Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Olympic Lawyer on Competition, Law Firm Growth, and the Rule of Law
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Mar 11, 2026 Rich Ruohonen, personal injury trial lawyer and Olympic curler who became the oldest-ever American Winter Olympian, talks about his decades-long curling journey and how athletic discipline shapes trial work. He explains balancing law practice with elite sport, using his network for community support, and why he took a public stand at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games about events in Minnesota.
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Comeback From Retirement To Make The Olympics
- Rich Ruohonen returned from retirement to skip for Team Casper and helped them win the Olympic trials after an intense qualification event in Kelowna, BC.
- He balanced 5:15am workouts, 10‑hour workdays, nightly practices, and travel while continuing his law practice and firm duties.
Athlete Skills Translate Directly To Trial Work
- Being a high-level athlete and a trial lawyer share key skills: practice, psychology, and endurance under pressure.
- Ruohonen runs mock openings/closings, studies juror psychology, and applies sports routines to trial preparation.
Practice Your Opening And Closing Aloud Regularly
- Do practice trial elements repeatedly before court: give openings, closings, and exams to groups and critique them.
- Ruohonen requires at least one practiced opening for every trial and runs a 'fight club' to refine arguments.