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...
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...
In America, we say that liberty and justice are for all. We inscribe it on marble. We teach it in classrooms. We pledge it with our hand over our heart. But that promise is not tested when things are going well. The real test of whether we mean it comes when someone has lost everything money can’t buy. When the life...
It has been a long 2020 we have been through with the coronavirus. Lost loved ones. Business closures. School shutdowns. Kid's sports cancelled. Graduation and wedding celebrations postponed. No one has been unaffected. It’s been a difficult and exhausting year for everyone. It has long been said that times of crisis bring us closer together. But everywhere you...
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...
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...
This is a story about our client—a story I wish never had to be told. Last fall, Paul Weber's life changed forever when he was hit while working on the side of the road just north of Spokane. First responders saved his life, but the injuries were catastrophic. Both of Paul's legs had to be amputated. Today, Paul is fighting his...
Those who represent ordinary people understand that faith is important to our concept of justice. Many of our modern civil justice principles emanated from narratives told in a religious or philosophical context thousands of years ago. An old Latin proverb, Justitiae soror fides, teaches that "Faith is the sister of Justice." The Pali Canon, sacred scriptures to Theravada Buddhists,...
