Litigation
Jun. 15, 2002
Underestimated Lawyer
Top 30 Women Litigators - Juanita Brooks - With a father serving in the Air Force, Juanita Brooks spent her early childhood bouncing around the globe. Then, at age 9, her life crash-landed.
Juanita Brooks
With a father serving in the Air Force, Juanita Brooks spent her early childhood bouncing around the globe. Then, at age 9, her life crash-landed.
Her Latino dad left the family.
"It was very difficult," Brooks of San Diego's Fish & Richardson says.
To make matters worse, Brooks, along with her Belgian mother and older sister, moved to Sunnymead, where she suffered racial slurs.
"It wasn't a good thing to be Hispanic, according to some people," the 48-year-old says.
She used her traumatic experiences to motivate her.
"It helped make me very tough and determined to show them all," she says.
At age 23, she graduated Yale Law School.
But some people still didn't show her respect.
During one of her first jury trials, she had a sidebar discussion with the opposing counsel and a male judge, who had a way with words.
"He said I had a nice set of wheels," Brooks recalls. "I thought he meant my car. But he didn't. He meant my legs."
Although she considered the comment demeaning, she didn't make a fuss.
"I didn't really want to slap him," she says. "I took it all with a grain of salt. It's not such a bad thing to be underestimated."
With 25 years of experience and more than 50 jury trials under her belt, she is taken more seriously these days.
In a trial scheduled for next year, Brooks is representing the inventor of a reverse-flow cooling system for cars in a theft-of-trade-secrets claim against General Motors.
Eron Yehuda
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
Jeremy_Ellis@dailyjournal.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 213-229-5424
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com