A personal injury case rarely begins at a convenient time. For most people, it starts with an accident, a serious injury, or the sudden loss of someone close to them. Along with the physical and emotional strain, there can be medical expenses, time away from work, insurance issues, and difficult decisions about what comes next. In the middle of all that, the legal process can feel like one more thing to deal with.
This is where a good lawyer can make a real difference. The work is not only about knowing the law or building an argument. It is also about listening to someone who is going through a difficult period, explaining what can be done, and making sure they do not feel as though they are handling everything alone.
Steven K. Jensen, Partner at Parker + McConkie, has spent his career working with people in these circumstances. The firm has represented thousands of individuals and families in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including matters involving traumatic brain injuries, medical negligence, trucking and auto accidents, product liability, civil rights, and governmental wrongful death. Across those cases, Jensen has come to see the human side of the work as just as important as the legal one.
“People usually come to us at a time when their lives feel completely out of their control,” he says.
That understanding shapes the way Jensen and his team work with clients. They try to make the process easier to understand, stay available when questions come up, and take some of the pressure off people who already have enough to deal with. For Jensen, it comes down to a simple idea: the person should never get lost behind the case.
The Principles Behind the Practice
Parker + McConkie’s guiding principles, “Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly,” are central to how Jensen approaches his work. For him, justice means standing up for clients even when the other side has greater resources. Mercy means remembering the person behind the case, while humility keeps the focus on the client rather than the lawyer.
That approach is especially important in serious injury cases. An injury can affect far more than someone’s health, changing their work, relationships, independence, and daily life. Jensen’s team takes time to understand those changes by speaking with families, reviewing records, and looking at the long-term impact. Often, it is the simple things, like a parent no longer being able to play with their children, that show what a family has truly lost.
Ready When the Stakes Are High
Personal injury cases can place individuals against companies, insurance providers, or government entities with considerable resources. Jensen does not see that as a reason to step back. He sees it as a reason to prepare.
The firm studies the evidence, works with experts, and spends time getting to know the facts of a case. Its lawyers also prepare with the possibility of going before a jury, rather than assuming that every matter will be resolved before trial.
That preparation can make a difference when dealing with experienced opposing counsel. When the other side knows that a legal team has done the work and is willing to take a case to trial, it can change the way the case is viewed.
Jensen is also interested in what a case can reveal beyond the immediate dispute. His work has included civil rights matters and cases involving broader questions of accountability. Sometimes, while investigating what happened to one client, the firm finds evidence of a dangerous practice, defective product, institutional failure, or other problem that could affect additional people.
The individual client remains the first responsibility. But when a larger issue comes to light, pursuing accountability can potentially help prevent similar harm in the future. For Jensen, that is one of the rewarding parts of the work. Helping one family can sometimes lead to changes that benefit others.
Keeping the Firm Personal
Parker + McConkie has grown across multiple offices, but Jensen wants that growth to happen without losing the personal side of the practice.
Each client has an attorney and legal team responsible for knowing the case and keeping them informed. The firm has also invested in people and systems that allow attorneys to spend more time working on cases and communicating with clients rather than getting caught up in administrative work.
For Jensen, though, personal attention cannot simply be turned into a process. Clients know when their lawyer understands their situation. They notice whether calls are returned and whether someone takes the time to explain what is happening. Those things may seem small, but they can make a big difference to someone already dealing with a difficult situation.
Jensen wants clients to feel that their legal team knows them as people, not just as names attached to case files. That becomes especially important as a firm grows. Bigger does not have to mean more distant, and maintaining that connection is something Jensen sees as part of the firm’s responsibility.
A Career Built Around Advocacy
Jensen’s decision to pursue law came from an interest in advocacy and problem-solving, along with the opportunity to make a tangible difference in someone’s life.
Personal injury law gave him a direct way to put those interests into practice. People often come to the firm after something has changed their lives, and they need someone who can take on the legal side while they deal with everything else happening around them.
Over time, Jensen has found that the cases he finds most rewarding are not necessarily the largest. They are often the ones where the work helped change the direction of someone’s life or helped a family through a particularly difficult period.
As a partner, he wants to keep building Parker + McConkie around that kind of work. The results matter, but so does the way clients are treated along the way. The work will also continue to change.
Autonomous vehicles, medical technology, new consumer products, and artificial intelligence are creating questions that lawyers will have to address as these technologies become part of everyday life. When something goes wrong, determining who is responsible may not always be straightforward.
Jensen believes personal injury lawyers will have an important role in making sure new technology does not come at the expense of safety and accountability. The cases may look different in the future, but the basic responsibility will remain.
People will still need someone willing to listen, understand what happened, and stand up for them when they are facing a powerful company, institution, or government entity.
That is what continues to matter to Jensen. Behind every legal file is a person whose life has been affected and a family trying to figure out what comes next. His approach is to understand that person first, prepare the case carefully, and stay committed to them throughout the process.
“Every case is about more than the injury. It is about how that injury has changed someone’s life.”
