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Month: April 2009

Be a spectatus

Be a spectatus

Trial lawyers have to be risk takers if they are going to be great trial lawyers. It can sometimes be frightening and intimidating. How we react to our fears determines how well we represent our clients. In the book The Airmen and the Headhunters author Judith Heimann quotes a pilot of a bomber shot down in World War II as saying that during dangerous flying missions he had often been frightened. But he went on to say: "provided you don’t…

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Observations about recent jury trials

Observations about recent jury trials

I had two friends lose their jury cases last week and another one win his. It caused me to think about why that might happen and how we approach our cases is so important to the outcome. Here are some rambling personal views about the subject. In one of the cases the trial tookfive weeks, but it only took thejurytwohours to bring in a defense verdict. That very likely means they never changed their minds from the start of the…

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Arguing defense of plaintiff contributory or comparative negligence

Arguing defense of plaintiff contributory or comparative negligence

We usually face a defense that our client, the plaintiff, was himself or herself negligent and that their own negligence was the cause of the injuries they are suing over. This is a common defense we have to deal with. I’ve collected a few arguments on that subject and here isa collection ofthem. COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE Ordinary care means average – a C student – not an A student. The law does not require the plaintiffto be an A student in…

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