In July 2019, Benjamin “Ben” Tobin stepped into the role of Managing Partner at Pratt & Tobin, P.C., following the passing of his father, Gregory Tobin, a renowned attorney in the field of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). Before his father’s passing, Ben had been involved in FELA cases mostly in a supporting role, handling discovery depositions prior to trial and cross examining a couple fact witnesses during trial. Despite the challenging time before and after his father’s passing, he rose to the occasion and soon after taking the helm as Managing Partner, he secured a win for a client at trial in a major FELA trial. He has since steered the firm on an upward trajectory that is staggering. The number of cases the firm now handles has almost doubled, and the amount of money the firm is recovering for its clients has increased manyfold.
If someone had told Ben in 2019, “Hey, Ben, your firm is going to be bringing in X amount of money to the firm’s clients in 2026,” he probably would have responded, “I hope so, but I don’t know if that is possible.” Today, he can confidently say, “We are doing exactly that.”
“A great human” is the legacy Ben hopes to leave behind. He also wants to be remembered as someone who was passionate about the people he loves, his work, and those he supports in his office. And, for him, there is no better feeling than handing a client their settlement check after signing them up during one of the worst and scariest times of their lives. “Knowing you helped them through that is one of the most rewarding feelings you can have as a personal injury attorney,” Ben says.
Career Path: From ‘Laborer’ to Managing Partner
The law firm, though not in its current form as Pratt & Tobin, P.C., was opened more than 50 years ago by Ben’s grandfather, Paul Pratt. He began the practice as a personal injury lawyer. “My grandfather pioneered the designated legal counsel program for several of the major rail labor unions, which allowed him to assist injured railroaders,” Ben says. When Paul passed away in 1993, Ben’s father took over the firm. Now, Ben serves as the firm’s Managing Partner, alongside his brother, Zach, who is also a partner. “Our firm is a family practice,” he says. So, Ben, 44, has been around law, law firms, and lawyers his entire life.
He was very young when he first became curious about the family business. Along with learning what the firm did, he was also eager to make a little money so that he could buy baseball cards or candy. “I started working for the law firm as a laborer,” he recalls with a smile. In 1993, when he was just eleven, he began helping both outside and inside the firm. He remembers maintaining the law firm’s grounds, getting office supplies, and taking lawyers and investigators to and from different locations upon getting his license to drive. “Since 1993, I have essentially seen it all, from minor injuries to major injuries to even death,” Ben says. “That has put things into perspective for me and made me cherish what is important.”
From 2006 to 2009, when he was in law school, he served as a law clerk. During those years, he shadowed attorneys, handled legal work, attended union meetings, and began developing business relationships. In 2009, he became an attorney and worked for the firm as an associate attorney prior to taking the helm of the firm.
From 2009 through his father’s passing, the firm had just three lawyers: Ben’s father, Ben himself, and an another part-time attorney. Ben was primarily tasked with generating more business. For that, he had to get out into the community, meet people, get his name out, develop referral sources, and make union contacts. His father often said that if he wanted to help the firm, he needed to drum up business the best he could.
“That was the big thing my father instilled in me,” Ben says. “You can be the smartest guy in the world, but if you’re not getting clients then you’re not going to bring in any money. And if we are not bringing in money, we can’t make payroll or pay the power bill. So, if you want to help, find ways to generate business.” That is something he has continued to do as Managing Partner.
Remarkable Growth Trajectory
“Ever since I took over the law firm in July of 2019,” Ben says, “the firm has been growing like no one would have expected it, even Zach and I.”
The firm’s former in-house accountant, who retired in 2024, had served both Ben’s grandfather and father, and he continued in that role during Ben’s first five years as Managing Partner. So, he knew everything about the firm’s past financial performance. According to Ben, he noted he could not think of a time when the firm was bringing in so many clients and generating so much money for the firm’s clients. The fees generated under his tenure have more than quadrupled.
When Ben started running the law firm in 2018 due to his father’s illness, they had about 350 open personal injury cases. They now have 650 open personal injury cases. Ben points out that they sign up around 250 new cases each year, which was not the case before 2019. “Since I started running the firm, with Zach’s help, the number of clients has gone up about 85%,” he adds.
Additionally, he has invested money in the building. He has completely redone the landscaping, updated the kitchen, replaced the roof, and installed new lighting, ceiling tiles, flooring throughout the firm’s 10,000-square-foot building. He has also built an additional 2,000-square-foot building to store closed files and other materials not used daily. In addition, he has purchased new office furniture for his employees as well as the firm’s lobby. “Bottom line, Zach and I have done a lot of updating and putting back into the firm so our clients and others feel they are in a nice place,” Ben says. “Hopefully, when prospective clients come into the office for the first time, they feel they’re in the right place and comfortable with Pratt & Tobin handling their case.”
Challenge: Carrying Forward His Grandfather’s and Father’s Legacy
When his father was leading the firm, Ben was always sitting second chair learning and assisting him with his big personal injury and FELA trials. “We were kind of a tag team, but my father was certainly the lead trial counsel,” he says. And, on his own, Ben usually handled trials for the firm’s other cases.
In 2019, after his father’s passing, Ben felt the weight of expectations. He had to face questions such as, “Can Ben Tobin be the next great trial attorney at the firm?” Ben recalls that the first year without his father was difficult. It consisted of countless nights spent at the office. He says that through those long hours, he learned what works and what doesn’t when it comes to running a firm and practicing law.
He soon had to represent a BNSF Railway employee, who had suffered sprained ankle after jumping off a railcar, as lead trial counsel in his first major FELA trial.
“It was a huge deal as the rail labor unions did not know whether I was going to be a good trial lawyer like my grandfather and father were,” Ben says. “It was also a tough case from a liability, causation, and damages standpoint.” He went to Polk County, Des Moines, Iowa, and got a $1.3 million verdict for his client that suffered the ankle sprain.
“That verdict, just eight months after my father passed, reassured me that I could be the guy who could do it,” Ben says. “It reassured the rail labor unions we represent that I could carry on my grandfather’s and father’s legacy.” It also proved to them that he had the tenacity and skill set to be able to take the railroads and big businesses to trial and be successful. Ben believes that the trial served as a launching pad for his career.
Under Zach and his leadership, the firm has expanded from serving as designated legal counsel for two rail labor unions to five of the twelve nationwide. They are in the process of adding more to that list as well. According to Ben, his FELA and Jones Act verdicts have strengthened his reputation and reassured injured railroad workers across the country that he can be the attorney his grandfather and father were known and respected for being.
Influential Figure in FELA
In a short period of time, Ben has established himself as an influential figure in the highly specialized and competitive field of the FELA. He points out that these cases are very complex and involve many moving parts. And, in the U.S., there are likely only about thirty law firms that handle such cases. In such a specialized and demanding field, Ben’s success is nothing short of spectacular.
After securing his first major verdict, Ben was invited to join the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys (ARLA), an organization composed of around 130 attorneys. At the time, he was one of its youngest members. Since joining ARLA, he has secured multi-million-dollar jury verdicts for injured railroad workers.
Because of his accomplishments, ARLA sought Ben out again. This time to serve on its Board of Managers. He is the youngest person ever to sit on the board and help guide the organization.
“I’m very much going to be leading the development of the Federal Employers Liability Act well into the future due to the number of FELA cases I litigate and my young age,” he says as he winks. “Most attorneys in my field and certainly those that are running FELA firms are much older than me, in their 60s, 70s, or even 80s. My accomplishments thus far in my career are consistent with most of my older colleagues, and godwilling, I still have several more decades of practicing to go!”
Ben sees himself as a leader in the practice of plaintiff’s personal injury law and in representing injured railroad workers, hopefully for decades to come.
Success is Happy, Satisfied Clients
Ben’s clients often come to his firm distressed and in pain. Their injuries have disrupted their normal lives. And as many are unable to work due to their injuries, they worry about how they will make ends meet or pay their medical bills. “There is a lot of reassurance needed,” Ben says, “and we offer all the support we can.”
He points out that his firm specializes in plaintiff’s personal injury work. They assist injured people with getting their medical bills paid, recovering compensation for lost wages, and obtaining damages for pain and suffering. According to Ben, his past experiences, settlements, and jury verdicts help reassure clients that he can guide them through the most difficult chapter of their lives. In the majority of cases, he and his team reach a favorable settlements for their clients. Part the reason for the aforementioned is due to insurance companies and railroads knowing Ben is willing to go the distance, letting a jury decide what his client gets at trial.
For Ben, nothing is more rewarding than meeting with a client after their injury and seeing them “eternally grateful” for what he and his team have done for them. Success, he underscores, is the number of happy and satisfied clients Pratt & Tobin, P.C. has.
Responsibilities of the Managing Partner
As Managing Partner, Ben manages around twenty-five employees at Pratt & Tobin, P.C., including six other attorneys. The firm currently handles around 650 personal injury cases. Ben points out that more than 100 of these cases are FELA cases, and he himself serves as lead attorney on about 100 of those FELA files. “Although I’m supported by my secretaries and paralegal, it is a lot of work,” he says.
In addition to FELA work, Ben also handles the firm’s more complex and high-value personal injury cases. “I’m thankful for my staff, Terri, Marla, and Anna,” he says. “They help me stay on track with deadlines, court appearances, union meetings, and presentations.”
On average, Ben signs up one new client per working day while also working on more than 180 open personal injury cases that he serves as lead attorney on. In addition to that, Zach and Ben oversee the firm’s internal operations, ensuring that the other attorneys are moving their cases along. “That is how we create more happy clients,” he says.
Additionally, Ben helps his attorneys with their work and is always available to answer their questions. He assigns various tasks to his secretaries and paralegals to keep cases moving forward efficiently. And, according to Ben, he is on the road at least once a week for depositions, court appearances, motion hearings, client meetings, union meetings, and meetings with referral sources or union leaders. He regularly attends the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys board meetings as well.
Ben works about 80 hours a week. “It is a lot of hard work,” he says. “I’m doing everything in my power to keep the firm headed in the right direction, and I cherish that responsibility.”
He usually arrives at the firm before 8 a.m. and leaves around 6 p.m. to spend time with his wife, Courtney, and their son, Benjamin, before his bedtime. After dinner, he resumes his work until 9 or 10 p.m., preparing for the next day.
Future Plans and Goals
In seven years under Ben’s leadership, the firm has about doubled the number of clients it serves. He wants to see the firm continue to grow. “Growth means we are doing good and satisfactory work for our clients,” Ben says. He expects that in the next five to ten years, the number of attorneys at the firm will increase to nine, and the firm will be handling close to 900 cases.
“My goal is to continue building the practice that my grandfather and father started,” Ben says. “I want the firm to serve even more clients and continue serving the community we live in, as well as the greater St. Louis area, when it comes to personal injury cases. It is also my goal to become designated counsel for additional rail labor unions, because that would mean we’re doing great work for our FELA clients.”
Personally, he hopes to see their family grow with more children. He looks forward to raising his children with love and being present. Ben says that his father was a “great father” who never missed a game, and he hopes to be like him.
Advice for Aspiring Attorneys
Ben advises aspiring attorneys to lead by example, put in the work, and try their best. Whether it was in sports or academics, his father instilled in him that the only thing he can do is try his best. “I have carried that with me into the practice of law,” Ben says.
He points out that railroads invariably hire the best firms in the U.S. to go up against him. “I can guarantee you they will not outwork or outflank me in a railroad FELA case,” he says. And it is because he always tries to give his best for his clients.
So, his advice to anyone aspiring to join the field is: “Try hard! That is also all you can control…your effort.”
