10 questions. Law of the jungle

• Author: Jenny B. Davis
• Pages: 12-13

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF JUNGLE LAW GROUP

IN EARLY MAY, A CROWD RALLIED at an Overland

Park, Kansas , veterinary clinic to ra ise awareness of

animal abuse. They a lso were there to celebrate the

discharge of a plucky pit bull na med Laggie who had

been shot in the head and left t o die.

A search for the shooter is now underway, and when

police apprehend that person, they wil l have to answer

to the authorities and to Tarzan . Or, rather, Tarzan the

Lawman, the nick name of Kansas City litigator Tristen

J. Wo ods.

Woods and his law partner (and fi ancee) Lauren

Sierra Krusk all founded the Jungle Law Group in

January with the int ent to advocate for animals in

civil and cri minal court, including Lagg ie (and her

new foster family).

The duo also handles human ca ses such as tra c

citations and car cra shes—advertised through eye-

catching billboard s and TV commercials that have

featured a loincloth-clad Woods and a f ur-bikinied

Kruska ll swinging on vines, riding a tiger a nd holding

a sloth.

Yes, they have backgrounds in the entert ainment

industry—she’s a former actress, model and profes -

sional NFL cheerleader; he’s had a recurr ing role on a

daytime soap opera. Yes, they rea lly practice law. And,

yes, a reality show is in t he works.

Tristen and Lauren , you moved to Kansas

City—Tristen’s hometown—from Florida in

January to open Jungle L aw Group. Before you

arrived, you lau nched billboards to annou nce

you were “swinging i nto Kansas City,” and

you’ve aired several com mercials since then.

Your ads are fun, but ar e they working?

How’s business?

Tristen J. Woods: We opened in Januar y,

and it’s been crazy. We knew we’d be busy;

we just didn’t think it would happen

this quickly.

Lauren Sierra Kr uskall: We

had clients coming in, and our

computers weren’t even up

and running. They were al l

coming in from our

billboards and the commerc ials.

I have to ask: Did the fi rm get a lot of cra nk calls

in the beginning?

TW: We got a lot of crank calls.

You guys are huge animal lovers, a nd from the

start, you k new that you wanted to create a fi r m

that blended anima l advocacy with civ il and crimi-

nal work for humans. Tell me about that dec ision.

TW: I’ve been practicing law for several yea rs, and I

also have an LLM deg ree in human rights. I wanted to

translate that into a nimal rights law.

LK: We’ve always done pro bono work with animals.

At fi rst, we thought the animal a spect of our fi rm

would just be advertising a nd continued volunteering,

but it has naturally evolved i nto an area of our legal

practice. As at torneys we are advocates, so we are

especially th rilled to provide a voice for animals—

who often don’t ge t one.

By animal r ights law, do you mean civil cases

involving animals?

TW: Yes, that’s exactly what we do—abuse, neglect

and negligence. We also want to work on legislation

a ecting animals . I am working with a Missouri

legislator to get the cha rge of animal abuse recognized

as a felony. We also want an animal cruelty r egistry in

Missouri. It’s similar to a se x o ender list—you go on

it for two years with your n ame and the specifi cations

of the crime—and it can help prevent an abuser f rom

adopting. In the case of Lag gie, our client is the family

who adopted him. Once they fi nd the alleged shoot er,

we’re going to help with the crimina l case and try to

recover damages in a ci vil case.

Tristen, you’ve been cal led

Tarzan since high sc hool

because of your long hai r,

but how did you get the idea

to translat e that into a mar-

keting theme for the fi rm?

TW: I have long hair and

I dress fl amboyantly,

but so does everyone in

Florida. When we decided

to move to Kansas C ity, I

knew it was something that

12 || ABA JOURNAL JULY 2018

Opening Statements

Law partners

Lauren Kruskall

and Tristen

Woods

10 QUESTIONS

LAW

OF THE

JUNGLE

INSPIRED BY TARZAN AND JANE, THIS LEGAL TEAM BRINGS A WILD APPROACH TO THEIR PRACTICE

“LAWYERS DON’T HAVE TO BE

BORING. WE CAN BE INTERACTIVE.

WE CAN BE SOCIAL.”

—TRISTEN WOODS