Texas Lawyer Who Beat Meta and Google Has a Unique Playbook

Mark Lanier isn't your typical Big Tech antagonist. The Texas-based trial lawyer moonlights as a pastor, and he just notched victories against both Meta and Google in the Los Angeles social media case.

Lanier's courtroom style is anything but conventional. He deploys props and parables to make his arguments land — techniques honed across battles with social media giants, drugmakers, and manufacturers alike.

His approach apparently got under Mark Zuckerberg's skin. Lanier said the Meta CEO was "rattled" on the stand during testimony.

The case represents a significant legal blow to major social media platforms, with a plaintiff's attorney leveraging storytelling over corporate legalese to win over the courtroom.

Lanier's track record of taking on massive corporations suggests Big Tech's legal teams may want to study his playbook closely.