Bulgarian Ognyan Gavrilov became Lawyer of the Year in California, and the award was presented at a prestigious ceremony in Sacramento, BNT reported.
The lawyer's office is known for legal battles worth millions of dollars, and among its clients are not only banking institutions but also politicians.
Bulgarian Ognyan Gavrilov was honored as Lawyer of the Year, competing with 14 thousand of his colleagues practicing in the Sacramento area.
"I am the youngest person ever to win it at the age of 45", explained lawyer Ognyan Gavrilov.
It took the Bulgarian almost two decades to climb to the top.
"In the beginning, it was very difficult. I became a lawyer at the wrong time in 2008, when there was no economy. At first, I took on any cases," said Gavrilov.
Ognyan Gavrilov takes on the toughest cases - those before juries, filled with a lot of stress and work behind a desk. In them, the lawyer has to face 12 people he doesn't know and, most importantly, make them believe him. Before the case actually begins, the lawyers have one hour to talk to the jury.
"This one hour is very critical, because they feel you as a person - whether you are lying, whether you seem honest to them. I started winning them over, which surprised me. But it turned out that the accent helps because the jury does not expect to hear a lawyer with an accent and secondly, they pay more attention when I speak and when the other person speaks they sleep", the lawyer said.
In 2021, Ognyan Gavrilov made a breakthrough on the big stage with a case against one of the largest financial companies in the United States.
"The jury gave us $39 million from zero bid. At the time, it was the largest defamation case in American history for a person who is not a movie star, for a normal person", explained Ognyan Gavrilov.
Another emblematic case is the one against California Governor Gavin Newsom, who during the Covid pandemic closed all restaurants and hair salons.
"It attacks industries where people are weak - the restaurant industry is very weak, it has no political power. The same goes for hair salons. I did this without anyone paying me and I got a lot of publicity because I accused him of being a kind of dictator. He surrendered very quickly, in about a week," the lawyer said.
However, legal services are too expensive for the average American, and cases under one or two million dollars are not attractive to most law firms. The fees reach 45 percent of the amount won.
"BNT: Can the average American afford a lawyer?
No, absolutely not. It has to be a case for a percentage. The average salary here is 70 thousand dollars per year. My hourly rate is 1,200 dollars. A case takes hundreds of hours.
BNT: The whole world is waiting for Trump. Does a change of presidents have an impact on the judicial system?
It has an impact in a very specific way. Whoever is president immediately starts filling holes in the federal courts with his people or people who sympathize with him. Republicans, who are the more conservative party, start pushing the results down in court cases, Democrats want to give money to everyone. Their judges are more generous.
BNT What is the American dream today and have you managed to achieve it?
I don't think the American dream has changed from the very beginning, which is for a person to come to this country and achieve heights they never dreamed of. Yes, I can say that I have achieved it. One has to keep fighting, because it's scary, many people's hands are shaking. They can't take the stress of the great risk," said lawyer Gavrilov.
Outside the courtroom, Ognyan Gavrilov is engaged in community activities. It supports Bulgarian law students with scholarships in the USA, sponsors Bulgarian events, and participates in the initiative to erect a monument to the Bulgarian alphabet in Los Angeles.
Source: bntnews.bg