Biker lawyer takes a road less traveled

Bob “The Bulldog” Karney is a biker. He has graced the cover of biker magazines, he spends his free time “in the wind,” touring the highways from North Carolina to Yellowstone National Park to northern California. Weather permitting, he coasts in to work on his Harley Davidson and parks it just inside the door of his office. He also happens to be a lawyer who has spent nearly 40 years representing injured motorcycle riders from across North Carolina.

Karney sat down with Lawyers Weekly reporter Heath Hamacher to talk about what it’s like to be the “Carolina’s Biker Lawyer.” Their conversation appears below, lightly edited for length and clarity.

LW: So, motorcycle cases are your specialty?

BK: Almost all of my cases are motorcycle accidents. About eight years ago I started a real niche practice in representing bikers. I was in the process of a complicated motorcycle case that several lawyers said couldn’t be won for a number of reasons. I ended up settling [it] on the eve of the trial for the million dollars of coverage and thought at that point in time, ‘This is how I’m going to end my career, representing bikers who get injured through no fault of their own.’ I do occasionally handle catastrophic injury cases that are not motorcycle oriented but 90 percent of my practice is representing bikers.

LW: What kind of bike do you ride?

BK: I ride an ’08 Heritage Softail that’s sitting in the lobby; I just rode it in this morning. Then I have a 2013 Road Glide. I’m actually on my fourth motorcycle. I had an ’06 Custom and sold that about three years ago.

LW: How did you get started riding?

BK: I had my first bike in 1970 back when I was in college and then when I decided to do this, to end my career representing bikers, my wife said ‘You know, if you’re going to do this you can’t be a poser; you’re going to need a motorcycle.’ And I thought, God you’ve got to love a wife like that. To my knowledge, I’m the only lawyer out there riding. In fact, the other lawyers look at me and say, ‘I cannot believe you ride a motorcycle.’ And I do, I ride thousands of miles a year.

LW: How did you start representing bikers?

BK: I actually made it a point over the years to represent bikers.
I always ended up representing the more seriously injured, and time and time again, that ended up being motorcyclists. And about eight or nine years ago now, a divorce lawyer came to me with a very complicated motorcycle case and he asked me to help him with it and give him some pointers. I asked him, ‘Well how are you getting these cases?’ and he said, ‘Well, I’ve got a friend from college who advertises for motorcycle cases.’ After helping him, I called a friend of mine up, he was in advertising, and said, ‘Go buy all the motorcycle magazines and flip them open to lawyers ads and throw them out on your conference room table and call me.’ He called me back and said, ‘We’ve got them all, but this is going to be a real quick meeting. There are only two lawyers we can find who advertise and they’re in California.’ At that point I thought, ‘I’m going to advertise in North Carolina and this is how I’m going to end my career.’ It has been the most gratifying I’ve ever done in 30-plus years of practicing.

LW: Tell me about bikers.

BK: They are wonderful people. They are a tight-knit, close community. I’ve learned so many things from them and about them over the years. Many are veterans. They do unbelievable charity work … and that is pretty typical of what you find when you go into the biker community. When I really got involved in this I had no idea the profundity and the extent to which charity plays such a huge part in the motorcycle community.

LW: How do you give back?

BK: Originally we got involved with MDA and Harley Davidson years ago, and four years ago we came up with the Bulldog Hero Awards in which we honor bikers that make a difference in their community. We realize they virtually encompass every charitable organization you can imagine, so rather than try to start a new ride or new charity, we thought we’d just honor the bikers for their efforts. Every summer I give a really nice trophy and $1,000 to the Bulldog Hero of the Year. And then we give five other bikers $500 toward their charities of choice. It’s really a fun weekend and we get so much more out of it than we spend on the award.

LW: Tell me about your nickname.

BK: “The Bulldog” started many years ago when a client of mine said ‘You’re like a bulldog; you grab onto a case and you don’t let go until you’re ready.’ It’s also the logo of our law firm, a bulldog in the center with motorcycle pipes out each side.

LW: What types of injuries do you most commonly see?

BK: It runs the gamut. Unfortunately, many of them are very severe. I tell the biker if it’s not severe, they really don’t need me. Oftentimes I’ll tell them how to handle it, what to do and ‘call me back if you got a question.’ I deal with a lot of shoulder injuries, shoulder cuff injuries are really prevalent … a lot of severely broken legs, fractured hips and worse.

LW: Is there a downside or a unique challenge to your job?

BK: After 30-plus years I’ve seen pretty much every injury you can imagine. That doesn’t bother me. One of the most difficult aspects is the prejudice that people have against motorcyclists. It is so misplaced. When you break it down, people start to see that just like them, motorcyclists go to work, they go to church, they serve in the military — they do a number of charitable things. They’re coaching their child’s T-ball team, their Little League team. All the ordinary things we do in life. Then they realize this is just a life choice the individual made. It’s a passion he or she has and the perception is incorrect. Reality in many ways does not meet perception in the biker community. They’re just solid Americans.

LW: You have the bike, the leathers, etc. Any plans for some ink?

BK: I wanted to get a bulldog tattoo and my wife raised Cain with me. I was going to put one on my shoulder and she said she might go along with that. We’ve discussed it over the years. But no; no tattoos. But I might do it if I get a wild hair one day. I’ve represented a lot of good tattoo artists.

Follow Heath Hamacher on Twitter @NCLWHamacher