Trial Magazine

My short answer to why I’m a trial lawyer is simple—I want to help people. I can’t pinpoint the day or age I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer, but I know I was young. Growing up, I learned I had a gift for public speaking. I entered and won numerous oratorical contests—that was my first lesson in learning that words, whether on paper or spoken, are powerful. This profession allows me to use my words in a way that elevates truth and justice. I simply cannot imagine doing anything else.

Despite my early desires to practice law, life had other plans. At 19, I gave birth to my oldest son, Jordan. Under these circumstances, the law became a dream deferred, but not a dream denied. I finished my bachelor’s degree in economics, went back for an MBA, and then made a promising career for myself in commercial banking.

However, it soon dawned on me that it is not enough to just be good at a job. I wanted to love a career. I could not be happy in a profession when another one continued to call me. It called me when I watched my cousins graduate from law school. It called me the night I sat with my uncle in his kitchen, a trial lawyer who cofounded a national law firm. He told me that I did not have to abandon the law because the law definitely wasn’t abandoning me.

But how could I do it? I had a small child. I had a job that we depended on to live and eat. I knew what law school required—the time commitment, the money, the diligence. I would have to study like I never had before. It’s a good thing I never let challenges stop me.

I enrolled in law school part time in 2004 and continued to work my bank job during the day. I made straight A’s my first semester and got the “Best Paper Award” in my torts class. That professor called me into his office one day and cut right to the chase. He told me he knew from the first time he called on me in class that I was meant to be a lawyer. He told me I was wasting my time at my bank job. When I balked at how I would support my family, he offered me a job as his teaching assistant and told me I shouldn’t be afraid to invest in my education and future. I soon quit my bank job and was well on my way to becoming what I was meant to become.

My career has always been focused on helping people. I started as an assistant federal defender for the Middle District of Alabama—my first real exposure to what injustice means. I had seen it in movies and on television, and I knew our nation’s sordid history after growing up in a place like Montgomery, Ala. But this was different. It was real, and my clients depended on me.

As a trial lawyer, I represent people who have been harmed by powerful and financially influential corporate interests. Getting to see what was said behind closed doors and in the emails they thought would remain hidden exposed another level of injustice. I knew I could always count on the powerful being just that. What I did not expect was the impact it would have on me when I realized I was the one responsible for ensuring justice and that these actions would continue if I did nothing to stop them.

I bring the struggles home with me, and I empathize with my clients’ pain in a way that many times affects my own emotional well-being. But I am a trial lawyer not only because I want to help people but also because it is my life’s calling.

My presence in this profession was only made possible by those who fought the law before me and won. Time will only tell what my voice will make possible for future generations. But I guarantee that I will never stop speaking and standing up for what matters—justice for all.

Danielle W. Mason is a partner at Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman in Montgomery, Ala., and can be reached at dmason@milberg.com.