Twila White: Old Fashioned Story Telling

Twila had to skip her Week One staff assignment at the Ranch. She was She was in a trial that would not conclude until well after we all left Wyoming.

The jury found in favor of her clients for Violation of Title IX; Retaliation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title IX; Failure to Prevent Retaliation; Wrongful Discharge; and Negligent Hiring, Supervision and Retention. AUHS was also found to have engaged in malicious, oppressive or fraudulent conduct. The total jury verdict was $2,405,600.

“Preparation is key. I had anticipated being able to use a Power Point presentation in Opening, and Closing, in the First Phase of trial, which I had worked on for weeks and invested a significant amount of time on. When the Power Point presentations were disallowed, I ended up going old school. This is called good old fashioned storytelling. I proceeded without the benefit of visual aids, using only my voice and presence, wearing an N95 mask. I had to immediately adjust. This reminded me of the lessons from the Ranch: “We have everything inside of us to win. We don’t need visual aids. It all begins with us.” I turned a negative into a positive. My favorite moment was after the verdict in talking to the jury, one of the jurors pointed to me and said, ‘You’re a f*cking Tiger.’ I was elated for my client, for adapting, and for never giving up.”