Joe Neal Jr.'s vehicle license plate probably says it best: WARRIOR.

The Augusta attorney followed his father into the legal profession, and he said he has never looked back.

After several years with the district attorney's office, Mr. Neal ventured into private practice in 1996. He now handles only civil cases and limits his number of clients.

"I want to do the Lord's work. I have a small caseload, but I have very good clients who got hurt through no fault of their own," he said.

He says he believes his work as a plaintiff's attorney is a continuation of the work he did as a prosecutor: defending victims and giving them a voice.

He refuses to accept criticism of his profession, one that allows for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

"If you don't believe in the right to trial," he said, "you don't believe in democracy."

A civil plaintiff's attorney works on a contingency fee basis. If he cannot work out a settlement in his client's favor or win at trial, he doesn't get paid. This way someone who doesn't have the money to hire an attorney can still find representation, he said.

"It opens the courthouse doors to them and provides legal counsel equal to that of corporations and government," he said.

"I sleep good at night."

He said one of his favorite cases was representing Pernanza Hill, who was riding his bicycle to work one morning in 2006 when a tractor-trailer, trying to pass a vehicle on a state road in Edgefield, S.C., ran over him.

The next year, Mr. Neal and his father took Mr. Hill's case to court and won a $3 million verdict.

What's fulfilling about civil litigation is the ability to learn about so many different things, Mr. Neal said. In Mr. Hill's case, it was about trucks. In a current case, he is learning about fire codes and regulations.

"You have to master the evidence," Mr. Neal said.

He also studies the law and learns from other lawyers, such as Gerry Spence, whom he calls a master of the courtroom.

A trial lawyer also has a professional responsibility. Recently, Mr. Neal ended a client's medical malpractice lawsuit. They had filed suit based on a baby's autopsy report, but when the pathologist changed his ruling two years later -- and another physician looked over the results, too -- Mr. Neal dropped the suit because there was no negligence, he said.

Sometimes it takes a lawsuit to change dangerous situations, Mr. Neal said. He pointed to shoddy road repair of a section of Interstate 20 in South Carolina that led to several deaths. Roads are supposed to crown in the center so water runs off, he explained, but this section was repaved without a crown and every time it rained, the water would pool up. Drivers would hit the pools and hydroplane.

Mr. Neal represented the family of a woman who was killed on the road in 2004. After his lawsuit and others were filed, the interstate was repaired properly, he said.

To keep the stress under control, Mr. Neal took up yoga and then took the classes to become a certified yoga teacher.

"It's the best stress reliever there is. It keeps me grounded and keeps me in shape," he said.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.