Celebrating Justice

Rob Bilott never planned on any of this. He wanted to be an architect, maybe a city planner. It was his father — a retired Air Force officer who enrolled in law school chasing a dream of being Perry Mason — who nudged him toward the LSAT.

He landed at Taft Law in Cincinnati in 1990 and spent eight years defending chemical companies. Then a West Virginia farmer named Wilbur Tennant called about dying cows, and everything changed.

What...

Mike “Pap” Papantonio didn’t set out to be a lawyer. He trained as a journalist, ready to chase revolutions abroad — until a conversation with the legendary Perry Nichols reframed the craft of trial work as storytelling grounded in literature, culture, and human truth. That idea stuck. So did Pap’s upbringing with working-class families across central Florida, people living paycheck to paycheck. It left him with a lifelong instinct...

As a middle school track coach, she taught kids to breathe on the back stretch and relax their arms on the far turn. They won. More importantly, they believed in themselves. 

Years later, a worn-down client sat across from her and, in a quiet handshake, asked a different question: Can I trust you? Ortega heard what wasn’t said and took an oath to care. That moment — that feeling — became her compass.

She describes the years spent “li...

Michael Alder’s entry into plaintiff’s work wasn’t planned at all — it started in a tiny 700-person Louisiana town with preacher-teacher parents, took a surprising turn on a fraternity lawn, and ultimately led to a clerkship with a Mississippi Supreme Court justice who changed everything by sharing war stories after hours. That exposure to real trial practice, plus a single job offer from legendary med-mal lawyer Dave Harney in Los...

Pasadena trial lawyer Michael S. Carrillo didn’t plan on following in his father’s footsteps. Growing up, he watched Luis Carrillo pour time and money into righteous, pro bono fights — even when the family struggled. The myth of guaranteed wealth in the law? He saw the opposite.

But Michael found his way into the courtroom — and, eventually, into the work that now defines him: representing survivors of child sexual abuse and pursuin...

“True advocacy starts and begins with a well-trained lawyer that is providing independent legal counsel in the best interest of the client, not in the best interest of shareholders or a corporation.”

Lance K. Brubaker traces an uncommon arc — from oil-and-gas and creditors’ rights work to founding a boutique plaintiff practice focused on catastrophic injury cases. Early in his career, he says, the paychecks were fine, but the purpos...

Trial lawyer Tom Scolaro of Scolaro Law P.C. shares why the motto “Hustle & Heart, Set Us Apart” isn’t marketing fluff for his firm, it’s operating instructions.

Scolaro grew up in a blue-collar upstate New York town, the son of an immigrant truck driver who admired lawyers and pushed his kids to aim higher. Law school originally meant a prosecutor’s path (think Jack McCoy on “Law & Order”), until life swerved: his older bro...

In this episode of “Celebrating Justice,” trial lawyer Daniel Schneiderman traces that arc from early Toastmasters triumphs and DA’s training to a deliberately client-first personal injury practice.

Daniel’s candid about what actually fuels his fire: living the case alongside clients, from hospital to courthouse steps, and doing high-quality work at a deliberately capped caseload so he can be present at every turn. “Small, hungry, a...

In this episode of “Celebrating Justice,” trial lawyer Jeremy Citron, founder and partner at The Hurt Boss, traces an unconventional path to the courtroom — from dreaming of becoming a Major League Baseball umpire to finding his calling in personal injury law. The journey starts with a nudge from his father to take the LSAT “as a fallback,” turns into early academic momentum in law school, and then shifts through big-law training a...

From fraternity consultant to defense associate to plaintiff’s trial lawyer and now a solo personal injury attorney at Hudson Injury Law in New Mexico — Damon Hudson has taken the "scenic route" to meaningful advocacy. In this episode of "Celebrating Justice", he shares how a winding early career (including a brief stop in tax law) ultimately clarified what he wanted from the law: real human connection, real out...

Charleston trial lawyer Roy T. Willey IV traces a path from a skinny, freckled kid who hated seeing people pushed around to a courtroom advocate who measures success by the lives he can improve — not by the percentage of policy limits recovered. Raised largely by a single mom, Roy carried a simple vow into adulthood: don’t let people be taken advantage of.

Roy describes his “trial ready process” — building every file like it will be...

Yale Spector, founder of Spector Law Group, was raised in a family of attorneys — his grandfather serving as a Hague-appointed legal officer after WWII, his parents both practicing in Baltimore, and his brother pursuing the same calling — Spector grew up at a dinner table where debate was constant and justice was considered a family responsibility.

In this episode of "Celebrating Justice", he traces that path from early ye...

From billion-dollar deals in Dubai to billion-dollar settlements in Texas, Murtaza Sutarwalla’s legal journey is anything but ordinary.

In this episode of Celebrating Justice, Murtaza traces his path from elite corporate law to the frontlines of human trafficking litigation. Early in his career, he represented governments and major corporations, drafting M&A contracts and shaping foreign law — but he ultimately traded prestige f...

In Episode 44 of "Celebrating Justice", Alan Ripka — a seasoned New York trial lawyer whose career was shaped by personal tragedy — shares his remarkable journey. Growing up in Queens, Ripka was on track to become a doctor until his brother Robbie was killed in a ski accident just before graduating high school. The loss ignited a passion to advocate for others who couldn’t speak for themselves, leading him to law school a...

Justin Blitz never planned to be a trial lawyer. In fact, he swore he wouldn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. He spent his early career immersed in New York’s music scene — booking bands, promoting shows, and working for music legend Chris Blackwell. But after law school and a brief stint in entertainment law, he found the work uninspiring. As his mother had always told him, his greatest gift was using his voice to persuade. Tha...

In this moving episode of "Celebrating Justice," trial lawyer James Vickaryous shares the deeply personal experiences and convictions that have shaped his decades-long journey in the legal profession.​

A first-generation lawyer with roots in a Navy family, Jim grew up with a strong ethic of service. That sense of purpose — instilled by his parents — became a guiding principle throughout his career. His mother encouraged hi...

Sharif's path to trial law was anything but conventional, but each step along the way — from valedictorian at Virginia Military Institute, to Army JAG officer defending elite soldiers, to prosecutor and finally personal injury lawyer now at Broughton Injury Law — deepened his calling to stand up for others.

As an Army JAG officer, Sharif discovered the power of advocacy in defending clients others had already written off. Repre...

Chris Blackburn, a seasoned trial lawyer at Blackburn Romey in Fort Wayne, Indiana, shares his journey from finance and farming back to trial law, led by a simple question when working with clients: “Do they need help?” 

That guiding mindset shaped a practice rooted in humility, teamwork, and purpose. Returning to the family firm meant reconnecting with childhood memories — riding along on home visits with his dad, working with his ...

In Episode 39 of "Celebrating Justice," trial lawyer Maggie Bopp of Rappaport, Glass, Levine, & Zullo LLP brings her fierce advocacy and heartfelt integrity to the spotlight.

From her upbringing in a family rooted deeply in law enforcement and military service, to her decorated tenure in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Bopp shares an inspiring journey shaped by duty, grit, and compassion.

Early on, Bopp s...