Medical center guidelines often form the central legal battleground in cases against hospitals. The defense will use compliance with the guidelines as proof that treatment met appropriate standards, while the plaintiff must show the hospital violated its own protocol or those guidelines didn’t apply. In 2017, Gordon & Doner's Scott Fischer secured a nearly $1 million verdict in a patient fall trial with a closing that hammered the hospital's safety protocol. Harrison v. West Boca Medical Center.

The destruction of key evidence can kneecap a plaintiff’s case, regardless of any adverse inference instruction a judge may give. In 2017's Fournier v. Derazi trial, however, Mark Avera overcame the destruction of vital evidence to win a seven-figure verdict for a college student injured in a fall from a house deck. 

In setting up a $12.5 million verdict against Suzuki at trial last February over a crash allegedly caused by the brake failure on one of its motorcycles, Randy Edwards used a blistering closing argument, and surprising test results, to undercut a theory central to the defense’s case.Johns v. Suzuki Motor Corp., 14SV000043. 

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Jacksonville, FL—Jurors Thursday linked R.J. Reynolds cigarettes to a Florida smoker’s lung disease, but they placed the majority of blame on the smoker, and their $375,000 verdict was a fraction of what she sought against the tobacco giant. Rozar v. R.J. Reynolds, 2014CA000586.

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Update 4/16/18: CVN received word that the case against an Atlanta area dog owner over bites a seven-year old suffered at a children's playground has settled. Terms of any settlement were not immediately available.  CVN will provide further information as it becomes available. 

Atlanta—Trial is scheduled to begin next week against a dog owner whose German Shepherd is accused of attacking a 7-year-old girl at an Atlanta-area playground. Wright v. Cranman and Azima, 15EV000089.