Jun 11, 2019
Trial Lawyer Nick Rowley recently wrote an article for The Advocate Magazine titled “How to think about, discuss, and present money damages in voir dire and opening statement”. The article dives deep into Nick’s strategies into asking for specific damages and how to convince the judge that it’s not preconditioning.
This strategy has helped Nick win countless jury verdicts totaling over $1.5 billion over his career.
To read the full article, click here to download the PDF version.
Oct 29, 2018
Trial Lawyer Nick Rowley, partner at Carpenter, Zuckerman, & Rowley and founder of Trial Lawyers for Justice, has been named the 2018 Trial Lawyer of the Year.
The CAALA Trial Lawyer of the Year Award is one of the most significant honors bestowed upon a civil trial lawyer and highlights those who have shown exceptional trial skills and achieved unmatched victories on behalf of injury victims and families. It is also an award that recognizes a lawyer’s contribution to the profession and long-time dedication to the jury trial method of achieving civil justice. Very few top trial lawyers ever get this recognition and most have worked their entire career to have a body of work and victories that make them even eligible to be finalists.
This was the 6th time that Rowley, age 41, was one of the five finalists for the award. No one of his age has been a finalist this many times. He will be one of the youngest trial lawyers in history to be presented with the award and certainly is the youngest trial lawyer in history to have the success he has had in the courtroom. He was awarded the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in San Diego County in 2012 and was the youngest recipient of that award in history.
When asked what his plans for the future are, Nick Rowley responded by saying, “Getting this recognition is very humbling, 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.”
Nick Rowley’s continual track record of success in the courtroom combined with winning over $200 million in jury verdicts in a twelve month period in 2017-2018, is only part of why he won the award. In addition, Rowley has given back immensely to the legal community through Trial by Human, a continuing education program for fellow trial lawyers, through hosting a variety of continuing legal education programs & seminars to help preserve and further develop the jury trial method of achieving justice for victims and families, and by being available to answer questions for lawyers he doesn’t even know so they can best try cases for their clients. He has authored numerous articles and books and has put out videos on advanced trial techniques to help other lawyers do better in the courtroom and succeed. Nick gets as excited about the success of others as he does his own.
“I am beyond grateful and humbled to win this prestigious award,” said Rowley. “The quality of the nominees and history of excellence that every past Trial Lawyer of the Year Award winner has demonstrated is truly humbling. I have an immense passion for fighting for injury victims and their families and making insurance companies do what is right.”
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 succeed 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.
CAALA will be hosting an award celebration on January 12, 2019 beginning at 5:00 PM at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.caala.org.
Oct 8, 2018
Nick Rowley, partner and lead trial lawyer at Carpenter, Zuckerman & Rowley and founder and trial lawyer at Trial Lawyers for Justice, was named to the National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers of 2018 for having a top 50 verdict in the country.
The award was a result of Rowley winning a $131,000,375.00 jury verdict for client Melissa Blaylock, a 39-year-old mother of four, was a passenger in her own car and had a .20 blood alcohol level. The driver, her estranged husband, had a blood alcohol level of .24. After driving only two miles after leaving a restaurant, they were involved in a horrific accident on their way home. This was Mr. Greene’s third incident while driving under the influence. It was his second DUI after consuming alcohol at the restaurant.
The lawsuit was brought against Blaylock’s husband and the restaurant which allegedly served him over 20-ounces of vodka over a 3-hour period. Following the accident, Melissa suffered a spine fracture, which resulted in her being rendered a quadriplegic. Ms. Blaylock cannot move her body but feels chronic pain and is trapped in a prison of her own body.
The verdict was the 21st largest verdict in the United States as tracked by The National Law Journal.
For more information or to view the full list of verdicts, click here.
Aug 13, 2018
Nick Rowley, founder of Trial Lawyers for Justice and partner at Carpenter, Zuckerman, & Rowley, was recently named to the Los Angeles Business Journal Top Litigators of 2018.
The piece highlights top litigation attorneys in all practice areas. To view click here.
Jun 14, 2018
Carrie DeJongh , a 40 year old wife and mother from Sioux County Iowa, had four beautiful children (ages 4, 9, 14, and 17) and a loving husband who she didn’t come home to for supper on June 9, 2015, because she was negligently killed in a hospital as a result of clear cut malpractice. She had gone to Sioux Center Community Health for a routine CT scan, which showed she had mild constipation.
On June 13, 2018, just over three years after her wrongful death, a jury issued a unanimous record setting verdict of $29,500,000.00 against both Sioux Center Community Health Center and Dr. Roy T. Slice. It is believed to be the first medical malpractice verdict awarded in Sioux County history. The Defendants and the insurance company, MMIC Insurance, were confident that a conservative Orange City jury would not award any real compensation to the family, and following multiple opportunities to settle the case, the case went to trial. The verdict was in favor of the surviving spouse and four children who brought the case to uncover the truth behind Carrie’s death and to improve the quality of care for all Iowans.
Dr. Slice, an emergency room physician employed by Sioux Center Community Health Center at the time, negligently failed to give Carrie Epinephrine (which is the same medicine children carry in their back packs for allergic reactions or bee stings). Carrie had an anaphylactic reaction to the contrast dye administered for her CT scan, lost consciousness, and went into shock minutes after the contrast was put into her body. The only immediate treatment given to her by Dr. Slice and the hospital was Benadryl which is a treatment for itchiness and hives.
Dr. Slice and the hospital failed to administer Epinephrine to Carrie until forty-five minutes after her adverse reaction and not until after Carrie’s heart stopped beating.
Carrie suffered severe brain damage due to the delay of giving her a simple life saving treatment and because of the brain damage, she passed away later that evening.
The DeJongh family’s lead trial lawyers, Nicholas and Courtney Rowley from Decorah, Iowa, argued that the standard of care under the circumstances required Dr. Slice to administer Epinephrine to Carrie and that if Dr. Slice had given the Epinephrine when he gave her the Benadryl, she would have survived.
“We are proud to be the trial lawyers for the DeJongh family and proud that justice was served for her husband and children,” added Rowley. “The defense lawyers argued in closing arguments that if the jury were to determine Dr. Slice was negligent, they should only award between $50,000.00 and $100,000 for past and future loss of consortium (the love, comfort, support and companionship of their mother). A fair-minded, loving, conscientious Sioux County jury made it clear that the value of a wife and mother to her family should not be treated cheaply in Iowa. The Judge gave both sides a fair trial, but nonetheless, the Defendants and their insurance company that carries over $30,000,000 in insurance are going to fight this verdict tooth and nail and file appeals if they don’t get a new trial.”
In November, 2017, TL4J obtained a $10,000,000.00 verdict in another medical malpractice wrongful death case for their clients in Pellock v. Mississippi Valley Anesthesiology, P.C. The Pellock case was tried in Dubuque, Iowa and was another wrongful death medical malpractice against an MMIC insured policyholder. In that case, both pretrial and during trial, MMIC refused to offer a single dollar to settle the claim by the Pellock family. In November 2017, TL4J won a record $131,000,000 jury verdict in the State of Washington on a case where another insurance company would not fairly compensate a nurse who was rendered a quadrapalegic.
The Trial Lawyers for Justice trial team consisted of lead trial lawyer Nicholas Rowley, Courtney Rowley, Rod Ritner, Matt Reilly, Dominic Pechota, Greg Egbers, and John Hemminger.
