CALIFORNIA’S MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT LAWYER

I was born and raised on California’s Central Coast, in a place where people still wave to each other on back roads and neighbors show up when things go sideways. That small-town mindset is still how I practice law — with loyalty, honesty, and a deep respect for the people I represent.

I help riders who’ve been seriously injured, and families who’ve lost someone they love, because I’ve lived it. I’ve felt that gut-punch moment when everything changes. I’ve sat next to someone’s widow trying to figure out what comes next. And I’ve never forgotten what it feels like to lose someone to the road.

Before I ever stepped into a courtroom, I was a rider. I grew up with chain grease under my fingernails, busted knuckles, and long days on Highway 1. I’ve romped through the almond orchards of the Central Valley, the redwoods of the North Coast, and the desert highways outside Joshua Tree. I loved the freedom of it — and I still do.

My original retirement plan was simple: refurbish my old Triumph T100 and set off with a sailboat and no schedule. But life had other plans. I married a woman who gets seasick and is terrified of motorcycles. I made her a promise: I’d give up the bike. And I did.

But the real turning point came when one of my closest friends — a mentor and a rider — was killed in a motorcycle crash. I was helping his widow wind down his law practice, thinking about starting a family of my own. And it hit me hard: if something happened to me, I couldn’t put my wife or daughter through that.

So I stopped riding. But I never stopped showing up for riders.

Today, I’ve built my law practice around one purpose: standing up for motorcyclists and the people who love them. From the Central Coast to the Valley, from the Sierra foothills to the Mojave, from the North Coast to the city streets of LA and San Francisco — I fight for riders. I know the risks you take every time you throw a leg over your bike. And I know how cold and unfair the system can be when something goes wrong.

In law school, I met a driven, straight-talking Wisconsin guy named Clay Griessmeyer. We were both from small towns. We both rode. And we both believed law should help people — not protect insurance companies. We've been close ever since, and we’ve teamed up on some of the toughest cases out there. We’ve recovered millions for our clients, gone to trial when others would have settled, and never backed down from a fight that mattered.

There are plenty of California lawyers who handle motorcycle cases. But this isn’t just a practice area for me. This is personal. I don’t dabble. I’ve built my firm around it.

At McCarthy Motorcycle Law, you won’t get passed off to an assistant or some junior attorney fresh out of law school. You get me. I’ll listen to your story, give it to you straight, and if I can help — I’ll fight like hell for you. If I can’t, I’ll still make sure you’re not left stranded.

Case evaluations are always free, always confidential, and they come straight to me.

If you’ve been hit, or if someone you loved never made it home, you deserve a lawyer who actually understands what that means. I’m here.

— John