Rich Ruohonen

Some trial lawyers walk into a courtroom hoping they are ready. Rich Ruohonen walks in the way a world-level athlete steps onto the ice — because he has already thrown the shot a hundred times before it matters.Rich Ruohonen never set out to be a trial lawyer. Raised to never give in and to win every argument, he drifted toward the courtroom after a high-school mock trial, briefly imagined a career in contracts or as a sports agent, then discovered in his first business law class that behind-the-scenes work would never suit him. He wanted to be out front, helping people. Nearly three decades and roughly 90 trials later, he is one of Minnesota's most recognized plaintiff personal injury lawyers — and, improbably, the oldest U.S. Winter Olympian in history.That second life as a nationally ranked curler is not a footnote; it is the key to how he practices law. Ruohonen draws a direct line between elite competition and trial work: thinking several moves ahead like a chess match, weathering the roller-coaster of good and bad days across a week-long trial, and above all, preparing until the outcome feels inevitable. "People don't practice," he says. "They just think they can walk in and give an opening statement or give a closing argument without having ever said it, without having ever done it before." At TSR Injury Law he built a ritual the firm calls Fight Club, where a lawyer delivers an opening in front of roughly 20 colleagues who offer nothing but criticism. Then does it again, and again. Before one of his biggest cases he rehearsed his opening more than ten times.He is just as deliberate about the psychology of persuasion: how a single word can plant an image in a juror's mind, why belief in your own case is contagious and how a well-run focus group can expose which defense arguments jurors simply do not care about. The case that shaped him most was a three-year-old boy beaten and raped at a daycare where he was left unwatched for over an hour. Told he would never beat a million-dollar ceiling, Rich won a 13 million dollar verdict, watched the trial court set it aside, and tried the entire case a second time to secure another multimillion-dollar result. The child is now a thriving young adult; an outcome Rich counts among the most meaningful of his life, and one that pushed him to reduce his fees for children and to testify for stronger daycare-safety laws.For his "Closing Argument," Rich turns from craft to conviction, the duty he believes lawyers carry to use whatever platform they are given,and the courage it takes to speak up for the rule of law and for people who need help.Key TakeawaysPreparation is the line between hoping you are ready and knowing you are — rehearsing an opening ten times before trial is not excessive, it is the job.An athlete's mindset transfers directly to the courtroom: think several moves ahead, expect good days and bad, and compete to the last shot.How you frame a sentence to a jury matters as much as what you say — tell them your client had the green light, never that he did not run the red.A well-run focus group can reveal that the defense's favorite argument means nothing to jurors, and give you the confidence to ask for a case's full value.Belief is persuasive; if you do not fully own what you are asking a jury for, they will sense the doubt.The Trial Lawyer's Journal is Presented by CloudLex and Lexvia.ai.TLJ InstagramTLJ YouTubeTLJ LinkedIn