The whole office turned out on April 12 to celebrate the career of our senior partner, Randi McGinn, as she received the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Distinguished Lawyer Award.
Randi started her career 44 years ago at a time when there were few women in the courtroom. Without any real mentors or role models, she carved out her own approach to practicing law. She didn’t dress or talk like a “lawyer,” which allowed her to forge authentic connections with jurors, resulting in a 95% win rate in the courtroom for the over 137 cases she has tried to verdict. These cases resulted in the largest wrongful death verdict in Utah federal court and the largest verdict in the nation against a semi-trailer manufacturer for its decision not to add side underride safety guards to its trailers.
She asked corporations to change their unsafe practices in addition to compensating her clients and their families. As a result, our community has been made safer when products were re-designed or had warnings added; hospital staffs received re-training so they would not miss life-threatening medical conditions; and lost family members were memorialized with parks, scholarships and awards.
She volunteered her time, along with her partners, to take on the special prosecution of two police officers who shot a homeless camper and to help clear the backlog of rapists who were identified when 10 years of rape kits were finally tested.
She reached back and pulled other young women and men lawyers into the courtroom by teaching and lecturing around the country on trial skills. Through her example, she hopes to build an army of trial lawyers capable of seeking justice for people injured by corporate greed or government overreach.
It was wonderful to see her contributions recognized by the entire legal community.
