“We’re part of
the pack.”
In a firm where initiative is expected – and allowed – associates step forward to take on key roles, knowing they’ve been well-prepared to succeed.
Sometimes in a tough situation, you look around to see who’s going to step up and realize it has to be you. That’s how it was for third-year associate Nick Steverson, mid-trial in a challenging admitted liability professional negligence case.
Nick and partner Joe Farchione, along with their local counsel, were in a jury trial after the plaintiff’s lawyers, encouraged by an analytics tool they used that predicted a large punitive damages award, refused to resolve the case on reasonable terms. Heading into the fourth day of trial, plaintiffs’ counsel told the jury they were seeking $40 million in punitive damages and improperly introduced evidence of prior verdicts against our client. Our client made a motion for mistrial, and Nick argued it for 40 minutes later the same day.
“We lost that motion,” said Nick, “and I knew we would begin the defense case the next day. That night, I was drafting an outline for a directed verdict motion for Joe to argue and I thought, ‘This is silly. Joe has so much on his plate. I know this case, I know all the cases I’m citing in this outline, and I just argued our mistrial motion on the fly. I should just do this argument, too.’”
The next morning, Nick suggested he handle the argument. Joe responded, “Go for it!” and explained to the client why that was the right call. After Nick argued the motion, the judge dismissed the plaintiff’s punitive damages claim, dramatically limiting our client’s exposure. The jury ended up awarding the plaintiff approximately one-fourth the amount their counsel had been demanding in a settlement.
“Through experience, we’ve become very good at assessing case value,” said Joe afterwards. “We didn’t believe the jury would give the plaintiff anywhere near what they were demanding. And Nick helped prove our client right.”
Taking a Witness
For third-year associate Rebekah Nickel, she, too, had the courage to raise her hand when she was surrounded by tall trees. Rebekah was part of a team that won at trial and on appeal in a nine-figure contract dispute between two top telecom companies. WTO’s trial team included three of the firm’s partners and three associates. The opponents were represented by a powerhouse New York firm with a predictably massive, and frequently rotating, team of lawyers.
“The associates on our team had played a key role in reviewing massive document productions, and preparing for each deposition in the case, which allowed us to see the whole case,” said Rebekah. “The other firm was rotating associates in and out, three or four at a time, and they were just doing a series of discrete tasks in individual silos. I handled the identification and presentation of our trial exhibits, which gave me small opportunities to connect with the jury early in the trial.”
At the end of the first week of trial, the WTO team talked through the trial’s progress. “I was thinking about how well I knew the case and had connected with the jury. I mentioned it would be great to be able to take a witness. [Fellow associate] Miranda Worthington jumped in and backed me up, saying that she thought I was ready. And the partners said, ‘Okay.’”
When her day arrived the second week of trial, she looked across the courtroom and realized the lawyer opposing her was the co-head of his firm’s litigation department and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. “He was also about a foot taller than me,” said Rebekah. “But he had been brought in just for the trial whereas I had been immersed in the case for the past year. At one point, he raised an objection and the judge held a sidebar—my first ever – and the judge overruled his objection.”
“I was very impressed with her performance. She stood her ground,” said partner Hugh Gottschalk.
WTO’s client won on all counts. The firm later argued and won the post-trial appeal, too. “Handling that witness didn’t determine the trial’s outcome,” said Rebekah, “but it did show me how great the associate experience is here. It’s a function of the training and culture we have. We learn so much, so quickly. And we’re not expected to wait for a partner to throw a task over to us. We’re part of the pack.”
We Just Say Yes
Fourth-year associate Danielle Trujillo needed a little more prodding than Nick and Rebekah. “I tend to be a little more cautious and overthink things,” she said, “so it is good for me to be at a firm where the partners push you out of the nest when they know you’re ready.”
Danielle’s opportunity to fly came in one of the first cases she was staffed on as a new associate, fresh off her judicial clerkship. She was part of a three-lawyer team in an eight-figure contract dispute that eventually went to a bench trial. “I was really lucky to be paired with [partners] Joel Neckers and Melissa Romero. They had been given opportunities very early in their careers here, and they’re committed to doing the same for the generations behind them.”
Danielle had a significant role from the beginning. She drafted the initial complaint, led discovery, and prepared the first drafts of nearly every deposition outline and motion. At trial, she conducted her first direct examination in court. She attributes those opportunities to Joel’s and Melissa’s mentorship and trust.
“In the lead-up to trial, Joel would say something like, ‘You wrote this motion. You should argue it.’ And even though I was nervous, I would do it, knowing he wouldn’t ask me if he thought I couldn’t handle it. We’re just given more opportunities to say ‘yes’ here.”
