Nick Rowley Tells Us How to Make Record-Breaking Verdicts

“Breathe life and humanity into the law so that there can be justice…”

Born in Iowa and raised between Iowa and Arizona, Rowley moved out on his own at age 15, working full time ever since.  He joined the United States Air Force and was able to work for his undergraduate degree at the age of 19.  He started law school at age 20 and continued his service in the Armed Forces as a medic for a total of 6 years. He always had a hard-work and take care of others first mindset and a passion for taking care of, standing up for, and fighting on behalf of those in need.  

No stranger to winning verdicts, Rowley had won over $100 million in verdicts and settlements by the young age of 32.   By age 40, he won over $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements for injury victims and their families.

He is a relentless warrior who has succeeded and proven himself in the battles of litigation time and time again, however, he prides himself on his caring, empathetic approach to working with the injured and their families.  He believes in going the distance for each and every client, is not afraid to put any case in front of a jury, and makes insurance companies pay up when deserving injury victims come forward to seek justice.

“Being a trial lawyer means dedicating oneself to standing up for the rights of people”

Successful lawyers often come with a side order of arrogance or the stereotype of being pompous. But not Nick Rowley. In fact, despite winning an array of awards that recognise his impact in the legal sphere, he remains admirably humble. When named CAALA Trial Lawyer of the Year, he accepted the award quoting: “I have a lot of work to do in my future for injury victims and families and the justice system. I am still at the beginning of my career and have another 30 to 40 years of jury trials ahead of me.

“I will work very hard to do the work and live up to the recognition the greatest trial lawyer organization in the country has graciously given me.”

Being the only lawyer to have been a finalist for this specific award six times, Nick has proven time and time again that it isn’t just hard work and dedication that pays off: passion for fighting for justice is the main ingredient involved.

Nick believes that “Being a trial lawyer means dedicating oneself to standing up for the rights of people”, stating that lawyers should never sell out and always care about the truth and justice. With many of Nick’s clients becoming family, he gives them nothing less than his all, and this means his availability extends further than being available outside office hours, even if it means having his very own pilot (despite knowing how to fly himself).

“Emotions do not win cases in and of themselves, and out of control emotions can lose a case.”

Having an aircraft at hand isn’t for Nick to jet off to the Maldives for a long summer break, however. It actually allows him to jump from state to state, so he can represent and help clients who are close to giving up hope. The airtime allows him to get up to date on a trial case he was called for moments ago enabling him to be more than ready for trial upon landing.

And it is this dedication to being a trial lawyer that has allowed Nick to be one of the youngest lawyers to have won over $1 billion for his clients, but he says: “It’s not just about the money. It’s about changing lives, effectuating change, and the ripple effect that cases I handle have.”

He has made his mark by handing case after case in personal injury, representing victims of serious injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death, all gut-wrenching and emotional cases.

“Handling catastrophic medical malpractice, personal injury, and wrongful death cases is very tough, especially when we deeply care.  I live and breathe my cases, especially when it comes to trial.

“Emotions do not win cases in and of themselves, and out of control emotions can lose a case.”

“It doesn’t take much courage to go in and try a slam dunk a case against an opponent we know we are going to beat.”

Honing in on these emotions is a lesson Nick had to learn. From living alone at the young age of 15 and joining the military by the age of 17, Nick transformed from an angry kid, that found himself in one too many school fights, to a well-disciplined adult, that found his passion in helping others. It was this discipline that allowed him to work two or three jobs at one time, and to eventually work his way to law school, an achievement he once thought was a mere dream.

Fresh out of law school Nick made it known that he would try any case, against anyone and this is how he built his reputation and why he helps newly qualified lawyers to try cases outside their comfort zone. To be the best of the best, you know what it is like to lose and in order to be a great trial lawyer, you must commit to trying the difficult cases, the unpopular ones, and not just pick and choose those you know you will win.

As Nick succinctly puts it: “It doesn’t take much courage to go in and try a slam dunk a case against an opponent we know we are going to beat.  It takes great courage to go in and put everything on the line, including your reputation, as a winning trial lawyer knowing there is a good chance you will lose.  We must be willing to talk about our losses and the lessons learned as much as, even more than, the wins.

“The cases I have lost are part of the foundation upon which I stand when I win other cases.  I know I will win and lose cases going forward if I am going to commit to continuing to be a real trial lawyer for humans who deserve representation.” 

“What I have found to be the most important thing to do in situations like this is being honest about where I am in the moment.”

Those losses are now somewhere in the past, as Nick Rowley is now highly recognised for his record-breaking verdicts.  In 2018, Nick was named to The National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers for having a top 50 verdict in the nation and he was also named “Los Angeles Top Litigators in 2018” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

If such achievements were not enough, aside from spending time with his family of 10 children, he has also dedicated his time to sharing his expertise, to ensure that justice is served outside of his own realm. That is what Trial by Human, his “brutally honest” book and seminars are all about. By training the ‘warriors’ of tomorrow, Nick pinpoints the importance of stepping out of the conference room and into the homes and lives of clients, in order to share a meal, hear their stories, and experience for yourself how they live and breathe. Honesty is vital. Honesty is what got Nick a record-setting $74,525,000 verdict for a victim of medical malpractice; $40,000,000 for two parents whose 33 year old son was negligently killed due to corporate negligence; a $38,600,000 verdict for a young man who fell from a hotel balcony while intoxicated; a $17,000,000 win for a woman who suffered a mild traumatic brain injury caused by a fall from a hotel window; $16,500,000 for a young girl who was a birth injury victim; a $13,860,000 win for a mild traumatic brain injury caused by an automobile crash, $10,250,000 for a man who suffered a below knee amputation; $10,000,000 for an Iowa family in a wrongful death lawsuit; $10,000,000 for a child with a mild traumatic brain injury, and the list goes on…

Get out there and get experience and whether it is good or bad make it part of the foundation upon which you stand to make a difference.”

“What I have found to be the most important thing to do in situations like this is being honest about where I am in the moment. That means being honest with the judge, opposing counsel, oftentimes the insurance company representative (which I have found is always the person behind the scenes controlling the money decisions and is the reason the case is going to trial; the powerful decision-maker who the judge and jury never meet or even get to know about), and most importantly, the jury.”

After being recognised by the Los Angeles Daily Journal for winning a “Top Verdict of 2010″ for his $31.6 million jury verdict for the victim of a traumatic brain injury, we learn that training people how to deal with judges and not let anger get the best of them, is only a factor behind obtaining favourable results. In fact, staying true to your cause is the most important thing. As Nick explains, by humanising law, you can really reach out to serve those in need for justice, even if money is the only justice. “It is our job to breathe life and humanity into the law so that there can be justice.  Get out there and get experience and whether it is good or bad make it part of the foundation upon which you stand to make a difference.”