On the Stand: Eugenie Eardley

By Douglas J. Levy

Eugenie Eardley is one of the few people in Michigan who gets to say that she works across the street from someone with a large Facebook fanbase.

Never mind that the figure in question is a large, cast-alloy moose.

As she explained it, Don Kurylowicz, who owns the village of Cannonsburg, found the moose in Canada and bought it as a PR gimmick for the town. It developed a cult following, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Eardley whenever she looks out the window of her law office to the town's crossroads.

"It's amazing how many people get out of their car to get their picture taken with the moose," she said. "But Don said he'll do anything to get people to come to Cannonsburg."

Eardley, who goes by "Genie," said that running her practice in the 160-year-old hamlet 14 miles east of Grand Rapids has its advantages. For one, she's close to an assortment of horse farms, where she can do her English hunter-jumper riding on one of the former thoroughbred race horses she's adopted. She's able to save on office rent and expenses by not being in a bigger city.

And, best of all, "I get to tell people I'm the best lawyer in Cannonsburg, because I'm it," she said with a laugh.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I think I use "disingenuous" way too often. I hear it from opposing counsel: "Ooh, I'm ‘disingenuous'! Why don't you just call me a liar?" Because it sounds so much better.

What trait do you most like in others?

Honesty.

What was the worst job you ever had?

I was a research assistant for an international studies think tank at Georgetown. I was there two months and hated it. I had to do all the research for all these policy wonks who think about the Hague Convention and nuclear arms stuff. It was boring, they were boring, and I thought right off the bat, "I'm never going to be a professor."

If you could go back in time to one point in your life, where would you go?

In 1980, I was 13 years old and I won a championship at my local horse show. I did perfect jumping around on my pony, Bit o' Honey, and I got a picture in the paper with my dad. And if I could go back in time and have one day back, that was it.

If you couldn't be an attorney, what would you want to be?

A psychiatrist. I'm fascinated by the brain and what motivates people, and I'm fascinated by medicine. It's amazing how much art goes with science in the area of psychiatry. I love the blend of helping someone and trying to figure out the physiology of it and the philosophy and public policy that goes along with it. It's an underserved area in the population, and I have a lot of respect for psychiatrists. Of course, I've sued a bunch of them, too. (laughs)

Eugenie Eardley, Eardley Law, Cannonsburg

Education: Georgetown University Law Center

Specialties: Plaintiff's side medical malpractice, legal and employment discrimination, personal injury

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