My father and I, and everyone at Sweetser Law Office, are excited to announce the founding of the Sweetser Law Closing Argument Competition, in coordination with Gonzaga Law School. Sweetser Law's endowed gift will establish an annual skills-based oral advocacy competition for Gonzaga Law students that focuses on monetary damages in the civil justice system. Each year three participants are awarded...
You are citizens. Called together to render judgment. On a conflict which you are not involved in. For people whom you do not know. You have been taken away. From your businesses. From your families. Your lives have been disrupted. For a conflict which you are not involved in. And this case may only involve an injured hip. That might sound like the least glamorous...
No one dreams of needing a trial lawyer. No one wakes up thinking an injury will change life forever, just like we do not expect to bury a child, because of someone else’s neglect. Odds are, if we meet, I am very sorry we had to. I wish we never had to meet. Most all of my battles representing injured families...
The first time I stood in front of a jury, in a large superior courtroom in Spokane County, I was a younger lawyer with more energy than eloquence, more ambition than experience. I'll never forget the feeling as if my legs might give out and collapse as easily as the accordion files in my briefcase. My mouth...
Justice isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Every day, we wake up to a world that feels a little more chaotic, a little more divided, and sometimes, a little more unjust. The headlines bombard us with stories of pain and suffering, of silenced voices, and trampled rights. As a civil rights lawyer, I confront these harsh realities head-on. I know the...
One day, an old man was walking along a beach where thousands of starfish had been washed ashore by a storm. Off in the distance, he noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often, and as he drew closer, the old man could see that the boy was carefully picking up starfish and...
