In mild traumatic brain injury cases, jurors may not be able to see the outward symptoms of a plaintiff's brain damage immediately. Because of that, it’s critical for a plaintiff’s attorney to lay the groundwork for a significant damage request by conveying the severity of the injury in the first moments of an opening statement. In Wicker v. American Family Insurance, Cash, Krugler & Fredericks’ Alwyn Fredericks combined visual aids and clear analogies during his opening to set up a seven-figure verdict in his client’s 2015 trial.

In a medical malpractice trial, a defense attorney often faces a difficult hurdle convincing jurors to look beyond the tragic, emotionally-charged circumstances surrounding a case in order to evaluate a doctor's care. In Graham v. Hendrix, Downey & Cleveland’s W. Curtis Anderson delivered an opening that keyed a defense win in an 8-figure suit against Wellstar Health System and one of its physicians.

Willie Gary is renowned for his electric openings that pull jurors to the edge of their seats, and his opening statement in last month’s wrongful death trial over a physician that crashed into the back of a landscaping truck followed that standard, setting up a seven-figure verdict.

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Almost two years after being smacked with the lion’s share of a $20.5 million verdict for the death of a patient at one of its sleep centers, Emory University is suing the contractor that was responsible for running the facility, according to an article published in theDaily Report.