I have been a litigator my entire career; trying cases is my passion. While I certainly had the opportunity to try cases while working in Big Law, I wanted much more – not only more trials, but more ownership of the direction and presentation of those cases from the outset, with a laser focus on winning. The idea to strike out on my own came naturally to me, but I wanted to build something very different than what was already out there. Before I founded Tyz Law Group, I didn't see any litigation-focused firms that offered a true alternative to the big law model. So, in the early days, I spent a lot of time exploring different ways to structure teams and to price legal work with the goal of building a lean team where we all share a single mission: to deliver results while providing excellent client service. Over the years, I have honed our model but certain key elements from those early days remain, including our commitment to always knowing the facts and the law better than our opponent, as well as our unique subscription model, which is an alternative to the billable hour model that both we and our clients love.

The way we approach clients and litigation matters is completely different. Without exception, we start by taking the time to deeply understand our clients’ business and their objectives, and having frank conversations about what is realistic, and what to expect. Once we are aligned on objectives, we embark on the process we refer to internally as “digging in,” where we gather and assess the facts and the law in a way that many lawyers don’t. As a result of this intensive approach, clients often tell us we know their technology and their business better than they do. This early investment in understanding the hand we’re dealt allows us to shape narratives that are both compelling and credible – something we all too often see our opponents fail to do. For us, at the end of the day, we are storytellers. We love to tell a good story better than anyone.

I'm very competitive in nature, I grew up playing sports and still do today. I look at litigation like a chess match. It requires strategy, so I call it an “old man” sport where you compete with your mind, not your body. Since my mind is better than my body these days, that's really what it is about for me. I love it. I love the adrenaline, the fast-paced environment of trial, getting up in front of a jury and in front of the judge, and using my creativity and hard work to position my clients in the best possible position to win. My team refers to me as fearless, and I think that’s mostly pretty accurate.

First and foremost, we solve problems. Clients come to us with very difficult problems, usually disputes, and they're complex. We listen, understand the problem, and then craft solutions that put us in the best place to get to resolution. Our attention to detail and precision guide the winning solution and our results speak for themselves.

I am proud of the team that we've built and the platform that we offer our attorneys. You’ll see that most of our team members are women. One of the problems I saw at Big Law was up or out, and that involves working thousands of hours with the hope of maybe eventually becoming a partner, or either being forced out or into a role that serves as a parking lot. For women who want to have children, they were often forced to pick, do I want to be a mother, or do I want to be a big law partner? That is a loss of talent, so I contemplated an alternative. At Tyz Law, it's all about flexibility, which is largely driven by the fact that we do not have a billable hour requirement and we work remotely. Our platform enables attorneys to both be a full-time parent and a full-time lawyer at our firm. I'm the proudest of that.

One of the reasons I started my own law firm is that I wanted to be a first chair trial lawyer. I will never forget sitting in a trial one day watching the senior partner do opening and closing, and thinking to myself, I want to do that. But in Big Law, I would have been second chair trial counsel for the next decade or so. Starting my own firm threw me into the fire, forcing me to grow, and I've been able to do that, again and again. I love it and I've gotten better at it and that's what I want to continue doing.

I am coming up on 10 years at my own firm after 10 years in Big Law. I learned a lot working in Big Law, but my progression at Tyz Law Group has been exponentially faster. By being a first chair trial lawyer, doing voir dire, presenting to a jury and being in front of a judge much more often, I’ve developed and honed those skills instead of hitting a wall or a ceiling working in Big Law. I have also learned more than I ever could have imagined though hiring, managing, and working with the best talent I could find, which is extraordinary.

Three attributes are not enough. But if forced to pick, I’d say tenacious, practical, and creative. We bring all of that to bear for our clients and that’s what allows us to deliver winning solutions.