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The Great Trials Podcast offers a series of laid-back, casual conversations with leading trial lawyers, taking listeners "behind the scenes" of America’s greatest trials. Hosted by acclaimed trial lawyers Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey, each podcast episode focuses on one important trial and includes in-depth, insightful interviews with the attorneys who successfully argued the case in front of a judge and jury.
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
This week on the podcast we interview Chris Hamilton of Hamilton Wingo (https://hamiltonwingo.com/).
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Guest Bio:
Chris Hamilton
Chris Hamilton is one of the country’s leading high-stakes trial lawyers. He has won record-setting verdicts and settlements in catastrophic personal injury cases, wrongful death lawsuits, and complex business disputes.
Chris chooses to work on cases where he knows he can make a game-changing difference by relying on his methodical preparation and truly extraordinary trial skills. He takes great pride when lawyers and clients trust him to handle the most important cases of their careers or lives.
In 2022, Chris won a historic $7.37 billion jury verdict in Dallas, Texas, which was the year’s largest verdict nationwide and 4th largest personal injury award in U.S. history against a corporation.
His nearly two decades of experience taking on negligence, fraud, and abuse by big businesses includes Chris’ work alongside the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in a ground-breaking federal False Claims Act case. The $25 million settlement in 2021 directly against a private equity firm and a group of healthcare industry executives is the largest of its kind.
Chris has been featured in Courtroom View Network’s (CVN) list of the Most Impressive Trials of 2019, and his multibillion-dollar victory in 2022 topped CVN’s list of the Most Impressive Plaintiffs Verdicts of 2022.
The Dallas Business Journal recognized Chris for winning Texas’ largest personal injury verdict in 2014, ranked as the nation’s 17th largest. In addition, he was recognized by Top Verdict in 2016 for Texas’ 9th largest personal injury verdict. Verdict Search noted him in 2011 for one of the state’s Top 10 and Top 100 verdicts in the U.S.
Chris has been repeatedly recognized for his expertise in personal injury trials by other attorneys in the annual list of The Best Lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine, The Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, and National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Attorneys, and is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the Leader’s Forum for the American Association for Justice.
Chris’ cases have been featured in numerous media outlets, including Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, Texas Lawyer, Dallas Business Journal, Law360, The Dallas Morning News, Texas Lawbook, The Houston Chronicle, and The Austin-American Statesman, and numerous local television reports and print news stories nationwide.
Chris earned the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year honor in 2017 from the American Association for Justice for representing hundreds of people unlawfully detained at DFW Airport during the travel ban. Chris, a fluent Spanish speaker, is a current member of the Board of Directors for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
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Tuesday Aug 13, 2024
Tuesday Aug 13, 2024
This week Steve and Yvonne interview Cody Berne of Stoll Berne (https://stollberne.com/).
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Guest Bio:
Cody Berne
Cody Berne is an advocate for his clients in cases large and small. He is prepared to go to trial if that is what the case requires. Cody has been first chair at over 40 trials. He leads Stoll Berne’s team in the class action lawsuit against PacifiCorp for starting fires across Oregon during the Labor Day 2020 storm. He was co-lead trial counsel in an 8-week trial where the jury found PacifiCorp liable to a class of several thousand people for gross negligence, punitive damages, and other claims. The jury awarded on average approximately $5 million to each of the 17-named plaintiffs. He was also co-lead trial counsel in the first and second damages-only jury trials on behalf of 19 more class members. The juries awarded several million dollars per person. The trials and litigation, including the work by Cody and his colleagues at Stoll Berne, have been featured in national and local news, including NPR, the Washington Post, Oregonlive, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, and the AP.
Along with representing wildfire survivors and their families, Cody advises investors who lost money because of fraud and other misconduct and plaintiffs in class actions. His class action experience includes securities, consumer, ERISA, food labeling, and fire cases. Cody’s practice also includes commercial and complex litigation.
He is an active member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. Cody previously worked as a deputy district attorney at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. Before that, Cody represented individuals and businesses in cases involving investment fraud and a wide range of business disputes at a large Northwest firm.
He received the Haglund Award in 2016 from the Multnomah Bar Association. He was selected as a Future Star in Benchmark Litigation and also named in The Best Lawyers in America and Oregon Super Lawyers.
During law school, Cody interned for U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller and U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Delaney. Elected to Order of the Coif, he received the Clinical Legal Education Association Award and a Witkin Award. Cody also represented clients as a law student at the Civil Rights Clinic and Prison Law Clinic and earned a Public Service Certificate.
Before law school, Cody served as a police officer with the Portland Police Bureau and as a wildland firefighter across the West.
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Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
This week, we’re replaying a classic episode where Steve and Yvonne interview Chris Hamilton of Hamilton Wingo LLP (https://hamiltonwingo.com/).
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Case Details:
Discussing a landmark premises liability case, trial lawyer and Hamilton Wingo LLP partner Chris Hamilton explains how he held McDonald's responsible for ongoing lack of security and secured justice for the families of Texas A&M college students Denton Ward and Lauren Crisp, who died following a late-night trip to a McDonald's in College Station, Texas. In February 2012, Denton Ward and Lauren Crisp, along with Samantha Bean and another friend, went to McDonald's, where Denton Ward was violently assaulted by Marcus Jones and a mob of other attackers. Lauren Crisp and Samantha Bean carried a bleeding Denton Ward to his SUV in an attempt to get him to the hospital. The driver, Samantha Bean, ran a red light and collided with another car. Denton Ward was killed and Lauren Crisp, who was unrestrained and tending to Denton Ward's injuries, was also killed. Despite the defense's attempts to shift focus away from McDonald's ongoing lack of concern for customer safety at a restaurant location with a history of late-night violence and to blame Samantha Bean for reckless driving, a Brazos County, Texas jury assigned 97 percent of the responsibility to McDonald's and returned a verdict of $27,000,000 in damages.
Guest Bio:
Chris Hamilton
Chris Hamilton has established himself as one of the leading high-stakes trial lawyers in the United States. Hamilton has a recent track record of verdicts and settlements that are setting the mark in both the personal injury arena and in complex business disputes. For example, Hamilton was recently featured in Courtroom View Network’s (CVN) list of Most Impressive Trials of 2019. In 2014, Hamilton was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal as having the largest jury verdict in Texas for a personal injury case and the 17th largest jury verdict in the United States. In 2016, Hamilton was recognized by Top Verdict as having the ninth-largest personal injury verdict in Texas. Hamilton was recognized in 2011 by Verdict Search as having one of the top 10 verdicts in Texas and top 100 verdicts in the United States. Hamilton was selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America for 2019, the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America for 2020, and is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
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Tuesday Jul 02, 2024
Tuesday Jul 02, 2024
This week, we’re replaying a classic episode where Steve and Yvonne interview Shane Lazenby of Lazenby Law Group (https://lazlawgroup.com/).
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Case Details:
Former defense attorney and U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps veteran Shane Lazenby of Lazenby Law Group explains how he secured justice in the wrongful death of Kip Holland, a 50-year-old intellectually disabled pedestrian who was hit by a weaving, out-of-control tractor-trailer in Gainesville, Georgia. At trial, Shane Lazenby demonstrated that James Harper, the 76-year-old tractor-trailer driver who died before the case went to trial, lied on his Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration medical exam, took prescription narcotics four times a day, performed breathing treatments for COPD in his trailer and was regularly admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. In 2020, a Gainesville, Georgia jury returned a verdict in favor of Kip Holland's grieving family and awarded $21,029,363 in damages, litigation expenses, and attorney's fees.
Guest Bio:
Shane Lazenby
Shane Lazenby is the founder and managing member of Lazenby Law Group. After more than a decade of defending those accused of negligence in personal injury cases, Shane decided to reverse course and help the victims of serious injuries. With unparalleled compassion and limitless commitment, Shane quickly learned how much more rewarding and uplifting service as a victim’s advocate can be. Shane now focuses his practice on helping the victims of catastrophic personal injury and the families whose loved ones have passed as a result of another's negligence.
Shane received his law degree in 1999 at the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. While at Mercer, Shane was a member of the Moot Court Board and the Mercer Law Review where he served as the Eleventh Circuit Survey Editor. Shane also received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with a minor in Latin, from Mercer in 1994.
Following law school, Shane returned to the United States Army, where he served as a Judge Advocate with the 82d Airborne Division. Shane’s service included duties as the Regimental Judge Advocate for the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, where he obtained a 100% conviction rate in the most active military justice jurisdiction in the United States Army. Shane was also selected to be the first Judge Advocate from the 82d Airborne Division to deploy to the Global War on Terrorism as counsel to the Commander of the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Shane was then selected to be the Operational Law Attorney for the 82d Airborne Division Commander in Bagram, Afghanistan, where he served until returning home.
In December 2010, Shane retired from the Georgia Army National Guard after 21 years of total military service with the Georgia National Guard, United States Army, and Army Reserve. Shane joined the military in 1989, first serving as a combat medical specialist. In 1993 Shane graduated from Officer’s Candidate School and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer. Shane served as an Infantry Platoon Leader, Signal Platoon Leader, and Operations Officer with a Ranger-led, Airborne Long Range Surveillance Unit. He then returned to the active Army for his tour of duty as a Judge Advocate before transitioning into the Army Reserve. In the Army Reserve, Shane continued service as a Judge Advocate, but was then selected for Command as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company Commander for the 335th Signal Command. Thereafter, Shane transitioned back into the Georgia Army National Guard where he returned to his Infantry roots and became the Executive Officer of the 3-108th Cavalry Squadron; his retirement assignment. Shane’s service awards include the coveted Ranger tab, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Bronze Star for service in the Republic of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Shane’s service as an Army Ranger also included competition in the LTG David E. Grange Best Ranger Competition in 2002.
After his return from Afghanistan, Shane transitioned into private practice with a prestigious trial defense firm in Atlanta, Georgia, where he gained invaluable experience and growth alongside some of Georgia’s finest defense and plaintiff attorneys. After deciding to depart big city life, Shane settled with his family in Gainesville, Georgia. In Gainesville, Shane continued honing his skills as a partner with a Gainesville firm specializing in the defense of physicians accused of medical malpractice. In his career, Shane has tried more than fifty cases to verdict. His extensive experience was noted when he was selected as an Atlanta Magazine Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Shane was also pleased to be selected as a Georgia Super Lawyer for Plaintiff’s Personal Injury in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, a peer-reviewed award limited to only the top 2.5% of Georgia’s attorneys. Shane also maintains a coveted AV Rating from Martindale Hubbell – the highest possible rating in terms of both legal ability and ethical standards. Shane was also fortunate to graduate from Leadership Georgia in 2013 and Leadership Hall County in 2016.
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Tuesday Jun 18, 2024
Tuesday Jun 18, 2024
This week, Steve and Yvonne interview Richard Mitchell of Mitchell & Shapiro LLP (https://www.mitchellshapiro.com/).
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Case Details:
Richard Mitchell, a partner at Mitchell & Shapiro LLP, explains how he secured justice for Elizabeth Dickinson, who sustained a painful pressure ulcer due to the negligence of Landmark Hospital's staff, who did not rotate her position regularly on her hospital bed. Transferred from Grady Hospital in Atlanta after receiving treatment for car crash-related injuries, Elizabeth was admitted to Landmark Hospital with a stable stage 2 sacral ulcer, which quickly escalated to stage 4. The pressure ulcer took a full year to heal, but Elizabeth's activities continue to be limited due to the poor wound care she received. Despite the defense's attempts to blame Landmark's new medical records system, Elizabeth's daughter and even Elizabeth herself for her injuries, a Gwinnett County, Georgia jury returned a verdict of $1,300,000 in damages.
Guest Bio:
Richard Mitchell
Richard C. Mitchell is a partner with Mitchell & Shapiro LLP. He concentrates on personal injury matters, including medical malpractice, trucking and auto wrecks, and aviation crashes. In December of 2003 and 2014, he was voted by his peers in Georgia Trend magazine as one of Georgia’s “Legal Elite” in the personal injury area. From 2003-2019 the readers of Atlanta Magazine voted him a “Georgia Super Lawyer” in personal injury litigation. He is regarded as one of the most experienced personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers in the Atlanta, Georgia area and has received the highest possible professional rating, Martindale-Hubble's AV Preeminent rating, consecutively for 20 years.
After clerking for 2 United States District Court judges in Atlanta, Richard C. Mitchell was an associate and partner with the major law firm Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy for over 14 years before leaving to start his own firm in 1997. During that time, he successfully represented numerous manufacturers and insurers in product liability cases, including manufacturers of automobiles, aircraft and aircraft components, forklifts, woodworking machinery, chemicals, conveyor belts, and electric limit switches. He left the large firm in order to concentrate on representing injured individuals. Mr. Mitchell’s years of experience defending clients in personal injury cases and working with insurance companies have given him a unique insight into the civil litigation process and an ability to work with defendants to obtain favorable results for his clients. He is a successful veteran of more than 100 trials, arbitrations, and mediations; he, therefore, has the experience and skills to achieve his clients’ goals before a judge and jury in the event a settlement cannot be reached. He has obtained several Georgia Top Ten Verdicts in medical malpractice.
As one of the finest personal injury lawyers in Atlanta, Georgia, Richard C. Mitchell has been a frequent speaker at seminars and the author of chapters in several treatises and legal articles.
Richard is also currently serving as an adjunct professor at Georgia State University School of Law.
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Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
This week, we’re replaying a classic episode where Steve and Yvonne interview Alwyn Fredericks of Cash, Krugler, Fredericks (https://ckandf.com/).
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Case Details:
Alwyn Fredericks, a partner at Cash Krugler Fredericks in Atlanta, shares how he secured justice for 18-year-old college student Jewel Wicker, who sustained permanent brain damage following a severe car crash. Jewel was on her way to church when her Honda Accord was hit by a 26-foot Freightliner that ran a red light. The impact of the tractor-trailer, owned by First Class Produce, caused Jewel to hit her head, rendering her temporarily unconscious. Suffering damage to her frontal and temporal lobes, Jewel was diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury, which, years after the crash, still causes her to have headaches, ringing in her ears, light sensitivity, memory problems, anxiety, and depression. Despite the defense's attempts to persuade the jury that Jewel was lying about her injuries or embellishing the extent of her pain, a DeKalb County jury returned a verdict of $3,500,000.
Guest Bio:
Alwyn Fredericks
Alwyn Fredericks graduated from Mercer University Law School in 1998. His practice areas include auto and trucking accidents, medical malpractice, fire and explosion cases, and premises liability actions. Mr. Fredericks has a sub-specialty in litigating traumatic brain injury cases and has successfully tried several brain injury cases, obtaining substantial verdicts for his clients. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and a former member of the Editorial Board of Verdict, a magazine of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. Additional memberships include the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, the American Bar Association, and the Gate City Bar Association. Mr. Fredericks frequently presents at local and national seminars regarding effective litigation and trial techniques. He is consistently recognized as a top litigator in Georgia and named one of Georgia’s Superlawyers.
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Tuesday May 21, 2024
Tuesday May 21, 2024
This week, we’re replaying a classic episode where Steve and Yvonne interview Brian McKeen of McKeen and Associates, LP (https://www.mckeenassociates.com/).
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Case Details:
Detroit medical malpractice attorney Brian McKeen explains how he secured justice for a two-month-old boy who suffered brain damage resulting in cerebral palsy after William Beaumont Hospital technicians failed to act urgently. The baby turned blue after receiving an IV for an outpatient renal scan and was without oxygen for 12 minutes because nuclear medicine technicians neglected to immediately issue a "code blue" or to begin administering chest compressions. Despite the defense's attempts to convince the jury that the incident occurred due to pre-existing conditions, an Oakland County, Michigan jury returned a landmark $130.5 million verdict.
Guest Bio:
Brian McKeen
Brian McKeen began practicing law in 1982. During his career, he has become a powerful advocate for his clients and one of the foremost medical malpractice attorneys in Michigan. He has tried cases throughout the United States. He currently sits on the executive boards of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) and the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Mr. McKeen formerly served as chair of the AAJ Professional Negligence Section, Medical Negligence Exchange Group, and Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG).
Since 2001, McKeen & Associates has generated the year's top verdict in Michigan four times, including securing the state's largest medical malpractice verdict on record in 2001, when a jury rendered a verdict award of $55 million in the case of Hall v Henry Ford Health System. McKeen & Associates also topped all Michigan verdict awards in 2002, with an award of $22.5 million in the case of Blazo v McLaren Regional Medical Center, et al; in 2006, with an award of $16 million in the case of Lowe v Henry Ford Health System; and in 2007, with an award of $35 million in the case of Oppenheim v Aeneas C. Guiney. Mr. McKeen was recently inducted into The Inner Circle of Advocates and named Top Attorneys in Michigan as published by The New York Times in September 2012.
Professional Associations and Memberships:
Inner Circle of Advocates - The Inner Circle of Advocates is an invitation-only group, limited to 100 lawyers of excellent character and integrity, representing people throughout the United States. To qualify, members must have tried at least 50 personal injury jury trials and at least three verdicts in excess of one million dollars or one verdict in excess of ten million dollars.
International Society of Primerus - Primerus is an international network of top-rated, independent law firms that have earned the right to display the Primerus seal of quality. Candidates for membership must have the maximum AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the peer review rating source that lawyers use to find other lawyers. Further, a law firm must submit to a rigorous evaluation, which includes candid assessments from judges, fellow attorneys, current and former clients, bar associations, and malpractice insurance carriers. Firms must also attest to their commitment to the exacting standards of the Six Pillars of Primerus Quality: Integrity, Excellent Work Product, Reasonable Fees, Continuing Legal Education, Civility, and Community Service. And it doesn't end there. Primerus firms are audited annually to ensure that they continue to be the "best of the best," year after year.
American Association for Justice (AAJ)- Chair of the Professional Negligence Section 2006 - 2008; Co-chair of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG); Co-chair of the AAJ's Medical Negligence Exchange Group 2005 - 2007 (MNIEG); Board of Governors; Leaders Forum; Sustaining Member; National Finance Counsel; Litigation Group Coordination Committee; Executive Board.
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Tuesday May 07, 2024
Tuesday May 07, 2024
This week, Steve and Yvonne interview David Yarborough and William Applegate of Yarborough Applegate Law Firm, LLC (https://www.yarboroughapplegate.com/).
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Case Details:
Yarborough Applegate secured a landmark jury verdict against Amazon for $44.6 million, including $30 million in punitive damages, after a man was catastrophically injured in a motorcycle collision with an Amazon van on Orangeburg Road in Summerville, South Carolina. This distracted driving case marks the first time Amazon has tested with a jury the issue of whether the online retail and global logistics giant will be held responsible for injuries caused by one of its 285,000 Amazon Delivery Associates (drivers) it calls independent contractors.
Yarborough Applegate attorneys David Yarborough, Alexandra Heaton, and William Applegate, working alongside Nick Clekis of the Clekis Law Firm in Charleston, represented a motorcyclist who sustained a traumatic brain injury and numerous orthopedic injuries in September 2021 when an Amazon Delivery Associate failed to yield to the right of way and turned left directly into his path. We filed suit against the driver, the local delivery company MJV Logistics, and Amazon, Amazon Services, and Amazon Logistics Inc. Source.
Guest Bios:
David Yarborough
David has a history of achieving record-breaking jury verdicts and settlements for his clients. In December 2023, David and partners obtained a $44.6 million jury verdict against Amazon.com, Inc. in the first case to hold Amazon vicariously liable under an agency theory for the vicarious and negligent acts of its delivery drivers, whom Amazon claims are independent contractors. This was the largest personal injury verdict ever awarded in conservative Dorchester County and is believed to be one of the largest jury verdicts in South Carolina history in an injury case not involving death. Read more about this case here.
In October 2021, David achieved the largest dram shop verdict ever in Charleston County, South Carolina, for the sale of alcohol to minors by a Sunoco gas station. David and the firm also achieved one of the top 100 jury verdicts in the United States from their $35.9 million verdict against PEPCO in conservative Montgomery County, Maryland.
David has collected jury verdicts and settlements totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for his catastrophically injured clients in cases involving bad faith against insurance companies; industrial plant injuries resulting in worker deaths; product liability from automobile rollovers and industrial machine injuries; toxic chemical spills by railroad companies; pool drownings; trucking and auto accidents; nursing home and daycare negligence; dram shop and alcohol liability negligence by bars and restaurants; and negligence by retail stores, energy companies, apartment complexes, hotels, and construction contractors for job-site, balcony collapse and premises injuries.
He is a member of the Charleston Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), the South Carolina Association of Justice, the American Association for Justice, the Charleston County Bar’s Mental Wellness Committee, Lawyers Helping Lawyers, and the Board of Regents of TriCounty Family Ministries. For the past twenty-five years, David has been heavily involved in mentoring and counseling people suffering from alcoholism and addiction who are seeking recovery. He places a large emphasis on giving back to the local community through free legal work and generous financial and service contributions to local charities each year. He and his wife, Jessica, are Charleston natives and have four children.
Prior to founding Yarborough Applegate, David was a partner at another Charleston-based law firm, where he was part of a national trial team defending products liability cases in trials across the United States. His experience handling national litigation and having represented both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts around the country provides him with a varied perspective in discovery strategy, negotiations, and trial.
William Applegate
With nearly twenty years of experience in the courtroom, William is a seasoned trial lawyer with a track record of success. He has successfully litigated complex cases involving toxic torts, electrocutions, police negligence, medical negligence, and premises liability, representing clients suffering from the most severe catastrophic injuries. Beyond having had numerous trial victories, he has also achieved two record-breaking verdicts, been recognized by his peers as one of the top litigators in the state, won numerous awards as a leader in the law, and has been consistently given Martindale-Hubbell’s highest ranking as an AV lawyer.
Beyond his experience and hard work, he is a passionate advocate for his clients, who are defined by determination and perseverance. William understands that his clients, many of whom find themselves in desperate situations following serious trauma, such as the death of a loved one or experiencing life-altering injuries, are relying on him, and he takes this responsibility personally.
In 2014, William and his team represented 28-year-old paralyzed construction worker Hugo Hernandez against PEPCO (Potomac Energy and Power Company). After a two-week trial against PEPCO in Montgomery County, Maryland, the jury awarded Mr. Hernandez $35.9 million in damages in compensation for the overwhelming cost of Mr. Hernandez’s future medical care as a young, C4 paraplegic as well as for his pain and suffering and loss of income. This was the largest verdict in Montgomery County history and was one of the largest verdicts in American history for an undocumented worker.
In 2019, William represented an undocumented worker who was killed when electrocuted by a power line that was hidden by vegetation, which Dominion Energy had failed to maintain, and a jury returned a $21 million dollar verdict, the largest verdict in the history of Colleton County, SC.
In 2021, William represented a Claflin College student who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of a car crash caused by a road construction defect. After a two-week trial, the jury returned a $13.1 million dollar verdict against the road contractor Archer Western and the Department of Transportation, also awarding punitive damages against Archer Western. In all three of these cases, William refused offers of millions of dollars to ensure his clients were fully compensated by a jury.
William was born in Charleston, SC, and with the exception of studying abroad to become fluent in Spanish, he has remained in SC his entire life. He is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina School of Law. As a law student, he received the Public Interest Law Society Grant to work in Washington, D.C., served as vice-president of the Pro Bono Board, and was a student member of the John Belton O’Neal Inn of Court. Following law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable James R. Barber, III, of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of South Carolina before starting in private practice with Motley Rice, one of the largest plaintiff’s firms in the country.
William has a deep commitment to South Carolina and is very involved in his community in Charleston. He serves on the board of the Historic Charleston Foundation and actively supports numerous charitable organizations, including One80 Place, in their fight against homelessness, Communities in Schools, the Coastal Conservation League, and the Southern Environmental Law Center.
William is a regular speaker at various legal conferences, is a member of the American Bar Association and Charleston County Bar Association, and is an active member of the South Carolina Association for Justice. When not working, William and his wife, Lydia, enjoy raising their two children in South Carolina.
Links:
Yarborough Applegate IG: @yarboroughapplegate
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Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
This week, Steve and Yvonne interviewed Lee Hunt of Hunt Law Firm (https://huntlaw.com/).
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Case Details:
James Razo, age 55, suffered a spinal cord injury while working on Only the Brave, a movie about a group of elite hotshot firefighters filmed in 2016. Mr. Razo was transporting camera equipment, which tipped over, crushing him. He suffered a spinal cord injury, internal injuries, and brain damage.
Guest Bio:
Lee Hunt
You want to know more about your lawyer than whether he is capable of handling your case. By the end of the case, you and your lawyer better trust each other, know each and honestly care about each other. My belief is that to help a person in a legal crisis, I must know you as a person – not just another case.That means you should know more about me than where I went to school.
I am a husband. My wife Kristi is a native New Mexican who grew up on a cattle ranch in Roy, New Mexico. Her family settled the ranch back in the early 1940s and have raised cattle and kids there ever since.
I am a father. I have three wonderfully full of life children.
I am also a Christian. My faith and my belief in redemption is what drives me to do this work. I don’t think that you have to be a trial attorney to make the world better and to live in the likeness of Jesus, but it is what makes sense to me. If I can help people in crisis and be a calm witness in the midst of the storm, then maybe God can use that to His Glory.
I am also an athlete. I love to get away from everything with a hard run in early morning hours or a solitary bike ride.
I have raced the Hawaii Ironman twice and ran 100 miles at the Leadville Trail 100. I think balance in life is difficult to find, but even harder to get back aligned when out of whack. Trust me when I say, that I work as hard as anyone I know, but I will always find time for my family and for myself. In the end that time away makes me a better lawyer.
As a lawyer, I have always wanted to try difficult cases to juries. To be respected by the other side, they must know that we are willing to fight all the way to the end and get results in Court. Our track record at trial speaks to who we are and how far we are willing to go to make things right.
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Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
This week, we're replaying a classic episode where Steve and Yvonne interviewed Kyle Farrar and Wesley Ball of Farrar and Ball, LLP (http://fbtrial.com/).
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Case Details:
Farrar & Ball trial attorneys Kyle Farrar and Wesley Ball share how they secured justice for Shanika Brown and her infant daughter, who underwent arm and leg amputations, respectively, after being ejected from a car that hit a blown truck tire from a concrete mixer owned by Silvi Concrete on I-295 in New Jersey. The failed Bridgestone L315 tire, which was poorly retreaded by McCarthy Tire and negligently maintained by Silvi Concrete, was left in the roadway and caused the car Brown and her daughter were riding in to swerve and crash. Bridgestone, the original manufacturer of the tire, settled pre-trial. McCarthy Tire settled early in the trial and Silvi Concrete settled with the infant daughter before the case was presented to the jury. A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania jury ultimately assigned 85 percent of the blame to Silvi Concrete. It returned a verdict of $10.6 million to Shanika Brown and $65,000 to Shanika's mother, who was driving the vehicle. Combined with delay damages, the verdict totaled $11.7 million.
Guest Bios:
Kyle Farrar
Kyle Farrar is a veteran litigator with an active trial caseload in state and federal courts across the country. He has secured record jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of individuals injured by dangerous products and reckless and negligent parties. In addition, he has taken leading roles in high-profile multidistrict litigation (MDL) in cases involving dangerous and defective medical products.
Kyle began his career at one of the nation’s largest law firms, representing Fortune 500 companies in multimillion-dollar lawsuits. He founded his firm to focus on representing individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries caused by tire blowouts, tread separation, and tire failure linked to defective tires and automotive products.
Kyle is a national thought leader regarding tire and vehicle safety, and his work has helped spur manufacturers to improve safety and recall defective products. In this capacity, Kyle routinely assists peers and helps educate lawyers at product liability litigation conferences nationwide. He is often asked to assist as trial counsel in cases and trials, having appeared in Courts in over twenty different states and trying cases to a successful outcome in ten different states.
Wesley Ball
In 2005 – three years after graduating from Baylor Law School – Wesley Todd Ball co-founded Farrar & Ball, LLP, and built it brick by brick to what it has become today. In 2013, the firm joined forces with Kaster & Lynch, LLP to create Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, LLP, one of the top product liability law firms in the nation.
Mr. Ball’s work is concentrated on automotive defect cases, including tire failures, rollover incidents, airbag failures, seat failures, fuel-fed fire cases, and related design and manufacturing defects. In addition, he has extensive experience handling major multiparty products liability litigation against virtually every major domestic and international vehicle manufacturer, tire company, and automotive component manufacturer in both state and federal court. As such, Mr. Ball has tried cases to successful outcomes in eight different states, including Texas, Kentucky, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota, California, and New Mexico.
Mr. Ball has earned some of the highest honors in the legal profession, including being selected by peer attorneys to Texas Super Lawyers every year since 2014. From 2009 to 2014, he was one of a very small number of Texas lawyers to be recognized by Texas Super Lawyers and its companion Rising Stars publication simultaneously. The National Trial Lawyers organization has named him to its 40 under 40 and, most recently, among is National Top 100 Trial Lawyers. In 2017, Mr. Ball was elected to and currently serves on the Attorneys Information Exchange Group (AIEG) executive board, which focuses on obtaining successful outcomes in the product liability arena against mainly Fortune 100 companies.
Mr. Ball is a frequent media commentator on matters of product liability and other legal issues and has been featured in media outlets, including the Houston Chronicle, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg, CBS, ABC, and others.
Over a career spanning nearly 20 years, Mr. Ball has taken dozens of cases to trial and earned multiple jury verdicts exceeding eight figures. Clients represented by Mr. Ball have collectively recovered more than $150 million in awards and settlements.
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