When Randy Fry founded his personal injury law firm 11 years ago, he did so with rented materials, a tiny office, and not enough money to hire anybody. Two weeks later, when he could finally hire somebody for a few hours a week, he brought on Gulliana Goehring, a paralegal from Peru. Together, the two grew the firm into one of the largest personal injury law firms in Atlanta based in forming relationships and connecting with the community.
More than a decade later, Goehring is now an attorney and partner at the firm. The partnership, which was announced in December 2022, broadens the now Fry / Goehring Law Firm’s ability to servethe community.
“With this partnership, we’re able to meet with so many more people, represent so many more people, help so many more people,” Fry told Georgia Voice. “The fact that she’s a partner certainly is a testament to our credibility in Atlanta and specifically in the Hispanic community.”
When Fry built the firm, it was his dedication to the LGBTQ community that helped the firm to grow into what it is today.
“Before we started the firm 11 years ago, I was a personal trainer at the several gay gyms at the time,” he said. “As a personal trainer, I got to know a lot of people in the gay community. As I became a lawyer and opened the firm, we had a base of huge support in the gay community. That’s how this all evolved. There are different ways to grow a business … we decided to support the community instead of the TV stations [through TV ads].”
Along with participating in Atlanta Pride, Fry / Goehring supports the LGBTQ community through work with nonprofits like Positive Impact and Lost-n-Found Youth. Both Fry and Goehring are members of the Stonewall Bar Association, an association of legal professionals who support the LGBTQ community and oppose anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and Fry has mentored young legal professionals through the association. They also help supply scholarships with the Point Foundation, which financially supports LGBTQ students.
“Some of the nonprofits don’t only get donations, we actually show up,” Goehring said. “When we show up, we really show up to try to make a difference.”
Several members of the Fry / Goehring team — their “Eagles” as they call them — are also part of the LGBTQ community, including Fry himself.
“[A]ll our team members come from different backgrounds; some of them are part of the LGBTQ community, like Randy,” Goehring said. “Some are Hispanic. We have a mix of ethnicities and languages [spoken].”
“It’s very important for our community to see other members of the community, like me, that are big cheerleaders and doing well,” Fry said. “We have several people in the community that are on our team. We truly are the rainbow of all kinds of people. That perception of a gay-owned, and now -partnered, and successful law firm is really helpful for a lot of people, especially younger people.”
Instead of sinking money into marketing through TV or billboard ads, Fry / Goehring puts its money — and time — back into community, attributing its success to word-of-mouth referrals and recognition through presence in the community. More so than just a marketing strategy, it’s a dedication to doing what Fry / Goehring believes is right.
“[Fry] really wants to take the money that could go into marketing and instead puts it back into the community,” Goehring said. “If it works, great. If it doesn’t, at least we’re doing something good. We’re empowering the community and doing a little part in what is important. The clients know us that way.”
With their new partnership and maintained commitment to the people of Atlanta, this is only the beginning for Fry / Goehring.
“When I opened the firm up, I had a rented desk, a rented phone, a rented chair. I couldn’t afford to hire anybody, and in two weeks I could hire somebody for a few hours a week,” Fry said. “That was the start of what has developed. We grew together. We started from that one small office into what we’ve created now, no doubt one of the larger personal injury firms in the city that is relationship-based and most connected to the gay community.”
To learn more about the Fry / Goehring Law Firm, visit thefrylawfirm.com.