In any trial involving a corporate defendant, jurors can carry inherent, subconscious biases against that corporation, which may turn into a key hurdle for the defense. Introducing a defendant corporation in a way that gives it a “face” beyond the logo can be a powerful way to lay the critical groundwork for overcoming those biases. And in a trial over the cancer a man developed after taking diabetes medication Actos, D’Lesli Davis’ introduction of manufacturer Takeda painted the company as just "folks,” helping set up a defense win.
Allen Alsabagh claimed the bladder cancer he developed was caused by his use of Actos, manufactured by Takeda. For its part, Takeda claimed it had adequately warned of side effects from the drug and there was no link between Actos and Alsabagh’s cancer.
Takeda is a multinational entity — characterized by plaintiff’s attorney as a chemical company from Japan — for which jurors may have harbored a subconscious bias. But in opening the 2013 trial, Davis, now of Norton Rose Fulbright, introduced the company as “just people.” A face was further put to that characterization by Davis’ introduction of corporate counsel Stacy Callahan at the defense table. Callahan, Davis said, might not be able to attend the full trial because she had a “little girl… back home in Chicago.”
Davis added that the company was made up of people just like Callahan, and included doctors, nurses, and “regulatory folks” that live “in the heartland of this country and literally travel the globe in pursuit of the science of saving lives.”
Thus, rather than a faceless pharmaceutical entity, Davis’ picture of Takeda was a collection of dedicated professionals, working for the best interests of the public.
Moreover, Davis addressed the characterization of the corporation as a chemical company. “Chemical’s not a dirty word, by the way.... All the medicines we take, from aspirin to [medicine] when we have a stomach ache, those are all chemicals,” Davis said. “Takeda does chemistry to help people.”
Davis’ introduction helped paint Takeda in a more positive light, overcome any inherent juror biases, and ultimately cleared the company of liability in the case.
That video is part of a playlist focused on introducing your corporate or professional defendant in openings, now available to CVN video archive subscribers.
The playlist features video of top attorneys, such as Davis, Allison Brown, James Hurst, and more, highlighting how they humanized their clients.
Browse the "Humanizing a Defendant Corporation or Professional in Openings" playlist now, available to CVN Library subscribers.
It’s part of our new and ever-growing Playlist Library, a curated collection of video clips of trial techniques employed by the nation’s best attorneys. CVN Playlists features dozens of lists and hundreds of clips across all phases of trial, developed with an eye toward improving your courtroom skills. You'll learn the keys to a damages argument, effective examples of voir dire, and so much more.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com
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