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as some employment and discrimination cases.
“It is interesting that there are no legislative caps or judicial reviews
on what lawyers hired and paid by insurance companies and corpora- tions get paid,” he says. “Let’s make attorneys’ fees reviewable so that all parties to a trial get fair access to counsel and the justice system.
“Big corporations, insurance companies and the government have unlimited war chests so there’s a big, big unfairness in what victims have available to litigate a case as opposed to their opponents,” Rowley adds. “We’ve got to bring balance in order for there to be justice.”
Keeping Trying
Rowley’s heavy workload doesn’t stop there.
“My other goal is to help motivate more lawyers to try more cases,” he says. “Settle less, try more. Stop selling out cheap. Develop the skill set and nd the courage to stand in front of a jury and try more cases.”
He says there are other lawyers, even law students, capable of being even more e ective trial lawyers than him or anyone out there try- ing cases. ey just need to extend themselves and do the work to get comfortable doing jury trials. is, he explains, is what Trial by Human is about. It’s not only a book he wrote and published about six years ago, it’s also an organization that puts on seminars throughout the year to help other lawyers develop better trial skills.
ese seminars have been held around the country and are now scheduled as far out as 2021 in Australia and Fiji. But recently he found a permanent home for them at the 80-acre Chimney Rock campground—which he visited as a child—about 10 miles south of the Minnesota border along the upper Iowa River. Renamed Camp Justice, it comes complete with a lodge and canoes, wildlife, crystal- clear waters loaded with trout, and the spectacular scenery of the river running along limestone blu s.
“It’s one of the most beautiful stretches of river you’ve ever seen,” says Rowley. “You’d have no idea Iowa has places like this if you only stay on the interstates and highways.”
A graduate of other trial lawyer training programs himself, Rowley says Trial by Human at Camp Justice will be di erent. “You’ll learn trial skills in a lodge, get your continuing education credits, and leave there as a better person and a much better trial lawyer.
“One, it’s family-friendly. It’s not centered around alcohol and a weekend in Vegas or far away from one’s family for a long period of time,” he says. “We also make it about health, wellness and spirituality.
“Two, you’re getting actual on-your-feet experience working on trial techniques with lawyers who actually practice what they preach and have the track record that shows these techniques work in courtrooms with juries,” says Rowley. “ ere are some lawyer-training programs that are out there that are great, and there are some that are misleading because you’ve got these lawyers saying, ‘this is how you win a case,’ but they don’t have any track record to back it up and prove that their methods and teachings work.
“ ree, we train people how to deal with judges in a way that’s re- spectful,” he says, “and how to follow the rules.”
Rowley admits he struggled with courtroom decorum in the begin- ning of his career. He didn’t know how to deal with a judge making the “wrong” ruling and would get upset and angry. His education on how to conduct himself came from the trial-and-error School of Hard Knocks. But along the way, “some really wonderful judges” demon-
“(Courtney is) amazing. She’s had a tremendous in uence over me.”
In Nick and Courtney Rowley’s recent book Running with the Bulls—How to Win Top-Dollar Settlements, the pair walk through proven methods for negotiating just settlements for clients. The book is available through Trial Guides.
“It is interesting that there are no legislative caps or judicial reviews on what lawyers hired and paid by insurance companies and corporations get paid.”
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