Episode Details

This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Nick Rowley and Steve Halteman of Carpenter, Zuckerman, & Rowley, (https://czrlaw.com/).

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Episode Details:

Award-winning trial lawyer Nick Rowley -- a U.S. Air Force and Army veteran and one of the youngest trial lawyers to be named Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles' Trial Lawyer of the Year -- explains how he represented grieving mother Carmen Jordan after her 33-year-old son Orlando Jordan was stabbed and killed in a Riverside, California TGI Fridays restaurant by an intoxicated minor and his friend.  Steve Halteman, jury consultant and Nick’s co-author of the book, Trial By Human, assisted with the case and joins Steve and Yvonne to discuss this trial.  In January 2009, Orlando was enjoying a date with his girlfriend when her son Michael Castillo, 20, and his friend Louis Martinez, 27, arrived at the restaurant. Already intoxicated, Michael and Louis ordered 12 servings of alcohol in the span of 30 minutes without being asked for identification. Michael proceeded to get into a heated argument with Orlando and stabbed him. Orlando later succumbed to his injuries. Despite TGI Fridays restaurant operator Briad Group's attempts to deny any responsibility, the family’s allegations were supported by the head bartender, who testified that Briad Group made a deliberate decision to not card minors in order to increase profits on Fridays and Saturdays. A Riverside County, California jury awarded Orlando's parents $40 million in damages and assigned 55% of the blame to Briad Group. Michael and Louis were both convicted in separate criminal trials and sentenced to serve time in state prison.

Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents

Guest Bio:

Nicholas C. Rowley

Many consider Nicholas C. Rowley, founder of Attorney s for Justice and Partner at Carpenter, Zuckerman, & Rowley, to be the most accomplished trial lawyer of his generation having won more than $1.5 Billion in verdicts and settlements for injury victims and families across the country.

Winner of the 2018 Attorney of the Year and five time finalist, he is one of the youngest trial lawyers in history to be presented with the award.  He has extensive courtroom experience representing victims of serious injuries and medical malpractice, especially those who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, and chronic pain.

Nick has been recognized by dozens of publications for his record-breaking verdicts and work for injury victims and their families.  In 2018, Nick was named to The National Law Journal’s Elite Attorney s for having a top 50 verdict in the nation.  He was also named “Los Angeles Top Litigators in 2018” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.  In 2015, Nick was listed in TopVerdict.com’s Top 100 Largest US Verdicts in the nation.  In 2012, Nick was a finalist for the “Consumer Attorney of the Year” award, given by Consumer Attorney s of California (CAOC). Nick was recognized 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. In 2009, the Consumer Attorney s of San Diego awarded Nick its “Outstanding Attorney ” award. In 2013, Nick was honored with the organization’s top award – “Outstanding Attorney of the Year”.

Some of Nick’s other recent successes include a record setting $131,000,375 verdict for the victim of a car accident after the driver was over served at a bar, 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 corporat