Last month, we learned about what inspired Chinwe to become a trial lawyer. A young thirteen-year-old, once in awe of “A Few Good Men”, is now 10 years into running a prestigious, world-class law firm! How’s that for a lesson to be mindful of what you watch in front of children? This month we’re diving a little bit deeper and asking about her personal experiences as the trial lawyer she aspired to be! Let’s jump in!
Do you feel like your present day lawyering actually mirrors what you saw [in “A Few Good Men”]? Do you feel like when you’re in the courtroom you are that person now?
So, present day, not as much, because that one is more adversarial…in your face, and I got that as a prosecutor. When I was a prosecutor, I was doing criminal cases and you’re there, people are on the stand, they’re lying about something and you’re trying to catch them. I got that multiple times. Like, I tried to case. I tried two attempted murder cases; one for a juvenile and one for an adult, and I got that feeling, not as glamorous as, “Did you order the code red!”, but I got that as a prosecutor. As a personal injury attorney, it’s not as adversarial. It’s more about how is somebody injured, what are the damages, or what is the compensation. It doesn’t get to that point of TV. But as a prosecutor, yes, you can get that with a jury trial any day. In criminal cases, that one is just easy to get that. So I have gotten that.
Do you miss that? Do you miss that feeling of being a prosecutor or being in those criminal court cases where you get an opportunity to kind of, like, … I’m doing motions of you taking somebody down…
So I don’t. I don’t miss it in the sense that if I’m having a trial today. Bench; which is just me and the judge or jury, trials still give me the high. It’s not as adversarial. I’m not necessarily taking somebody apart criminally, but, you know, instead I’m building up more. So because I’m a plaintiff’s attorney, I’m bringing the case. I’m saying, “This is why you should give my client this money. This is why their case deserves it.” So I’m building them up. “How were they injured? How bad was the accident? What are your lasting…has it affected you permanently. And this is why their case deserves this money. So criminal, because I was putting people behind jail, I was taking people apart. This one building. I get a high from trials period. It’s stressful. I lose sleep. I can’t eat. It was a different kind of high, but still a high. So being a prosecutor was nice. I don’t miss it, to “Oh, I want to go back.” No. it was a great training ground. but, trials give me a high. If I’m going to be in front of a jury to make a case, I’m on another level of high, plus anxiousness plus my desire to win! I get all crazy.
Whether in the courtroom handling criminal cases or fighting for clients as a personal injury attorney, Chinwe has not lost her passion after all these years! Who wouldn’t want a lawyer like that on their side? Stay tuned because next month, we’re going to learn a bit more about how Omena Law Firm came to be. Until then, enjoy the April show