Meet Zach
Awards
Professional Background
Shortly after earning his law degree from the University of Illinois, where he graduated magna cum laude, Zach was already experiencing high-dollar success on behalf of his clients. Early cases included a $4,188,137.24 judgment in McEwen v. Accelerated Commercial Consultants and a $3,427,692 judgment in a probate fraud case. Although Zach was going up against much more experienced attorneys, he refused to be intimidated. He did not relent in his pursuit of justice until the case was adjudicated in favor of his clients.
Zach’s litigation successes are not limited to high-profile cases. In his first solo trial, he represented a local small business in a dispute with a former customer represented by a pair of attorneys with decades of experience between them. Not only did Zach prevail on his claims against the opposing party and defeat the claims against his client, but he earned an attorney’s fee award as well—in an amount approximately fifteen times the underlying award.
Before co-founding a Civil Litigation firm, Zach was employed at a larger insurance defense firm where he worked for international insurance companies and represented large corporations in personal injury lawsuits. As a defense attorney, he gained invaluable insights that enhance his efficacy as an advocate for victims who are injured as a result of others’ negligence.
For over a decade, Zach was a civil litigator and trial attorney who was able to win several multimillion-dollar judgments, expose the vulnerabilities of business entities, engage in veil piercing to destroy the corporate shield that litigants thought protected them, and find creative and diverse means to effectuate collection. As a first-chair trial attorney, he never lost. He lost twice as second chair, one of which was rectified on appeal. He is undefeated on appeal.
Along the way, Zach learned some unexpected lessons about how money works: how to earn it, grow it, and keep more of it.
While thriving as a trial attorney, Zach partnered up with a tax expert and started a second law firm, the Fortune Law Firm, which is dedicated to helping clients with tax planning, investments, and retirement. Zach has since sold his trial practice to dedicate his efforts to the Fortune Law Firm, where he currently helps his clients create a comprehensive tax and asset-protection plan to help them keep more of what they earn.
Zach’s latest endeavor has been authoring his newest publication, Un$hackled. In Un$hackled, Zach explores perhaps one of the greatest deceipts the American public face — the 401K and government operated “retirement” plans. Referencing primary sources like the Internal Revenue Code, case law, and using tools like math (and the ever harder-to-find common sense), Un$hackled explores these elements of so-called financial conventional wisdom, dissects them, and shows them for what they really are. (Hint: it’s not actually wisdom at all.) You can grab your copy of Un$hackled by clicking on the button below.
When Zach takes his lawyer hat off, he enjoys coaching and playing softball (go Neff Herders!), tinkering with graphic design, writing creatively, eating sushi, and doing just about anything with his wife, Amber, and their four kids. He is an avid escape room enthusiast, having done over fifty escape rooms in ten states (and several in Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium).
Zach is into grammar (it's a blessing and a curse), a huge sci-fi fan (especially Star Wars and comic-book stuff), and an amateur typographer (and staunch proponent of only one space at the end of a sentence). Zach is also very active in his church and, when properly motivated, makes a mean fettuccine alfredo.
Personal
Zach received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Brigham Young University. While at BYU, he won the Sloan Speech Showcase Award for expository oration for a tongue-in-cheek delivery of his original work, “How to Give a Condescending Speech.”
He then headed to the Midwest where he attended law school at the highly ranked University of Illinois. At the U of I, Zach received numerous awards, including two CALI Excellence for the Future Awards. He was honored to receive the law school’s most prestigious award, the Rickert Award—twice—once for excellence in trial advocacy and once for excellence in legal writing.
Zach’s article, “Digital Manipulation and Photographic Evidence: Defrauding the Courts One Thousand Words at a Time” published in the University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy, was identified by the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal in its Spring 2010 issue as one “of the most important and timely articles on computers, technology, and the law” for its treatment of computer-generated demonstrative evidence.
Written and spoken words are the tools of an attorney’s trade, and Zach has had focused success in both written and oral advocacy—as recognized by the honors and awards received from publications, professors, and peers.
Zach is an educator himself, having accepted a position as Adjunct Professor at UNLV., and has taught several university-level law courses and published over fifty legal articles and a book currently used as the text for a legal course at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Education
Publications
+ 2008-2010
"It's My CD—Isn't All Use Fair Use?" Boulder City Magazine, September 2008
"It May Be Your House, But It's My Home," Boulder City Magazine, April 2009
"Digital Manipulation and Photographic Evidence: Defrauding the Courts One Thousand Words at a Time," University of Illinois Journal of Law Technology & Policy, May 6, 2009
"Duty to Rescue," Boulder City Magazine, July 2009
"Can I Be Held to My Word," Boulder City Magazine, December 2009
"Implied Warranties," Boulder City Magazine, March 2010
"Your Child Support Rights," Boulder City Magazine, July 2011
"Collecting Unpaid Debts," Boulder City Magazine, September 2011
"Fraud in Nevada," Boulder City Magazine, November 2011
+ 2011-2015
"Your Child Support Rights," Boulder City Magazine, July 2011
"Collecting Unpaid Debts," Boulder City Magazine, September 2011
"Fraud in Nevada," Boulder City Magazine, November 2011
"Nevada Supreme Court Condones Relocating Child Without Father's or Court's Permission," Las Vegas Informer, June 27, 2014
"Wage Insurers, Enforcers and a General Contractor's Role," Nevada Business Magazine, July 2014
"Supreme Court Undermined the Legislature's Wiretapping Statute Without Anyone Noticing," Las Vegas Tribune, July 2, 2014
"Verdicts and Judgments: When Life or Death Hangs on a Comma," Las Vegas Tribune, July 2, 2014
"Union Trust Funds' New Approach to the Collection of Subcontractor Labor Debts Leaves Unwitting General Contractors Footing the Bill Twice," Las Vegas Tribune, July 23, 2014
"Insurance Companies Take Advantage of Metro Police's Budget Cuts," Las Vegas Tribune, July 30, 2014
"Perpetrators of Fraud in Nevada Have Cause to Beware," Las Vegas Tribune, August 6, 2014
"Lethal Force Authorized to Defend Your Home in Nevada," Las Vegas Informer, August 6, 2014
"Mortgage Scams Involving Force-Placed Insurance," Las Vegas Informer, August 12, 2014
"Does a Contract Have to Be in Writing to Be Enforceable?" Las Vegas Tribune, August 13, 2014
"Is Bitcoin Legal Tender? No, But It Is Legal Currency," Las Vegas Tribune, August 27, 2014
"Political Perspectives on the History of Labor Day," Las Vegas Informer, August 29, 2014
"Ten Things You Didn't Know About the United States Constitution," Las Vegas Informer, August 29, 2014
"Should Defendants Apologize?" Las Vegas Tribune, September 17, 2014
"Are Arbitration Agreements Enforceable in Nevada?" Las Vegas Tribune, October 1, 2014
"The Law and Halloween," Las Vegas Tribune, October 15, 2014
"Where's My Money? Getting Paid on a Personal Injury Lawsuit," Las Vegas Tribune, October 22, 2014
"When Gossip Becomes Slander: Defamation in Nevada," Las Vegas Informer, October 22, 2014
"Crimes vs. Torts: An Analysis of Guilt and Liability in the Justice System," Las Vegas Informer, October 30, 2014
"Same-Sex Marriage Ban Could Signal Imminent U.S. Supreme Court Involvement," Las Vegas Tribune, November 12, 2014
"Is a Click as Binding as a Signature for Digital Contracts?" Las Vegas Tribune, December 3, 2014
"The Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in Nevada," Attorney at Law, December 1, 2014
"State v. Santa Claus: St. Nicholas in the Courts," Las Vegas Informer, December 12, 2014
"What Every Nevada Driver Should Know About Car Insurance," Las Vegas Informer, December 29, 2014
+ 2016-Present
"Intentional Acts Can Be 'Accidental' in First-Party Claims in Nevada," The Advocate, March–April 2016
"Are We Really a Litigious Society?" The Advocate, May–June 2016
"A History of the Most Recent Changes to Nevada’s Malpractice Laws," The Advocate, July–August 2016
"Perfecting Charging Liens to Preserve Attorney Lien Priority," The Advocate, September–October 2016
"Discoverability v. Admissibility: A Reminder of What Constitutes a Proper Discovery Response and What Is Discovery Abuse," The Advocate, November–December 2016
"Corporate Representative Depositions and Rule 30(b)(6)," The Advocate, January-February 2017
"Requests for Admission: A Plaintiff's Secret Weapon," The Advocate, March-April 2017
"Judicial Profile: Judge Joe Hardy," The Advocate, May-June 2017
"A Judicial Profile: Discovery Commissioner Bonnie A. Bulla," The Advocate, July-August 2017
"Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply at Depositions?" The Advocate, September-October 2017
"A Case for More Honesty Among Lawyers," The Advocate, November-December 2017
"Obtaining Discovery of Prior Injuries to Prove Notice in a Premises Liability Case," The Advocate, January-February 2018
"The Role of Deterrence in Tort Law," The Advocate, March–April 2018
"Who Should Bear the Cost of a Default Judgment That Has Been Set Aside?" The Advocate, June–July 2018
"What Does It Mean to Mediate in Bad Faith?" The Advocate, July–August 2018
Dumb Criminals and Overeager Cops: A Paralegal's Guide to Criminal Law and Procedure, August 2, 2018
"Typography as Advocacy Part I," The Advocate, September–October 2018
“Typography as Advocacy Part II,” The Advocate, November–December 2018
“Typography as Advocacy Part I,” Trial Journal, Winter 2019
“Six Books All Plaintiff Trial Lawyers Should Read,” The Advocate, January–February 2019
“Meeting the Burden of Undue Burden in a Discovery Objection,” The Advocate, March–April 2019
“Are Salaried Paralegals Entitled to Overtime Pay?” The Advocate, May–June 2019
“One Simple Solution for Financing Your Law Firm,” The Advocate, July–August 2019
"Admissibility of Crash Animations at Trial," The Advocate, September–October 2019
"Kudos to You," The Advocate, November–December 2019
"Confessions of a Trial Lawyer: Why I Used to Love Suing Doctors and How I Came to Protect Them," Top Doctor Magazine, Issue 1, 2020
"Rock the Medical Boat: How to Steer & Navigate a Million Dollar Practice in a Shifting Economy," Top Doctor Magazine, July 2020
Un$hackled: How to Escape the Chains of Conventional Wisdom That Keep You Poor, December 1, 2020
"The Corporate Shield: A Light that Pierces Through the National Practitioner Data Bank’s Dark Shadow," Age Management Practice Group, March 25, 2022
Coming Soon: Law For Doctors: Written So Even Doctors Can Understand