Case Study · Litigation
Katherine O’Brien
Trial Law
A sole litigator, competing against five-partner defence firms, using Marco and Courtroom mode to outprepare teams 10 times her size — and winning three consecutive verdicts.
The challenge.
Katherine O’Brien left a regional plaintiffs’ firm in late 2025 to open a solo practice focused on complex commercial and employment trials. Her caseload was strong on day one. Her infrastructure was not.
A trial against a five-partner defence firm used to mean six weeks of preparation by a team of four. Alone, she had neither the hours nor the associates. Losing a motion in limine because she missed a 2019 appellate panel decision was no longer a team failure she could absorb. It was the case.
She needed a way for one person to match the research depth, exhibit management, and cross-examination preparation of a full trial team — without hiring one.
The solution.
Marco Reid and Courtroom mode were deployed on day one of the practice. Marco indexed every deposition, pleading, and exhibit in her first cases. Courtroom mode ran on her iPad during trial, projecting exhibits to the courtroom display with tamper-evident watermarking and queueing impeachment clips against witness testimony in real time.
Trial preparation that had taken her team 180 hours in her previous firm took 41 hours solo. Cross-examination outlines that used to require a junior associate buried in transcripts were generated from the full deposition corpus with contradictions surfaced and time-stamped.
On the three trials that followed, she appeared opposite teams of five and six lawyers. She won all three.
Results.
3 → 0
Consecutive jury verdicts for plaintiff
41 hrs
Trial prep time, down from 180
$1.9M
Average verdict over the three trials
1
Attorney on the case. Every time.
“I walk into courtrooms outnumbered and out-resourced and I have not lost yet. Marco is not a shortcut. It’s the reason I can outprepare a team of six and still sleep the night before closing.”
Timeline.
Solo practice opens; Marco Reid and Courtroom mode deployed from day one.
First verdict — $1.4M for a plaintiff in a commercial fraud trial against a 5-partner defence firm.
Second verdict — $2.3M in a product-liability trial against AmLaw 200 counsel.
Third verdict — $2.0M in an employment matter; opposing team of six associates.
Ready to see what Marco Reid can do for your firm?
Solo practice pricing starts at a fraction of a junior associate. Courtroom mode is included.