Founder/Owner Real Talk: Kamelia Jalilvand
Photo Credit: Kamelia Jalilvand
In the vast sea of personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles, Kamelia Jalilvand stands out as a pillar of reliability in her community and a dedicated lawyer who will stop at nothing to help those who have experienced life-altering personal injuries. She started her own firm in 2008, and since then has a proven track record of winning cases and providing security and care to her clients through a personalized approach and prioritizing her client’s well being both inside and outside of the courtroom.
Many lawyers choose their life path some time between high school and the early years of college. Unlike the majority, Jalilvand’s decision to become a lawyer has its roots in a historic Los Angeles case – the Rodney King trial.
“I was inspired by my 5th grade teacher. He had a doctorate degree [in law] but still decided to teach the 5th grade. We had followed the entire Rodney King trial and at the end of the semester we held a mock trial.”
She recalls playing the role of a witness and that role brought her a sense of justice that completely washed over her and instilled a desire to fight for people’s rights and to stand up for those who were underprivileged and needed a voice.
Before making the choice to focus on personal injury law, Jalilvand tried a little bit of everything to see what fit her best. She still carried the desire to fight for people and their rights, but she was unsure which corner of law that desire would fit into. During the beginning stages of her journey, her mentor had dealt with a handful of personal injury cases and employed her to assist him with those trials. Through those trials, she was exposed to the ins and outs of personal injury law and was able to help her clients seek compensation for their injuries – which became a huge milestone that would eventually lead up to Jalilvand’s choice to start up her own law firm.
Photo Credit: Kamelia Jalilvand
Jalilvand’s compassion for people traces back to her mother and sister’s involvement in their community. Her family and their last name have been a mainstay in the Iranian community for years and they’re known to help those within the community in navigating the process of government benefits. That goodwill that her family acquired over the years has helped Jalilvand in creating a rapport with people who would soon become her clients. Her bilingual abilities in English and Farsi give her a leg up in being able to connect with her clients and advocate for them to the fullest extent possible. She wholeheartedly believes that being able to pay it forward to the very community that raised her has helped build her up and that in turn has empowered her to give back. To this day, after 16 years of having her own firm, the majority of her clients have come from referrals.
The saturation of personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles is not lost on Jalilvand. She knows that she’s up against a lot of different lawyers but her unshakeable confidence in her ability to meet her clients on a personal level is what has brought her success after all these years. Jalilvand has had her share of struggles as someone who is running a women-led firm, but she takes it all in stride and continues to serve her community with empathy, understanding, and compassion.
