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Is work-from-home monotony weighing you down? At CVN, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy and can get back to action as quickly as possible. Until then, if you need a quick break from work-from-home tedium and are sick of Facebook cat videos, we have you covered with some of our biggest trial highlights.
|Watch| Willie Gary’s Thunderous Opening at Trial Over Fatal Bicycle Crash Yields 7-Figure Verdict
Willie Gary is renowned for his electric openings that pull jurors to the edge of their seats, and his opening statement in a wrongful death trial over a physician that crashed into the back of a landscaping truck followed that standard, setting up a seven-figure verdict.
|Watch| The Allison Brown Closing That Won a Talc Defense Verdict for J&J
In a compelling closing argument Allison Brown contended there was no evidence connecting Johnson & Johnson's talc-based Baby Powder to a South Carolina woman's peritoneal mesothelioma. Jurors ultimately cleared J&J in the case, the third cosmetic talc-related lawsuit to go to trial in the state.
|Watch| Jim Butler’s Long Minute That Counted Down to a $150M Verdict in Fatal Jeep Explosion Case
As critical as a well-prepared closing is, sometimes the moments with the biggest impact are delivered as a counterpunch to a remark by opposing counsel. That’s how James Butler framed the 60 seconds of silence during rebuttal argument at trial against Chrysler over a fire that killed a toddler.
|VIDEO| How Paul Weathington’s Blistering Close Cleared Neurologist in $10M Med Mal Trial
While medical malpractice trials often focus on a battle of experts and complicated standards of care, sometimes an argument appealing to a jury's "common sense" can be the most effective way to turn a case. In a med mal trial over a patient’s blindness, Paul Weathington’s forceful close deftly keyed on expectations of treatment and follow-up care responsibilities to help clear a Georgia neurologist.
|Watch| How Nick Rowley’s Voir Dire Questions Blunted Adverse Opinion on Damages
A prospective juror that expresses strong opinions on issues adverse to a case can be a critical landmine during voir dire. Such opinions risk swaying other members of the venire. However, during jury selection in a 2018 medical malpractice case, Nick Rowley upended a prospective juror’s pro-tort reform stance when introducing his damages claim.
Watch| The Kathryn Lehman Argument That Cleared RJR in Cancer Trial
The most successful defenses often go beyond simply arguing broken links in a plaintiff’s case. Typically, they also persuasively raise an alternate causation theory in which the defendant is not liable. At trial over a long-time smoker’s death, Kathryn Lehman’s closing argument masterfully employs that strategy to help clear one of the nation’s largest tobacco companies of liability.
Watch| Karen Koehler Channels Boat Captain in Opening That Sets Up $123M Crash Case Win
Delivering a compelling opening can be a challenge in product liability trials, where equipment specifications and similarly dry material are often central to a case. However, in openings at trial over a fatal duck boat crash, Karen Koehler artfully channeled a duck boat captain to detail her case and set the foundation for a nine-figure verdict.
VIDEO| The Trucking Trial Argument That Helped Win $8M Verdict on $171K in Medical Expenses
During closings of trial against a trucking company blamed for a crash that injured a Georgia motorcyclist, Michael Goldberg and Eric Rogers teamed for a powerful argument on pain and loss that delivered an $8 million verdict on about $171,000 in claimed economic damages.
|Watch| The Mark Lanier Opening That Set up a $4.69B Talc Verdict
Mark Lanier's masterful opening at trial against J&J over the cancer 22 women say they developed because of the company's talc products laid the foundation for a massive verdict against the consumer products giant.
|Watch| “It’s All About Greed,” Bradley Beckworth Argues, En Route to $572M Opioid Verdict
Bradley Beckworth, representing the Oklahoma AG's office, delivered his closing statement in the first lawsuit in the country to go to trial over claims drug companies are responsible for the ongoing opioid crisis. Judge Thad Balkman ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay the state $572M.
|Watch| How Louis LaCava’s Closing Helped Clear Docs at Trial Over Woman’s Ectopic Pregnancy
Defense attorneys in medical negligence cases must often overcome jurors’ natural tendency to engage in hindsight bias when they consider a doctor’s care. At trial over the communication and treatment surrounding a Florida woman’s ectopic pregnancy, Louis La Cava’s closing on staff expectations and an artful warning on hindsight bias helped clear the doctors that treated her.
|Watch| How Jonathan Gdanski Helped Secure an 8-Figure Verdict in Tobacco Trial
|Watch| How Brantley Rowlen’s Closing Walk-Through Helped Clear Club in 7-Figure Slip-and-Fall Trial
Slip-and-fall cases involving a static condition often hinge on whether the condition was in plain view, and thus, what the plaintiff reasonably could be expected to see. In a trip-and-fall case involving a woman injured at a metro Atlanta jazz club, Lewis Brisbois’s Brantley Rowlen delivers a closing argument walk-through that helped clear the club against a $2 million claim.
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