In loving memory and tribute
Nick Styant-Browne 1958 – 2022
Of Counsel
With incredible sadness, we announce the passing of Hagens Berman’s Nick Styant-Browne, an attorney who practiced with the firm since 2001, dedicating his practice to some of the firm’s most intense and influential cases pertaining to human rights violations, environmental degradation and more. Nick’s presence will be immensely felt at our flagship office, and his impact felt around the world, from Sydney to Seattle, to islands in the Pacific Rim and Papua New Guinea. We will miss him dearly.
Hagens Berman has changed through its growth, like all things over decades of existence. Some changes are more welcome than others, and the change we experience when we lose one of our own is certainly the least welcome of them all.
Nick held a position on the executive committee of the largest plaintiffs’ firm in the world – Slater and Gordon of Australia. He joined Hagens Berman to work with us on the Rio Tinto case, a matter that like other cases he would come to work on was a showcase of the firm’s most meaningful, excruciating and complex casework.
In that case, Nick represented victims of Rio Tinto’s mining operation on the island of Bougainville. Rio chemically defoliated, bulldozed and destroyed rainforests, and billions of tons of toxic mine waste was dumped onto the land. Rio dispossessed the people of Bougainville from their land, destroyed their culture and polluted their environment. It was devastating. The people revolted, successfully closed the mine, only to have local military reopen it. A military blockade to coerce the Bougainville people to surrender lasted almost 10 years. Hospitals shuddered, and the blockade led to at least 10,000 deaths. Our case sought redress under the federal Alien Tort Claims Act.
I first met Nick in an office building in Sydney on a Saturday morning. Ten clients from Bougainville had been smuggled off the island to meet with us, in a daring risk of their lives and testament to their own unyielding character.
Our meeting time comes and passes, and so far, no sign of Nick. An hour goes by in the unairconditioned room, with temperatures soaring into the 90s. I meet our amazing clients, who were not accustomed to the same hygiene rituals as we are in the U.S.
Then, in walks Nick. He shows up in full motorcycle gear – chaps and all, not at all ruffled, and ready to get to business.
Nick took on many of the firm’s most arduous matters and did so with commendable skill and spirit. He deeply believed in the cases he took on, including our case representing U.S. victims of the effects of the morning sickness drug, Thalidomide. Throughout that battle, Nick remained determined to bring about positive changes for our clients – those left with debilitating deformities from the unknowing mistakes of their mothers. He faced each hurdle in the Thalidomide case with conviction that we were always on the side of justice, and that our clients’ hardships, and defendants’ negligence, should not be forgotten with history.
In yet another poignant legal battle, Nick played a huge role in our firm’s work against General Motors involving its ignition switch defect. The defect – which GM tried to cover-up through a series of stalling, neglect and recalls – was ultimately responsible for the loss of more than 100 lives and left many more reeling from crashes. The defect allowed even the smallest amount of weight on the keychain to move the automobile into the off position, which would happen while the car was in use, placing the driver in an unimaginably terrifying position.
Nick’s deposition skill shined. The jury loved him, and the Aussie’s accent was unbeatable, all around. Nick’s knack for good lawyering and flair won over many.
Perhaps the only thing to outshine Nick’s character was his infamous singing. Attorneys at Hagens Berman will best recognize his greatest hit: his school song. While most at the firm only endure the karaoke night performance of their school fight song their inaugural year at the firm, Nick’s talents were too great to confine to a one-hit-wonder show. We made him do it every year. And of course the motorcycle. A month ago I was driving home in the Seattle rain and a motor cyclist pulls up to a stop next to me. I say to myself, “What kind of nut job would brave this weather!” None other than the defiant Nick, bending to no one, even mother nature. And I leave for another day the story of how he orchestrated the removal of a recent Australian Prime Minister.
Nick, thanks for being our friend and colleague. Cheers mate.
Steve Berman
