wrongful death lawsuit could have also applied to the Morgan & Morgan law firm partner’s own father.
“I decided to pursue personal injury law because I knew it was a career where I could help people, and wanting to help people comes from the way I was raised,” said Rojas. “My dad always taught me to be respectful and kind, and if I can’t help someone financially, I can always lend a hand.”
Rojas and his mother and father immigrated to the metro Atlanta area from Venezuela when he was two years old. They soon settled in Smyrna, Ga where Rojas’ father, who passed away in 2019, was a barber and his mother a tax preparer. After graduating from Campbell High School in Smyrna, Rojas attended Kennesaw State University and studied political science with the goal of pursuing a law degree.
Hector Rojas (J.D. ’17)
He started his legal studies at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, intending to transfer after a year. A professor at John Marshall told Rojas that going to Georgia State University College of Law should be a ‘no-brainer’ if he was admitted.
“First of all, I knew I wanted to practice law in Georgia, and everyone I was getting advice from told me that in terms of reputation and connections within the state, the College of Law at Georgia State was just as good as the University of Georgia or Emory University,” said Rojas. “When you factor in the value – you can’t beat the value – and the impressive bar exam passage rates, choosing Georgia State for law school really was a no-brainer. I enrolled as soon as I got accepted.”
Rojas cites two experiences during his studies at Georgia State Law as transformative in preparing him for a career in personal injury law. He credits the opportunity of working with the college’s now defunct, Investor Advocacy Clinic for providing invaluable hands-on experience that built professional skills that he now uses daily. Rojas also looks back at the mandatory Lawyering Advocacy class as the proving ground that helped test and forge his career ambitions.
“The Lawyering Advocacy class was a game-changer for me,” said Rojas. “Despite my desire to help people, I had a fear of speaking in public, so I thought I might want to practice a more transactional law.”
“But the experience I got in the advocacy class – getting up and speaking in front of my peers regularly over three or four months – made me more comfortable and certain that I wanted to go into litigation.”
After joining Morgan & Morgan in February 2019, Rojas quickly demonstrated his skill and value to the firm and was elevated to the role of equity partner by the end of his second year.
Arlissa Williams Jennings (J.D. ‘21) met Rojas when she worked as a paralegal at Morgan and Morgan.
“Hector practices law with keen intellect and heart. The time, effort, and dedication to his clients will ensure many more positive outcomes for so many deserving clients,” said Williams, who now works as a litigation attorney at The Tolson Firm LLC.
Rojas’ biggest professional success to date came in a 2023 case representing the children of a 76-year-old man – the primary caregiver to two great-grandchildren – who was killed by injuries sustained when his car was hit by a service vehicle. The nearly $19 million verdict was fulfilling for both personal and professional reasons.
“My father passed away from an injury that wasn’t brought on by his actions, so this case was always going to be personal for me,” said Rojas. “I built a good relationship with my clients and could tell they were close with their father, reminding me of my relationship with my dad.”
“Seeing the verdict of this size come out of a case like this – seeing the jury say, ‘this man’s life mattered’ – brought me great pride.”
As he continues his professional mission to help others, Rojas credits his education at Georgia State’s College of Law with giving him the foundations for success.
“You don’t see many attorneys in their sixth year get a verdict like this; not many get one like it in their whole career,” said Rojas. “The instruction, exposure and opportunity I got at Georgia State brought out what I always knew I had in me.”
-Written by Matt Nixon