Today I’d like to share with you an actual one page outline I used in opening statement in a very major damage case resulting in a record jury verdict. The case involved a man who contacted a power line with a metal pole he was using while installing a bill board postor sheet. The electrical force knocked him off the platform where was standing to the ground a long distance below. He was badly burned and had to have three…
For a description of this trial see I thought I’d share the short opening statement I made which was limited to the damage portion of the case since my partners had covered liability before I spoke. I don’t offer this as a model, but simply to suggest that one can achieve multimillion dollar verdicts in major injury cases without a lengthy opening statement on damages. What isn’t illustrated are the slides that accompanied this opening and which allowed me…
I am a great admirer of David Ball because he is one of very few people who has taken the effort to spell out the steps and procedures for trying a civil case based upon sound research and experience. Many people have explained procedures and concepts, but few have done so in a “paint by the numbers” style of teaching. His latest edition of Damages 3 is a book every trial lawyer should own, read and put into practice. Here…