Years before South Florida personal injury attorney Greg Ward co-founded The Ward Law Group, his life was falling apart around him.

Ward was a young commercial litigator and partner at a Miami firm in 2008, when his sister was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia—an aggressive and fatal form of the disease.

His sister was 34 when she died, during the 15th year of a struggle with drug addiction.

A year later, Ward's father in Baltimore was diagnosed with a different, terminal form of leukemia.

Countless flights and hospital visits ensued as Ward struggled to keep up with work. His relationship with his law partners suffered. Ward's marriage was also unraveling, as his then-wife had gone to Europe with their young daughter to take care of her parents, who both had strokes.

"It was really like everything just compounded at that moment," Ward said.

Events reached a crescendo as Ward and his wife divorced, his father died and life became about just "trying to keep going."

"I basically was completely broke, I was sleeping on a couch because I couldn't afford a bed," Ward said. "I had a little indoor-outdoor table as my dining room table, and my daughter slept upstairs in a bed. I'd got her back from Europe."

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'I had this revelation'

In his small Plantation apartment, Ward looked toward the Bible and self-help books for some guidance. But everything changed, Ward says, when he met his future wife—attorney Jany Martinez-Ward—at an Ervin Gonzalez speech. After a few months of dating, she invited him to church.

It was an emotional visit, Ward said, as he sat among 2,000 people for a service abuzz with music and singing. And he realized something.

"I'm not ashamed of this, but I'm also sensitive that there are people who may read this and say, 'OK, Greg's a nut,' " he said. " I had this revelation."

Ward said one Bible passage really resonated—so much so that he felt bold enough to go up and pray at the front of the church—as it discussed the idea that "if you speak to the mountain, it can be moved." To Ward, it meant that surrendering to his faith could help him climb out of grief and into something constructive.

Over the next several months, Ward wrestled with a question: "Who are you going to spend your life serving? You serve your family of course, but who is it that you want help and take care of?"

Armed with a laptop and an idea, Ward and his wife subletted a small office in Brickell, where they'd focus on helping people who'd been injured or victimized, many of whom were immigrants to the U.S.

"Six years later, we've gone from the two of us on a fold-out table to over 50 employees in Miami Lakes," Ward said.

Now, it's not unusual for churches to invite Ward to share his story.

"I don't get up to preach to people because I'm really good at it. I get up because I am broken in some ways, or I've made mistakes," Ward said. "Your story doesn't end with you on the couch. It doesn't, and that's the message."

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The difference a lawyer can make

His seeds are bearing fruit.

The Ward Law Group landed a $1.25 million verdict in 2017 for a Vespa driver, injured after swerving from an SUV that had cut him off. And on Wednesday, Ward negotiated a $750,000 settlement for the driver of an 18-wheeler truck, after a crash with a small car tipped the truck, injuring the driver's neck and back.

Greg Ward with his wife and law partner Jany Martinez-Ward and their daughters. Courtesy photo. Greg Ward with his wife and law partner Jany Martinez-Ward and their daughters. Courtesy photo.

Serving clients well, in Ward's view, means never forgetting "what real struggle is and how much of a difference a lawyer can make." And his wife, who at 15 walked across the U.S. border carrying her 1-year-old brother, can also relate.

Ward said he prays he'll never experience such adversity again, but acknowledges that—in a weird way—he's glad it sparked a focus in him.

"It really was every little thing. Every tragedy. Every setback. Every personal hurt," Ward said. "All that stuff then comes together to make you as powerful as you can be to help serve other people in the community."

Ward seeks receptionists and paralegals who are empathetic and compassionate, even incorporating personality tests into the hiring process, and encouraging empathetic customer service through role-play training.

Naturally outgoing and chatty, Ward began his career as a door-to-door salesman, selling vinyl replacement windows, and later, copiers and fax machines. He's somewhat of a "chameleon," according to Miami attorney Bernard Egozi, who's seen him master commercial, insurance and personal injury litigation over 15 years—all without letting adversity stop him.

"He's not a 'poor me' type of guy," Egozi said.

Chicago attorney Christopher Moore's friendship with Ward began in 2000, when they collaborated on a Florida case and Ward went out of his way to be both co-counsel and official tour guide.

"I was living at Continental Hotel down there for like two weeks at a time, and he would take us out and show us places," Moore said. "He introduced me to the cortadito drink at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, which, I hate to say it, I still love those things."

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'She was just a normal kid'

Ward is chair of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's 2019 gala, and last year helped raise about $500,000 for the charity — the highest contribution in Florida and third-highest in the country.

But the work does take an inevitable toll, Ward says.

"That was very emotionally draining for me, because I was dealing with my practice and reliving my father and my sister's illness," Ward said. "As I would pitch people for money, I'd have to talk about what they went through."

For Ward, watching his sister get tangled up in addiction—the same sister who'd played piano recitals as a child and won a speech writing contest at high school—demonstrated that "it can happen to anyone."

"She was just a normal kid who went through this awkward teenager phase," Ward said. "She was overweight and she'd just got a little socially rejected, and then she fell into the wrong crowd and went from alcohol to drugs. The sad reality is she was more talented than I was."

As a Baltimore schoolkid, Ward was always the guy who hung out with foreign exchange students to soak up their stories—possibly because he grew up with the kind of dad who'd strike up friendships with random tourists out camping and invite them over for dinner.

So when Ward was offered his first job in Miami, it seemed like a no-brainer.

"When I got off the plane in Miami and didn't hear any English, I thought, 'This is the place for me.' "

Gregory Ward

Born: October 1971, Washington, D.C.

Spouse: Jany Martinez-Ward

Children: Elizabeth, Chloe and Kaylee

Education: University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., 1998, University of Maryland, B.S.,1994

Experience: Managing member, The Ward Law Group, 2012-present; Partner, Ward Kim Vaughan & Lerner, 2010-2012; Partner, WardKim, 2005-2010; Associate, Isicoff Ragatz & Koenigsberg, 2003-2004; Associate, Steel Hector & Davis, 1999-2003.

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