Breen Arntz graduated from the University of Utah in 1988 with a Bachelor's Degree in International Political Economics. He often says it's the best major to be interesting at parties. In reality, it has served well in the practice of law, especially for purposes of being able to speak to people, particularly jurors. It's provided Breen a broad spectrum of understanding. Breen lived in Bolivia as a Mormon missionary from 1981-83 and lived among the native Aymara people, where he spoke both Spanish and Aymara.
Breen graduated from the J. Rueben Clark’s School on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah in 1989. It’s true that his bachelors degree came just one year before his law degree. It turned out he had one paper to finish from the University of Utah before he could receive his diploma, which he completed in January of 1988, making him possibly one of few people who graduated from law school just one year after obtaining his bachelor’s degree.
Since 1989, Breen has practiced in Las Vegas, Nevada. He started at a his practice at, Pico & Mitchell, small reputable insurance defense firm. Eventually becoming one of four owners of the firm, Breen left that side of the bar to begin a plaintiffs practice in 2002, eventually forming Arntz Associates in 2008.
Starting as a defense attorney gave Breen an invaluable source of experience in trying jury trials. One of Breen’s favorite things about trying jury trials is that it open a door of understanding about practicing law, in particular in the area of litigation, that he could not have obtained in law school or his practice. Trying a jury trials was the final essential piece to understanding the work that he did. “If you don’t ever try a jury trial you can’t possibly know what’s important in a case and whether or not a jury will ever hear it.” Breen has tried well over 50 jury trials to verdict as less counsel, amassing more than 10,000 hours as lead trial counsel. (Ref. “The Outliers” Malcolm Gladwell)
In Breen’s words: “I was fortunate to have been thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to swim. And, I swam.” Trying jury trials came naturally. The rules of evidence suddenly all fell into place, and the ability to try cases to a jury was second nature to Breen. One attorney who hired Breen with only a day’s notice to try a case would later say, after a $1.8 million verdict, that “Breen could role out of bed, throw on a suit and drive to court and do better than the attorney who has spent years with the case.”
Breen’s practice, Trial By Breen, focuses on helping other lawyers do what he does best. Every lawyer has something they can do better than Breen, with the exception of preparing and trying jury trials. He was not cut out to be an office lawyer, but, preparing and trying jury trials was the thing he did most naturally. “I give credit to the firm that hires me if we win, and, I take the heat if we lose.” Breen works with the lawyers of the firm that hires him, mentoring the less experienced lawyers and including the firm that knows the client best, to share his experience and help open that door of understanding.
