By Olivia Jessner, Rhode Center Intern
The Rhode Center recently hosted a talk by the only lawyer in the country who has won a more than one-billion-dollar verdict for a single person: renowned plaintiffs’ lawyer Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin LLP.
Itkin is one of the most prolific plaintiffs’ attorneys in the country, and the audience was rapt hearing about his path to such heights of success. His legal practice journey began when he earned a law degree with honors from the University of Texas in 2001. Soon after, he and his business partner, Kurt Arnold, founded their law firm in 2004. At the time, it was a huge leap of faith; even securing office space was a challenge. Twenty years later, after building their firm from the ground up, Arnold & Itkin has won over 20 billion dollars on behalf of injured clients.
As part of this story, Itkin shared a personal perspective on his path to becoming a plaintiffs’ lawyer, frequently directly addressing the many law students in the audience. He compared the law student version of himself with law student attendees, as being curious, high-achieving people who have many options for how to use their legal talents. Ultimately, he encouraged everyone to use their talents to do good, rather than “sell out.” To make this concrete, Itkin recounted how he had spent time working at a large reputable firm but pivoted to plaintiffs’ lawyering out of a desire to help individuals who have been seriously injured and too often don’t have a voice in the legal system.
Itkin’s talk then shifted to the ways in which he has been able to achieve that goal through his career as a plaintiffs’ lawyer. He detailed many victories that his firm has had and then moved into an extended case study, that of a young woman who tragically and wrongfully died as a result of a poorly attended crane falling on her apartment building. Itkin guided the audience through the process of fighting against the large real estate company that had chartered the crane for wrongful death compensation for the victim’s mother. He walked everyone through the research that he had done to prove that the company had been negligent in its maintenance of the crane and how he had humanized the victim for the jury through accounts from her vibrant life, and also gave the audience a taste of what his closing argument looked like. Several members of the audience were moved to tears by this portion of Itkin’s talk. It was a beautiful example of the power of plaintiffs’ litigation and how it can bolster human dignity in the face of loss.
As Itkin wrapped up his talk, he fielded several questions from law students on career advice and work-life balance in the face of such high-stakes litigation. He concluded his talk with a call to action: he conveyed his sincere hope that he had inspired students to consider a career in plaintiffs’ litigation as a vehicle to helping the injured. After a very enthusiastic round of applause, attendees emerged to the Stanford Law courtyard for a reception. Many emerged with Arnold & Itkin-branded baseball caps, and all, I would wager, emerged with a more enlightened perspective on plaintiffs’ litigation.
