Chancy Croft, Attorney
I drove the Alaska Highway in my 1955 Mercury, which a friend nick-named “the Mercury Space Capsule” from Odessa, Texas to Alaska in 1962. I have never looked back. In 1963 I married a brilliant and beautiful Texas lady and we took one of the initial runs of the Alaska Ferry system from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to Alaska. She is a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Now we have 3 grown children and 7 grand children. I earned my law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1961 and have been licensed in Alaska since 1964. I was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1978. That year there were more people running for Governor than salmon in Ship Creek. The voters seemed to say that quite a few people were qualified to be Governor but what was in short supply was a really good attorney representing injured workers. When no one else volunteered, in early 1979 I started helping people with work related injuries. I haven’t stopped.
Over the years I have argued before the Alaska Supreme Court more than 60 times, have appeared before the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board 100’s of times, testified before the legislature a dozen or so times about workers compensation legislation and have been to the Chicken Capital of the World - Gainesville, Georgia - once to depose 2 doctors in a workers compensation case. I wrote an article about vocational rehabilitation that appeared in the Duke University Law Review and have conducted every session of the Alaska Bar Association’s continuing legal education program on workers compensation for the last 15 years. My staff and I understand the complexities of the Alaska workers’ compensation system. We strive to treat every client with the respect he/she deserves. Jami Gartner has been with the Crofts Law Office since 2001, Patty Jones began in 1990 and Brenda Lynn Marlow started while she was still in high school in 1977. Together they bring over 50 years of legal experience to helping injured workers. And not one of them looks a day over 25.
Eric Croft, Attorney
I am proud to be joining my father in representing and protecting injured workers.
Before joining the firm, I worked as an Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor, in private attorney, and as a law clerk in both the US District and Alaska Supreme Courts.
I founded Alaska Bar Review to prepare students to take the Alaska Bar Exam and have been a lecturer in Alaska law for over 15 years.
I was born in Alaska in 1964, specifically in the sovereign republic of Spenard, and served from 1996 to 2006 in the Alaska House of Representatives attempting to discern and meet the needs of that idiosyncratic area of Anchorage in the Legislature.
My hobbies include hunting, reading history, and cursing at the oil intake system for my twin Yamaha engines. My lovely wife Joanna is a brilliant architect. My daughter Shannon has memorized every word of the Twilight series and my son Burke has the high score in Wii Winter Olympics Luge.
Patty Jones, Legal Assistant
I am a 3rd generation Alaskan, my grandmother having arrived in 1945. My grandmother and aunt homesteaded in the 50’s and my parents, brother and I homesteaded in Wasilla in the ‘70’s. I graduated from Wasilla High School (and no I don’t know Sarah Palin and she does not mention me in her book. However one of our clients has actually talked to Sarah Palin).
I began working for the Crofts Law Office on August 6, 1990. In my 20 years with the Croft Law Office I have talked to thousands of people, reviewed over 2000 intakes and assisted Chancy with over 1000 clients.
Legally I am particularly proud of the cases we won in the Supreme Court like where we were able to obtain death benefits for a widow and 2 young children 8 years after the employee drowned into a pond at work. But the cases I will always remember are Jerry and Randy and their new wheelchair accessible vans, a two level cervical disc replacement for Robert, PTD benefits for Michael and Evie who had head injuries, and a compensation rate adjustment for Jean, a man from Africa who can’t read or write English. These are the people who give me the greatest pride in helping.
I enjoy working here and am proud of the work that this office does for injured workers. I work hard and try to treat each person I talk to with respect and dignity.
Jami Gartner, Legal Assistant
I have worked together with Chancy helping injured workers since 2001. I enjoy the challenge of my job and take pride in helping to get benefits, particularly medical treatment, that the insurance companies often deny injured workers. I grew up in Anchorage and love spending time outdoors in the summer with my husband and two children. One of our clients appeared in a movie directed by Sean Penn. Because of my hard work on his case the client gave me a copy of the book the movie was based on. The client had gone to the trouble to have it autographed by Sean Penn.
Brenda Marlow, Bookkeeper
I came to Alaska when I was three months old. I began working for Chancy when I was 17 years old and have been here for over 30 years. I started as a receptionist and eventually worked as a secretary, paralegal, office manager and now bookkeeper. I have enjoyed every job. But nothing gives me as much satisfaction as knowing that I have made some injured worker’s life at least a little easier.
I have worked part time since the kids were little so that I could stay active in their school. Now the last of our four is in high school so my days in high school are coming to an end. But with two grandchildren now, and more to come, I can start over in kindergarten soon.
During the summer months, our family loves to load up the motor home on the weekends and head out of Anchorage for some fun and memorable family time. And every winter for a week, you can find us thawing out on a beach someplace warm.
