Trial Lawyer Jamie Wright Talks Big Verdicts, Bias in the System, and the Future of AI in the Courtroom
…There should be a more robust, neutral body to review the conduct of judges and deal with their biases. I think lawyers often don’t speak out on that because the state bar can censor you. You’re supposed to yield all due respect to the court, but when the court is being disrespectful, hateful, and angry towards you, that’s a hard pill to swallow. So, I would say there should be a more robust authority that could analyze opinions, vet the bias, and ensure impartiality. And it shouldn’t just be a body of their peers — judges analyzing other judges. The other thing I would do is create some kind of third-party entity to balance out the state bars. There was a big scandal in California with Tom Girardi, and the LA Times wrote a scathing opinion about how the State Bar basically turned a blind eye to his complaints for 20 years. That is still happening. There’s a process and a way to vet that out — checks and balances. They come after the little guy when the big guy is sinning…
I had the pleasure of talking with Jamie Wright, a trial lawyer who seems to have been forged in the very fires she now walks through for her clients. The daughter of a disabled army veteran, Wright’s understanding of justice wasn’t born in a sterile law school library, but in the frustrating, drawn-out battle her father waged against the government he served. “The foundation of him fighting for his rights to get services from the VA for 15 years after having been exposed to Agent Orange was what led me to the practice of law,” she explains. While other kids were at summer camp, she was in the back of criminal courtrooms downtown, a guest of her father, a man wrestling with PTSD. It was there, in the cheap seats of the justice system, that the first seeds of a legal career were planted.
Wright carries that history into every case she takes on. She is, by her own admission and the account of others, relentless. “Somebody once told me, ‘You are the endless thorn in somebody’s side,’ and I think that’s accurate,” she says with a certain satisfaction. “I won’t back down. I’m going to turn over every stone to get the answer, and I’m going to fight for it.”
That fight is more than just rhetoric. She recounts the case of Dr. Sabrina Odom, a woman who was repeatedly sexually harassed by a VP at the Los Angeles Community College district. Wright was part of the all-woman legal team that fought for five long years, through COVID delays, to secure a massive verdict for Odom in a case built solely on emotional distress. “That’s the one that stands out because I admire her courage,” Wright reflects. “I’m not sure I would have been able to withstand waiting five years to get to trial.”
In another case, a retaliation lawsuit, she found herself in a mediation where new insurance policies kept mysteriously appearing. Paired with a male co-counsel, they fell into a “good cop, bad cop” rhythm. As he played the “affable, uncle-like figure,” she made the threats. When her co-counsel suggested settling for less, she drew a hard line. “I said, ‘No. And don’t try to discount her because she’s a Black woman. Because if she were a white girl, you would not discount her.’” The case settled for the amount she demanded. “A righteous case is a righteous case,” she states simply. “Just remove the color, and the facts are there.”
This unwavering confidence was hard-won. She tells a story from her early days in “big law,” where, as a first-year associate, she was completely lost. “I was told to research a topic that I had no idea where to begin. I billed hours on it — a lot of hours — and the client was not happy.” The lesson was immediate and permanent. “What I learned from that point on is: don’t try to be the superhero associate in a law firm. Ask the question, even if it’s deemed to be something you should know.”
Today, Wright operates from a place of earned wisdom, both in and out of the courtroom. At the same time that she’s expanding her practice to other states or working with an economic development corporation in disadvantaged communities, she’s a single mom to a son with an activity for every day of the week. “Thank God for my village who helps me shuffle him around to all his activities, because without them, I don’t know where I would be,” she admits. In her rare downtime, she’s learning to make herbal remedies, a nod to a long-held interest in naturopathy.
Wright’s vision for a better world extends to her own profession. She speaks passionately about the need for a neutral body to review judicial bias and for a third-party entity to provide checks and balances on state bar associations. But her most pointed critique is also deeply personal. “As a single mom, one thing I often gripe about is the 8:30 a.m. hearings, which is my son’s drop-off time,” she says. “There has to be a mechanism that’s inclusive for people with families… there could certainly be a mechanism that allows for a single mom like me, who has to drop her kid off by 8:45, to not be stressed.”
She’s a lawyer for the modern age, using AI for research while being wary of its tendency to “spazz out and create case law,” and leveraging social media with a call for authenticity. “We feel we have to conform to this abstract idea,” she says of her fellow attorneys. “I used to do it, too — jet black hair, black and gray suits… If you know your stuff, you can be yourself, within reason.” For Jamie Wright, being herself is the whole point. It’s what connects the little girl in the back of the courtroom to the legal powerhouse she is today, fighting unapologetically for every client as if she were fighting for her own father.
Yitzi: Jamie Wright, it’s such a delight to meet you. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story. Can you share with us the story of your childhood and how you grew up?
Jamie: I am the daughter of a disabled army veteran who was stationed in Korea when he turned 18 at the beginning of the Vietnam War. The foundation of him fighting for his rights to get services from the VA for 15 years after having been exposed to Agent Orange was what led me to the practice of law. During the summers, because my dad had PTSD, he stayed home with us while my mom worked, and he’d take me to sit in the back of the criminal courtrooms downtown. That’s where I got my first interest and ideas about the practice of law, even though that’s not what I wanted to do at first. I wanted to be a forensic scientist. So, that’s a little bit about my origin story. I come from a family of faith-based people who exposed me to good things early on.
Yitzi: You probably have some incredible stories from your career. Can you share one or two that stand out in your mind?
Jamie: One of the stories that stands out is Dr. Sabrina Odom. She is this powerhouse woman who was sexually harassed repeatedly by the VP at the Los Angeles Community College district. After fighting for years, she got a very large verdict, and I was excited to be part of an all-woman team who gave her justice on a solely emotional distress case. That’s the one that stands out because I admire her courage. I’m not sure I would have been able to withstand waiting five years to get to trial because of COVID. So I admire her courage in taking on a system that was against her and is still against her to this day.
Yitzi: Without saying anything confidential, can you share your most successful or funniest war story?
Jamie: My most successful war story, aside from the one with Sabrina Odom, was a recent settlement I had. It was a very large retaliation case, and it was a war. They were claiming performance issues about the plaintiff. When we got to mediation, they asked for a settlement demand. Suddenly, all these additional insurance policies appeared. My co-counsel and I worked so well together; it was like good cop, bad cop. I was making threats, and he was being the affable, uncle-like figure, working hand-in-hand with the opposing counsel and the mediator to get this thing done. The plaintiff was a friend of mine from church, and she deserved the money. Each time my co-counsel came back to me and said, “Let’s settle for this,” I said, “No. And don’t try to discount her because she’s a Black woman. Because if she were a white girl, you would not discount her.” He checked himself. It was good, though. I just said no, I’m not going to discount her. I treat everybody the same. A righteous case is a righteous case. Just remove the color, and the facts are there.
Yitzi: It’s been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a funny mistake you made when you were first starting and the lesson you learned from it?
Jamie: Oh, where do I begin? I started in big law, and I don’t think any first-year associate really knows what they’re doing. I was told to research a topic that I had no idea where to begin. I billed hours on it — a lot of hours — and the client was not happy. “Why did you bill this many hours on something that could have been easily found?” I just didn’t know what to do. What I learned from that point on is: don’t try to be the superhero associate in a law firm. Ask the question, even if it’s deemed to be something you should know. No one that’s young, and sometimes even people who are as senior as I am, knows every answer. Ask for help.
Yitzi: You’re a successful attorney. Which character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that maybe others don’t?
Jamie: I am relentless in my pursuit of truth and justice. Somebody once told me, “You are the endless thorn in somebody’s side,” and I think that’s accurate. I won’t back down. I’m going to turn over every stone to get the answer, and I’m going to fight for it. What I often tell my clients is the settlement won’t come as quickly as you want it, but it’ll be more money than you would likely get from another person because I’m going to fight for you if I think the case is righteous. I think that’s one of the things. The other is that I see everything from both sides. I was on the defense and plaintiff’s bar, so I run my cases like a defense lawyer. I know how they function, and I get to “yes” a little more quickly. Also, I’m social, so as long as we’re on good terms, we’re going to move things along in litigation. Sometimes I get hostile men, but they’re hostile towards everybody. It’s not personal.
Yitzi: That’s a great story. You’re involved in a lot of great work. Can you share with us the exciting new things you’re working on now or new initiatives we should expect in the future?
Jamie: There are some really great initiatives. My practice is expanding outside of California, with cases in Texas, D.C., and Washington State through co-counsel. Then, outside of the practice, I have operational goals. I work with an economic development corporation that does a lot of positive work in opportunity zones where there are disadvantaged people. There’s so much that can be done to bring AI and new technology to that arena. So, those are some of the things I’m doing.
I’ve always been interested in naturopathy, so I have a whole herb setup at home, and I’m enrolled in a class to learn how to make herbal remedies for natural healing. I’m also a single mom, so a lot of my time is spent with my son. He has an activity every day of the week, and I tell people, thank God for my village who helps me shuffle him around to all his activities, because without them, I don’t know where I would be. He has flag football, mixed martial arts, Kumon twice a week, and swimming on Saturday. It’s a lot, but it’s good.
Yitzi: This is a big question, but if you had the ability to reform and improve the justice system — not necessarily criminal justice, but even civil law — where would you start? What do you think are some low-hanging fruit opportunities for improvement?
Jamie: There should be a more robust, neutral body to review the conduct of judges and deal with their biases. I think lawyers often don’t speak out on that because the state bar can censor you. You’re supposed to yield all due respect to the court, but when the court is being disrespectful, hateful, and angry towards you, that’s a hard pill to swallow. So, I would say there should be a more robust authority that could analyze opinions, vet the bias, and ensure impartiality. And it shouldn’t just be a body of their peers — judges analyzing other judges.
The other thing I would do is create some kind of third-party entity to balance out the state bars. There was a big scandal in California with Tom Girardi, and the LA Times wrote a scathing opinion about how the State Bar basically turned a blind eye to his complaints for 20 years. That is still happening. There’s a process and a way to vet that out — checks and balances. They come after the little guy when the big guy is sinning.
As a single mom, one thing I often gripe about is the 8:30 a.m. hearings, which is my son’s drop-off time. There has to be a mechanism that’s inclusive for people with families. We deal with it, but there has to be a better way. The hearings could start at 9:30 or 10:00, after I drop off my child. With the ever-evolving landscape of how people create families and balance life, they’re starting to make some changes. Now, if you have a prepaid vacation, opposing counsel isn’t supposed to be a jerk and start propounding discovery. But there could certainly be a mechanism that allows for a single mom like me, who has to drop her kid off by 8:45, to not be stressed while on the phone, also trying to talk to him and make sure he has a good day. Those are the things that stand out in my mind.
Yitzi: Do you have any thoughts about the indictment of Comey?
Jamie: We are at a very interesting intersection in politics and at an interesting crossroads. We have a president who tweets to his attorney general what he thinks about this indictment. We have the person coming after him who is not a prosecutor; she’s a former insurance defense lawyer, which is a whole different thing. I don’t even know how one would go from being an insurance attorney to being a prosecutor, having done insurance defense. So we’re at this interesting crossroads where public opinion and potentially the outcomes of a trial could be swayed by the highest sitting leader in the land based on commentary. That’s a very fascinating place for us to be.
Yitzi: How do you see AI affecting the legal profession or impacting the pursuit of law in the future?
Jamie: AI has cut out a lot of research assistant and paralegal jobs. Your file clerk isn’t necessary because there’s now an AI program where you can scan a document and it’ll file it to your system. I use AI a lot in my practice, particularly with research. The problem with AI is it sometimes spazzes out and creates case law. You can get sanctioned for that. So, I always check my cases. I’m one of the lawyers who takes the time to check the cases.
Yitzi: I love that you use the word “spazzes out” instead of “hallucinates.” Hallucination is such a confusing term because it’s not a hallucination, it just makes up total garbage.
Jamie: Exactly, and AI is not human, so it’s spazzing. It isn’t hallucinating. Hallucinating is for somebody who’s on shrooms or something. The thing isn’t hallucinating; it’s just spazzing out because it’s technology and ongoing programming, and somebody’s on the back end trying to fix it. I do think there will be a point where, eventually, somebody like me in the next 20 years is going to be a hologram that shows up in court to argue. Already, there is an AI singer with a multi-million-dollar record deal, and she’s not real. She sounds and looks incredible. Her wigs change appropriately; the bangs and the part are in place. I was looking at this AI and thought, “She’s a blend of the best of these R&B singers, like Beyoncé.” It’s incredible. So, the same thing is going to happen in the legal profession, I mark my words. But the lack of human contact will prevent cases from settling, I think, because you need that human element between people to sometimes move the dial.
Yitzi: How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier law school these days?
Jamie: It’s not as important as it used to be. It’s more of a thing of the past because so much of how you practice law, you don’t learn in law school. Law school is a weeding mechanism, quite frankly. The Socratic method is taught, but that’s not how you practice law. Almost nothing I learned in law school is relevant to practice.
I would change the style in which law school is taught. It would be very hands-on and practice-oriented because so often you don’t get that hands-on experience you need, and then you go to these firms that expect you to be superior, and they know better. But again, it’s a way to weed people out. You don’t know what you don’t know when you enter practice. No one does. I don’t care what they say.
Yitzi: I read that you have a reputation for being at the intersection of pop culture and business. Tell us more about the pop culture angle.
Jamie: There are so many things that happen in pop culture that have a really interesting legal or business perspective, so when I’m asked for commentary, that’s the place where I’m giving it. I spend a lot of time on TikTok and Instagram when I have insomnia after I put my son to bed and I don’t feel like working anymore, just reading headlines and seeing what’s going on in the world outside of the little bubble that lawyers find themselves in. I sometimes integrate it into arguments I make at trial. I’ve made some very interesting analyses in my closing arguments about things that have happened in the world. So that’s just my commentary and how I see things; it’s nuanced.
Yitzi: You’re known as a pro on social media, which a lot of lawyers aren’t. Can you recommend how other attorneys can effectively leverage social media or TikTok to build their practice?
Jamie: Just get on there and start talking. If there’s a topic, go to TikTok, hit record, and say good morning. Be authentic and use proper hashtags and keywords. So much of it is about search engine optimization. But the one thing I want to say to other lawyers is that authenticity is so often lost among us. We feel we have to conform to this abstract idea. And I used to do it, too — jet black hair, black and gray suits. Wearing blue was a big deal; a pop of color was a big deal. We think we have to conform to a notion that’s not real. If you know your stuff, you can be yourself, within reason. I’m not going to wear a crop top and Daisy Dukes to court to give my opening statement, but you can still be yourself.
Yitzi: This is our signature question. You’ve been blessed with a lot of success and must have learned a lot from your experiences. Looking back, can you share five things you wish you had known when you first started practicing law?
Jamie:
- First, practice is literally the best experience. I wasn’t going to know what I didn’t know for the first five years, and it wasn’t until I hit that sweet spot around year seven that I started to feel confident. So, practice makes perfect.
- Second, the things that you perceive as your weaknesses are often your strengths. There’s obviously heavy bias in the legal profession. Even at this age and with my years of experience, I still deal with it. But the uniqueness that comes with my diversity is what has made me a very good trial lawyer. So, embrace what makes you different and stand out from the crowd.
- Third, mentorship is important. Even if it’s just somebody you can call and scream at because you’re frustrated, having mentors to lean on is very important.
- Fourth, diversity of experience is your friend. Although the law is the law, having read poems, read Oscar Wilde, or gone to a museum can help you integrate different perspectives and tell a good story as a trial lawyer.
- And the last thing is embracing family, friends, community — church, mosque, temple — whatever it is you can lean into that gives you a sense of balance and hope in a dark world, because it often feels dark.
Yitzi: Can you share some of the self-care routines that you do to help your body, mind, and heart thrive?
Jamie: I don’t have enough. What you put in your body is the most important, so I try to eat as balanced and healthy as I can. Sea moss is important, along with a lot of dense green vegetables. I definitely take my multivitamins because I’m over a certain age. I try to go to the gym two to three times a week, fitting it in at weird hours. And I do my best not to take on other people’s anger, disdain, or ill will, because that is uniquely theirs, and I try not to embrace it as mine. Stress will kill you.
Yitzi: What motivates you? What drives you?
Jamie: My son. The fierce sense of urgency when it comes to his safety, his opportunities, and giving him those opportunities. Each generation is supposed to be better; that’s what my mom and dad always told me. So, from me to him, life is supposed to be better. For the things that I’ve worked hard for, he shouldn’t have to work as hard to achieve. He’s going to have to work hard because you can’t get anything in life for free, but just him and the fierce sense of urgency to make sure that he always has a good landing.
Yitzi: Which people in history most inspire you and why?
Jamie: Oh man, that’s a tough one. Amelia Earhart, for her bravery. She went out there and flew a plane — that’s crazy. She inspires me. Joan of Arc inspires me for her commitment to her faith, regardless of being accused of being a witch. I have so many. Anybody who challenges systems and is unapologetic about it is my jam. I’ll be honest with you, it takes some cojones to do it and not back down.
Yitzi: We’re very blessed that prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the U.S. with whom you would like to have a power lunch or collaborate? We could tag them on social media and maybe connect you.
Jamie: Alex Karp from Palantir. Yes, him. He’s a Black billionaire; I think he’s the only one. I’d love to learn how he navigates that. His life seems somewhat secretive, and that’s a huge position to be in as a Black man. I’d just want to learn how he operates. How do you get here? What had to happen in your mind for you to build a business like this? I’d also like to run a company focused on operations, technology, and AI.
Yitzi: This is our final aspirational question. Jamie Wright, because of your amazing work and the platform you’ve built, you’re a person of enormous influence. If you could spread an idea or inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Jamie: I would use a social platform to help young people realize that there is hope and that they are good enough at whatever stage in life they are. Right now, they feel hopeless and are comparing themselves to fictional characters, because a lot of people on social media aren’t real. The things they’re putting out are content because they want clicks and money. I would love to see young people feel that whatever their hair is, it’s okay. Whatever their skin is, it’s okay. “I’m not perfect, and that’s okay.” It’ll work itself out. Just a way to spread a little more hope and a little more of a sprinkle of “whatever I am, I’m okay.” Hopeful messaging, hopeful memes, emojis that make you feel hopeful. Imagery, because we are visual and respond to what we see.
Yitzi: How can our readers continue to follow your work, how can they engage your services or support you in any way?
Jamie: Oh, I’m easy to find. It’s Jamie Wright, ESQ. JamieWrightESQ.com. The names are the same across social media: Jamie Wright ESQ on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), etc. I’m easy to find.
Yitzi: Great. Well, Jamie, it’s been so nice to meet you. I wish you continued success, good health, and blessings. I hope that we can meet one day in person.
Jamie: I would love that. I would love to meet you in person.
Trial Lawyer Jamie Wright Talks Big Verdicts, Bias in the System, and the Future of AI in the… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.