Trial Magazine

While so often my fellow survivors and I are the ones being thanked for being courageous enough to fight the fight, I can tell you that not one of us has ever woken up in the morning and said to ourselves, “I’m going to be brave today.” From the very beginning, the true heroes of this story have been the ones who have done the seemingly simple task that so many before had failed to accomplish. They listened, they believed, they took action. That is what a hero does. We’ve been on this journey of seeking justice for well over a year and a half now, and every step along the way, my legal team has surprised me. [Our attorney, John Manly,] has mastered the art of not treating us like we’re broken, while at the same time watching out for us and protecting us with a fierceness unlike I’ve ever seen.

Our original goal as survivors . . . was making sure that we protected future generations in ways that we never were. It was ensuring that this horrible tragedy could produce even an ounce of positivity for the future. And [John] was ready to fight for what we needed to find healing, oftentimes even more ambitiously than we had imagined. For every time our opponents have called us names and attacked our character, for every time we’ve testified in front of our nation’s senators and representatives, for every time there is another motion filed to dismiss our cases, for every time someone tells us we are worthless, our team has been there to remind us we are on the right side of history.

I am lucky enough to stand up here today with a group of incredibly accomplished people, be it the legal world or athletics. I’m honored to stand next to people who fight tirelessly to protect countless people they will never meet.

I stand here thankful not only to John Manly and the rest of our legal team but to every lawyer in this room. Each and every one of you have the power to change your clients’ lives in ways you could never imagine. You have the opportunity to empower and protect, and you have the opportunity to use a highly specialized skillset to inspire an immeasurable amount of change. You don’t have to wake up in the morning and commit to being brave for the day. You simply have to listen, believe, then act. Who knows: Those three little things may just change the world one day. They certainly changed mine.

Note

1. Riethman was one of the 2018 recipients of AAJ’s Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award, which recognizes plaintiffs and their attorneys whose cases help tell the story of the American civil justice system and make a huge difference in policy. Find a video of Riethman’s speech at https://www.justice.org/2018awardvideos.