Episode 11: The Unlikeable Client

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of domestic violence, including descriptions of abuse. Please listen with care.

What happens when your client isn’t someone a jury might naturally root for? In this episode, Karen and Mo dive into one of the hardest parts of plaintiff law: working with clients who the public might not find sympathetic. From pulling a client out of a drug house before a deposition to representing someone with a complicated criminal past, they get real about the emotional, ethical, and strategic decisions behind client management.

Karen shares the story of her very first employment case against Boeing in the ‘90s, her trial against the City of Redmond involving a riotous plaintiff and a cow named Molly, and how her upbringing shaped her no-nonsense boundaries. Mo opens up about how his own history led him to seek understanding and redemption, even for clients whose stories mirror deeply personal pain.

Together, they unpack the moral calculus behind representing difficult people and what it means to believe that justice belongs to everyone, not just the likable.

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Hosted by Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi, trial lawyers at Stritmatter Law, a nationally recognized plaintiff personal injury and civil rights law firm based in Washington State.

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