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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 Nov 17, 2020
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Jeffrey Kroll of Kaveny + Kroll (https://kavenykroll.com/)
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Episode Details:
Award-winning plaintiffs' litigator Jeffrey Kroll of Kaveny + Kroll in Chicago shares how he advocated on behalf of the first person in the United States to die while using a bike-sharing program. On July 1, 2016, Virginia Murray, a 25-year-old college graduate, rode her DIVVY bike — part of Chicago's official bike-share program — to an intersection where truck driver Cosmin Radu sat idling in his employer's A & B Flooring truck. The light turned green, and Cosmin made a right-hand turn, which his broken turn signal lights did not indicate. His vehicle struck Virginia, killing her instantly. During trial, the Chicago jury returned a $7,000,000 verdict in less than two hours in favor of the plaintiff's estate.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
Jeffrey Kroll
Jeffrey J. Kroll is an award-winning attorney who has represented injured victims of negligence throughout the country for nearly three decades in the areas of trucking accidents, products liability, and medical malpractice. In 2017, Mr. Kroll was part of the trial team that obtained a record-breaking $148 million jury verdict on behalf of a dancer who was paralyzed when a shelter collapsed on her at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Overall, his verdicts and settlements have exceeded $1 million on 80 separate occasions.
Mr. Kroll has lectured throughout the country on personal injury and wrongful death matters. He has had more than 125 legal articles published on topics ranging from strategic jury selection and maximizing an injured client’s recovery, to successfully handling wrongful death cases and preparing and cross-examining expert witnesses. He is well known in Chicago media for countless segments and publications and has taught Trial Advocacy and Medical Malpractice Law at DePaul University and Northwestern Law School. Mr. Kroll was the only Illinois attorney to be published in the Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit, 4th Edition, released by Trial Guides and the American Association for Justice.
Jeffrey has recovered more than $400 million for his clients.
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Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Ken Friedman and David Roosa of Friedman | Rubin (https://friedmanrubin.com/)
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Episode Details:
Friedman Rubin trial lawyers Ken Friedman and David Roosa share their experience trying the first federal Zoom civil jury trial during the pandemic and explain how they secured justice for an 84-year-old woman who sustained a traumatic brain injury on a Holland America cruise ship. In November 2018, passenger Margaret Dallo was walking down a hallway on the ship when she was knocked over by a door opening outward into the hallway. Margaret fell and hit her head on the frame of the door across the hall, resulting in a bilateral subacute subdural hematoma, which allowed blood inside the skull and put pressure on her brain. Margaret's traumatic brain injury required surgery and greatly diminished her mobility and quality of life. In spite of the defense's attempts to blame her medical condition on pre-existing conditions and previous falls, Seattle jurors participating via Zoom conference ultimately ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding $1,689,000 in damages.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
Ken Friedman
Since joining Friedman | Rubin in 1999, Ken has appeared on behalf of plaintiffs in state and federal courts throughout the United States. He has successfully tried cases involving claims of sexual harassment, defamation, personal injury, police misconduct, and insurance bad faith.
Ken earned his B.A. in History from Antioch College and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
A well-respected attorney, he has been given the highest rating, “AV Pre-eminent,” by the Martindale Hubbell, and he has been designated as a “Super Lawyer” by his peers in the Washington Law and Politics survey annually since 2009. Ken also has been rated a “10, Superb” by Avvo.com.
David Roosa
David primarily handles cases involving serious personal injury, traumatic brain injury (“TBI”), insurance bad faith denial of benefits, and nursing home abuse. David has jury trial experience in state, federal, and municipal courts. David and Friedman | Rubin partner Ken Friedman recently obtained a $1.7m verdict in the Western District of Washington’s first ever fully remote jury trial, in which the judge, the jury, the attorneys, and the witnesses all participated via Zoom. (See Bloomberg Law report – here]. David also occasionally tries criminal cases, and has obtained two defense verdicts in 2015, and another in 2017, for wrongfully accused citizens. At the appellate level, David has briefed a number of cases before Washington Division I and Division II court of appeal commissioners, and authored (uncredited) the prevailing briefs in the Wyoming Supreme Court case Irene v. Seneca, et. al., 337 p.3d 483 (Wyo. 2014).
David grew up in Alaska and graduated from West Anchorage High School in 1997. After high school, he spent one year as a Rotary International Exchange Student in Rostock, Germany. Upon returning to the U.S., David studied at the Ohio State University and graduated in 2002 with a B.S. in International Business and a B.A. in German Language and Literature. David then spent roughly two years in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, at the Centro ISI English Academy through the AIESEC program teaching English to adults and children.
Before starting a career in the legal field, David worked for three years as a Licensed Customs Broker and Ocean Import Manager for a global logistics/freight-forwarder and NVOCC in Chicago, IL.
David lives with his wife and two sons in West Seattle. His hobbies include competitive running and swimming, outdoor grilling, watching Ohio State football games in the fall, and playing the guitar – badly.
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Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Joseph Power, Jr. and Larry Rogers, Jr. of Powers Rogers, LLP (https://www.claggettlaw.com/)
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Episode Details:
Accomplished Chicago trial lawyers Joseph Power, Jr. and Larry Rogers, Jr. of Powers Rogers, LLP explain how they secured justice for the families of two attorneys and a law office secretary who were shot by a disgruntled client who gained unauthorized access to the office due to the failure of building security officers to follow established safety procedures. On December 8, 2006, Joseph Jackson entered a 41-floor professional building at 500 West Madison Street in Chicago, held Allied Barton Security Services officer Robert Brown at gunpoint and demanded to be taken to the 38th floor, where patent lawyer Michael McKenna's office was located. A client of Michael McKenna and an inventor seeking a patent, Joseph Jackson mistakenly thought Michael McKenna had sold his idea and owed him money. Supervising security officer Sidney Chambers knew that Joseph Jackson had been loitering in the building for hours and had suspiciously interacted with officer Robert Brown, but failed to take action. Robert Brown did not follow safety protocol, utilize officer codes to alert his supervising officer to the situation or employ restraint techniques designed to defuse the situation. Instead, he tried to flee the scene and save himself when Joseph Jackson began firing his gun in the law office, fatally shooting Michael McKenna and Allen Hoover and wounding office secretary Ruth Lieb. In 2017, a Cook County, Illinois jury delivered a verdict against Allied Barton Security Services, Sidney Chambers and Joseph Jackson, assigning 60 percent of the responsibility to the deceased Joseph Jackson and 40 percent to Allied Barton in a $30,650,000 verdict.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
Joseph Power Jr.
Joseph A. Power, Jr. is the founding partner of the Power, Rogers, LLP law firm in Chicago, and a prominent trial lawyer focusing on cases involving medical malpractice, trucking collisions, wrongful death, product liability and catastrophic personal injuries.
Power received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 and his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University of Chicago in 1977. Power was named as partner in 1984 and the firm became Hayes & Power. In 1993, the firm became Power, Rogers & Smith, and has recently become Power Rogers, LLP.
At the age of 28, Power became the youngest lawyer in the country to obtain a jury verdict in excess of $1 million for his client. Power was the lead attorney in a trucking case which led to seventy-six criminal convictions, including the former governor of Illinois in the “licenses for bribes” scandal, which triggered the retesting of over 2000 truck drivers has obtained over 200 verdicts and settlements over $1,000,000. He has the largest jury verdict in Illinois history for a contested liability personal injury case, and in addition, has the largest medical malpractice jury verdict in Illinois history. In the last two years alone, he has been to verdict in six cases, all leading to seven and eight million-dollar recoveries.
As a leader among personal injury lawyers, Power has been listed in the Harvard Law graduates Naifeh and Smith book, The Best Lawyers in America, every year since 1987. The National Law Journal recognized him as one of the top ten litigators in the United States and he has been listed in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law.
Additionally, Power has been repeatedly selected as one of the top lawyers by LawDragon, a group which selects the top 500 lawyers in the country. He has been named a top personal injury and consumer lawyer based upon polling of fellow lawyers in the Leading Lawyer Magazine since 2009 and is one of Super Lawyers Magazine’s top ten lawyers in Illinois. He has consistently been named in Chicago Lawyer Magazine, including the “30 Tough Lawyers” where he was named one of the 30 toughest lawyers in all fields in Chicago. Those listed are, according to the magazine, attorneys you want “for you, not against you.”
Power is involved in many professional organizations. He is currently the immediate Past-President of the Inner Circle of Advocates which is an organization consisting of the top 100 Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in the country, and Past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Public Justice, Celtic Legal Society and ABOTA (Illinois Chapter). He is a fellow with the International Academy of Trial Lawyers as well as the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is also a member of the Irish Legal 100, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Power was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee in 1993 and served as Chairman from 1995-2003 during which the committee promulgated the new discovery rules and mandatory voir dire. Due to his professional expertise, Mr. Power has been honored in such publications as Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of emerging Leaders in America.
He has been recognized by several organizations for his work as a trial lawyer. Power was awarded “Protector of the Working Man” by the Illinois State Crime Commission, “Citizen of the Year” by the City Club of Chicago and “Board Member of the Year” by the Little City Foundation. Additionally, he was awarded the Civil Justice Foundation’s Special Commendation Award for his thoroughness, tenacity and courage in uncovering and disclosing the “license for bribes” scandal. He received the Medal of Merit and Distinguished Award for Excellence from the Illinois State Bar Association and the Medal of Excellence by the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. He was awarded the Tribute for Leadership on behalf of social justice and progressive change by US Action and US Action Education Fund, as well as the prestigious Leonard Ring Award which is awarded to someone who has devoted, as Leonard Ring did, a substantial part of their life and their practice to the Illinois Trial Lawyers, someone who has done more than is called for, and to someone who has the standards, work ethic and commitment to the Illinois Trial Lawyers that Leonard had. Most recently, Joe Power was awarded the Justice John Paul Stevens award which is presented annually by the Chicago Bar Foundation and Chicago Bar Association to attorneys who best exemplify the Justice’s commitment to integrity and public service in the practice of law.
Active in many charitable organizations, Power, his wife Susan and/or the Power Family Foundation regularly contribute to Leo High School, the University of Notre Dame, Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Misericordia, Catholic Charities, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, Free Spirit Media, Big Shoulders, the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, St. Gabriel’s Grammar School, St. Clement Church and DePaul University.
Power is married to Susan Power and they have four sons and three grandchildren. He and his wife live in Chicago.
Larry Rogers Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr. is a trial lawyer with over 25 years of experience advocating for victims. As a trial attorney and partner at Power Rogers, LLP, Mr. Rogers, Jr. has successfully settled and tried to verdict many multi-million dollar results for his clients in medical negligence, trucking, product liability and civil rights litigation. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates an invitation-only group of trial lawyers from across the country invited and admitted based upon their results and commitment to representing victims. Mr. Rogers Jr. was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the top personal injury lawyers of a new generation of trial attorneys.
Mr. Rogers, Jr. has been involved in a number of significant high-profile matters, including the investigation of what happened to Sandra Bland a Chicagoland resident who was found dead in a Texas jail cell after an unlawful traffic stop. He represents families in several civil rights and police brutality cases including the tragic shooting of Bettie Ruth Jones on the west side of Chicago which he recently resolved for a record 16 million dollars. He has been a frequent guest on local and national radio and television shows to discuss events affecting the citizens of Chicago and the country.
Mr. Rogers, Jr. and the attorneys at Power Rogers have represented victims against some of the most powerful interests in the country and have been ranked at the top of their field, with 11 consecutive 1st place rankings from 2010 to 2020in the Chicago Lawyer Annual Settlement Survey which ranks firms based on their results.
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Tuesday Oct 27, 2020
Tuesday Oct 27, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Sean Claggett of Claggett & Sykes Law Firm (https://www.claggettlaw.com/)
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Episode Details:
Nevada trial lawyer Sean Claggett shares his legal strategy representing Elisa Sales, a woman who sustained permanent brain damage when doctors at Summerlin Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas failed to act with urgency after she went into respiratory arrest during a routine pacemaker replacement surgery. During the procedure, the alarms on the monitors checking Elisa's heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels were turned off and inaudible, which was against hospital policy. Due to this violation, the medical staff was not alerted when Elisa's blood pressure dropped dangerously low after she was given too much sedative medication. The doctors and medical staff failed to begin immediately performing CPR when they realized her life-threatening condition, violating the standard of care. The medical team's lack of urgency left Elisa's brain without oxygen, causing permanent damage that reduced her mental capacity to that of a five-year-old. Sean Claggett originally asked for $63 million in damages for Elisa's suffering. After hearing from 18 fact witnesses and 13 expert witnesses during the trial, the defense chose to settle the medical malpractice lawsuit for an undisclosed amount immediately following closing arguments.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
Sean Claggett
Sean Claggett is an established Las Vegas personal injury attorney and handles difficult cases across the country. Sean founded Claggett & Sykes Law Firm in 2005, and is the firm’s lead trial lawyer.
In 2017, Sean was recognized by his fellow trial lawyers of the Nevada Justice Association as Nevada’s Trial Attorney of the Year.
In 2016, Sean had the fourth most influential verdict in the United States according to Courtroom View Network, stemming from a slip and fall at Lowe’s in which his client suffered a TBI after she slipped, fell, and knocked down a three-foot yellow warning cone. Lowe’s top offer before the verdict was $1,400,000.00, and the referring plaintiff attorney offered to resolve the case for $1,749,999.99. The jury returned a verdict in the amount of $16,430,000.00.
Sean’s trial success continued with two verdicts in 2018 in the amounts of $20,000,000.00 and $3,382,000.00. Sean’s verdict of $20,000,000.00 was recognized as the fourth most influential verdict in the United States according to Courtroom View Network, stemming from a negligence case against an HOA for failing to maintain its swing set. The HOA’s top offer before trial was $400,000.00, and the referring plaintiff offered the HOA to resolve the case for $949,000.00. The plaintiff in the case suffered a TBI.
Sean’s trial success continued in 2019 as he obtained a verdict of $645,814.33 in which there was a 16-day gap in treatment after the initial wreck, and then, after eight months of physical therapy treatment, there was a three and a half year gap in treatment before the plaintiff obtained further treatment for his back injury. The top offer from the defense was $50,000.00, and the referring attorney agreed to accept $180,000.00 to resolve the case prior to trial.
Later that year, Sean received an honorable mention from Courtroom View Network as having one of the year’s most impressive trials for his work on a medical malpractice trial where his client suffered a TBI. Sean asked for $63,000,000.00 in closing arguments and the case settled before the jury returned a verdict.
In 2020, Courtroom View Network named Sean to its “Who We’re Watching” list. Courtroom View Network says that after more than a decade of capturing trials for its streaming network, the lawyers on this list are its best of the best of the decade and are the lawyers that other lawyers should watch if they’re looking to improve their craft.
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Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Kila Baldwin of Kline and Specter, PC (https://www.klinespecter.com/)
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Episode Details:
A Philadelphia attorney with a strong track record leading complex cases against medical device manufacturers, Kila Baldwin of Kline and Specter, PC discusses the high-profile trial in which she represented Ella Ebaugh, a woman who sustained lifelong injuries due to defective transvaginal mesh implants designed by Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. In her 40s, Ella was diagnosed with stress urinary incontinence, which caused her bladder to leak unexpectedly. She was implanted with a TVT-Secur and TVT sling and later endured three mesh removal surgeries because the mesh had eroded into her bladder and urethra. Today, Ella is incontinent, wears adult diapers and suffers from frequent urinary tract infections. Using Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson's actions against them, including statements made in internal emails, Kila Baldwin was able to successfully persuade the Philadelphia jury to decide in favor of Ella. In 2017, the jury returned a verdict of $7.1 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages, citing Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson’s negligent design of the products and willful disregard for patient safety.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
Kila Baldwin
Kila B. Baldwin, a partner at Kline & Specter, has been involved in a number of the firm's high-profile cases, including as lead counsel in trials that resulted in verdicts of $80 million, $57.1 million and $41 million against Johnson & Johnson in transvaginal mesh cases.
Baldwin was selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for 2019 and 2020. From 2011-2018 she was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer — Rising Star and for 2014-2019 as a New Jersey Super Lawyer -- Rising Star, designating her as among the top 2.5 percent of attorneys in the two states who are 40 or younger. She also was selected for the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions of the peer-review publication Best Lawyers in America.
In her latest major case, Baldwin in February 2020 achieved a $12.75 million settlement with a medical device manufacturer, Monteris Medical Inc., whose NeuroBlate Sidefire broke during surgery and caused brain damage to the patient. (Read article) Prior to that case, Baldwin obtained a $75 million settlement in a wrongful death case, the largest pre-trial settlement in a case in Pennsylvania history.
In May 2019, Baldwin was co-counsel in a six-week trial that resulted in an $80 million jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon Inc. for a Media, Pa., woman injured by a surgically implanted vaginal mesh device. The verdict in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court included $50 million in punitive and $30 million in compensatory damages, making it the country's largest compensatory award to date in a vaginal mesh case. (Read article)
A few months earlier, Baldwin won a $41 million verdict -- including $25 million in punitive damages – against a J&J for a Lancaster, Pa., woman who suffered permanent injuries from a vaginal mesh device designed and marketed by a company subsidiary. (Read article)
In late 2017, Baldwin won a major jury verdict against J&J for a Pennsylvania woman injured by a vaginal mesh device made by the company's Ethicon Inc. subsidiary. The award included $7.1 million in compensatory and $50 million in punitive damages for the behemoth drug and device maker's reckless behavior in selling the defective product implanted in women across the country. (Read article) The verdict was featured on the BBC program Panorama. In earlier cases, Baldwin was co-counsel in two trials that resulted in verdicts of $12.5 million and $13.5 million for two other women injured by the surgically implanted vaginal mesh products. (See the Hammons and Carlino cases.)
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Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Chris Hamilton of Hamilton Wingo LLP (https://hamiltonwingo.com/)
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Episode 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.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
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 Oct 06, 2020
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Robin Frazer Clark of The Law Firm of Robin Frazer Clark, P.C. (https://www.gatriallawyers.net/)
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Episode Details:
Former State Bar of Georgia President Robin Frazer Clark explains how she secured justice for the only son of 75-year-old Jayne Fox, a woman who suffered a traumatic vocal cord injury during intubation for a lung biopsy, causing Jayne to suffer post-surgical aspiration pneumonia and leading to her death. Admitted to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for a biopsy of a spot on her lung, Jayne was initially intubated with equipment that was much too large for her petite 97 lb., 5-foot frame. Following the surgery, nurses observed Jayne having difficulty clearing secretions, and an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist found abnormalities indicating aspiration pneumonia. However, the ENT and nurses failed to report their observations to the attending physician, Dr. Roy Rajan, who also failed to properly supervise Jayne’s medical care or visit her in person. As a result, Jayne's treatment plan was not adjusted to treat her condition, and she passed away at Emory University Hospital nearly six weeks after her surgery. Despite the defense's attempts to blame Jayne's age, her son and the rarity of her post-operation condition, a Dekalb County, Georgia jury returned a verdict of $2,350,000 in damages against Emory Clinic and Dr. Rajan.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bios:
Robin Frazer Clark
Robin Frazer Clark is the owner and founder of the law firm of Robin Frazer Clark, P.C., and has practiced law in Georgia for 31 years. Ms. Clark devotes her practice exclusively to plaintiff’s personal injury. Her motto is “A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats.” She is the Co-host of the podcast “See You In Court.”
Ms. Clark was sworn in as the Fiftieth President of the State Bar of Georgia on June 2, 2012, only the second woman ever to serve as President of the State Bar of Georgia and served as President of the 45,000-member association in 2012-2013. One of Ms. Clark’s initiatives she created while President is the State Bar of Georgia’s Suicide Prevention Campaign, “How to Save a Life.” Ms. Clark is a Past President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA), also only the second woman in the organization’s history to lead GTLA. Ms. Clark is a Past President of The Lawyers Club of Atlanta (LCA), in which she has been a member for over 25 years. Ms. Clark is the only person ever to have served as President of all three of those professional associations, the State Bar of Georgia, GTLA and Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Ms. Clark is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers (ISOB) whose membership is by invitation only and which is dedicated to the preservation of trial by jury, the adversary system and an independent judiciary. ISOB founders conceived the organization to bring together the best of the trial bar in a setting devoid of partisan interests. Ms. Clark also serves on the Board of Directors of the ISOB Foundation. Ms. Clark is an Associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a National professional association dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the right to trial by jury as guaranteed by the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Ms. Clark is also a member of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL), and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. She is a Past Chair of the Atlanta Bar Association Litigation Section. Ms. Clark serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation (GCJF) and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency (CCLC). Ms. Clark previously served on the Board of Directors for the Commission on Dispute Resolution, on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Continuing Judicial Education (ICJE), the Board of Directors of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) and the Board of Directors for the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism (CJCP). She is also a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and a member of the American Bar Association (ABA). Ms. Clark has previously served on the State Bar of Georgia Office of General Counsel’s Investigative Panel and the Review Panel.
Ms. Clark has testified extensively before the Georgia General Assembly on issues as far ranging as the discriminatory effect of caps on damages, the detrimental impact of the proposed elimination of vicarious liability in Georgia, the Juvenile Justice Reform Legislation, signed into law in 2013 by Governor Deal, and the elimination of the assignability of legal malpractice claims. Ms. Clark served on the Georgia General Assembly Bicameral Evidence Code Committee that was responsible for drafting the Georgia Evidence Code that was passed and signed into law in 2011 and went into effect in January 2013. Through her advocacy on behalf of Georgia citizens with the Georgia Legislature, she has built strong relationships with numerous Legislators and has worked to promote the cause of justice and protect the constitutional rights of all Georgia citizens.
Ms. Clark received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Vanderbilt University in 1985 and received her Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1988. Ms. Clark has been extensively published. As President of the State Bar of Georgia she had 162 articles published in 84 different publications, with a total circulation of 3,122,569. Clark is the author of “Who’s Your Neighbor? Our Moral Obligation to Discuss Mental Health with Our Peers,” Verdict Magazine, Winter 2018; “I’d Rather See a Sermon,” Verdict Magazine, Fall 2016; Building a Connection: Saving the Life of Your Fellow Lawyer, Daily Report, August 2016; “ARE YOU OKAY? ”The Most Important Conversation No One Wants to Have, Atlanta Bar Association Magazine, March 2015; “Realizing the Dream of Equality for All,” Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 7, June 2013; State Bar’s Suicide Prevention Campaign Tells ‘How to Save a Life,’ Daily Report, September 2013;“All I Really Know About Professionalism I Learned in Golf,” Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 6, April 2013; “Decisions Are Made By Those Who Show Up,” Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 5, February 2013; “How To Save a Life,” Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4, December 2012; “Legal Trailblazers: Women in Leadership,” Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, October 2012; “Sharing the Abundance and Lifting All Boats,” Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, August 2012; There is No Me Without You~Don Keenan: The Road to Serendipity, a Passion for Children, Verdict Magazine, Winter 2011; There is No Me Without You~Pressing On for a Cure: Patrick Chance’s Story, Verdict Magazine, Winter 2009; Voir Dire: It’s Elementary, My Dear Watson, Verdict Magazine, Winter 2009; There You Go Again: Other Similar Incidents in Medical Malpractice Cases (A Case Study of Bean v. Northeast Georgia Medical Center), Verdict Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 3, Fall/Winter 2004, Essential Tools for Overcoming Trial Fear, Trial Excellence, Advanced Trial Tactics for Attorneys, May 2001 and Closing Argument Tips: Compensatory and Punitive Damages, Trial Excellence, Tactics, Legal Updates & Samples, September 2001.
Ms. Clark is admitted to the State and Superior Courts of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Northern and Middle Districts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Clark has tried over 70 jury trials and has argued before Georgia appellate courts over 40 times. Ms. Clark has given numerous speeches for the State Bar of Georgia, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education of Georgia and for the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, has appeared on The Layman’s Lawyer on Atlanta Public Television on the issue of products liability and has appeared on Leyes Cotidianas or Everyday Law on Georgia Public Television on the issue of harmful change of Georgia Civil Justice System in 2005. Ms. Clark has served as volunteer counsel for The Carter Center program “Not Even One Child’s Death by a Firearm is Acceptable or Inevitable”, the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired and the Atlanta Bar Foundation’s Truancy Intervention Project. Ms. Clark is also a volunteer lawyer with Civil Lawyers Against World Sex Slavery (CLAWSS).
Ms. Clark is married to William T. Clark, Director of Political Affairs for Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. They have two children, Chastain “Chaz”, age 25, and Alexandria “Alex”, age 22. Chaz is a graduate of Georgia College and State University and is attending graduate school at Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture. Alex is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she was Captain of the UGA Rowing Team and is now a 2L at the University of Georgia School of Law. Ms. Clark is a member of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the beautiful Emory University Campus. Ms. Clark is an avid golfer, carrying a 19 handicap.
You may read more about Ms. Clark on her website, www.gatriallawyers.net, or her blog, www.atlantainjurylawyerblog.com. You may reach Ms. Clark also at robinclark@gatriallawyers.net and follow her on Twitter @robinfclark.
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Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Shane Lazenby of Lazenby Law Group (https://lazlawgroup.com/)
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Episode 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.
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Guest Bios:
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 one has passed as a result of the negligence of another.
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 3d 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 gaining invaluable experience and growth alongside some of Georgia’s finest defense and plaintiff attorneys. After deciding to depart big city life, Shane settled 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 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 Sep 22, 2020
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Brian Breiter and Chance Pardon of the Law Offices of Brian Breiter (https://brianbreiter.com/)
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Episode Details:
Los Angeles personal injury attorneys Brian Breiter and Chance Pardon of the Law Offices of Brian Breiter discuss how they secured justice for Atlas Ferrera, a make-up artist and budding fragrance designer after he was exposed to harmful chemicals negligently sprayed by a Terminix employee in a neighboring business. While using the bathroom at his workplace, Atlas was exposed to Terminix's roach infestation treatments at an adjacent business when a cloud of neurotoxin-filled "smoke" entered the bathroom. Atlas immediately began to feel dizzy and experienced a burning sensation in his throat. Days later, he had permanently lost his sense of taste and smell and began suffering from chronic migraines. Utilizing a unique strategy, Breiter portrayed a game show host in his closing statements, undermining the credibility of the defense's expert statements and witness testimony in a strategy based on "To Tell the Truth." After five hours of deliberation, a Los Angeles jury returned an $8,000,000 verdict in favor of Atlas.
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Guest Bios:
Brian Breiter, Esq.
Mr. Breiter was nominated for trial lawyer of the year for 2019 by CAALA (Consumer Attorney Association of Los Angeles) for his numerous verdicts over the past year. He is a Lifetime Fellow of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates) and has been named to National Trial Lawyers Top 100. Mr. Breiter has been named 9 consecutive years by Southern California and South Florida SuperLawyers. Brian Breiter is a civil trial lawyer practicing since 1995 in the area of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury. With over 100 Millions dollars in settlements and verdicts, Mr. Breiter has dedicated his practice to helping consumers during their most difficult times. Mr. Breiter is licensed in California and Florida. Mr. Breiter represents clients throughout the entire state of California and Florida.
Brian is also an adjunct professor at the Pepperdine Law School where he teaches “Improvisational Mediation” to fellow lawyers, mediators and judges. He also recently taught at the University of Calgary School of Law. He uses his skills as a professional actor for 30 years in the courtroom and depositions like no other in his field.
Chance Pardon, Esq.
Chance Pardon is dedicated to helping injured plaintiffs and has made helping those in need a core part of who he is. Mr. Pardon started as a law clerk at the Law Offices of Brian J. Breiter, LLP and has already helped recover millions for our clients. Mr. Pardon is a core component of our litigation and trial teams. He has worked on dozens of cases going to trial and has jury trial experience working with lead trial counsel and principal attorney Brian Breiter. In law school, Mr. Pardon was President of the UCI Law Trial Advocacy Club and a member of the Domestic Violence Clinic. In the Domestic Violence Clinic, Mr. Pardon helped many victims of domestic violence get the protection they needed. Mr. Pardon’s dedication to helping others has not been limited to the courtroom. For over ten- years Mr. Pardon worked as an ocean lifeguard and emergency medical technician, keeping those who visit our local beaches safe. As a former NCAA Division I water polo player at the University of California, Irvine, Mr. Pardon knows the value of teamwork. Mr. Breiter and Mr. Pardon are both avid water polo players to this day, competing at the Master’s level. They have both also been coaches and have worked to improve the sporting community. Mr. Pardon truly represents the Law Offices of Brian J. Breiter’s dedication to preparing every case for trial and aiding those who need it most.
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Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Paula Jossart of Jossart Law Office, LLC (https://www.jossartlaw.com/)
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Episode Details:
Award-winning Minnesota personal injury lawyer Paula Jossart of Jossart Law Office, LLC discusses how she secured justice for Scott Kowalewski, a switchman who was exposed to toxic hydrocarbons while working at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) Northtown Yard in Minneapolis in 2014 and, as a result, suffered a severe neurological injury. Rail cars carrying hazardous chemicals from a fracking site in Texas leaked, causing Scott to feel a burning pain in his chest and to lose consciousness. Scott was later diagnosed with a progressive neurological disorder, which significantly diminishes his motor function, making it difficult to swallow, write, get out of bed or perform everyday tasks. Despite BNSF's claims that the company is not responsible for Scott's health problems and many evidence and discovery abuses, a Hennepin County, Minnesota jury returned a verdict of $15,343,753 in damages against BNSF for violating the Federal Employers' Liability Act. Following the jury trial, Judge Amy Dawson assigned a $4.6 million misconduct penalty to BNSF for concealing and destroying evidence related to the case, paying off a witness and misleading federal investigators.
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Guest Bio:
Paula Jossart
Paula Jossart is an experienced personal injury attorney and railroad injury attorney recognized for her record of success in actions against railroads and insurance companies. She has achieved multiple seven and eight-figure verdicts in her career including a recent $21 million judgment against the BNSF. In 2015, she achieved three million-dollar-plus verdicts for victims with personal injury claims in Hennepin County (Minneapolis, MN). She also attained one of Minnesota’s larger personal injury verdicts ─ totaling more than $12.5 million ─ for a man burned by steam from a boiler on which he was working.
A fearless advocate for her clients, Paula Jossart has represented persons in personal injury and FELA (Federal Employees’ Litigation Act) cases in Minnesota and states across the country, including Arizona, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. She served as lead counsel for injured victims in the nation’s largest anhydrous ammonia spill and has worked on many other large chemical exposure cases.
Choosing the right personal injury attorney your important life matter can make a significant difference in the outcome. Paula Jossart encourages potential clients to do their own research before hiring an attorney. Ask about the attorney’s actual courtroom and trial experience. Ask about the results that are being advertised on their website. Who achieved the results? What did the result actually mean for the client? Does the attorney put clients first? Or, does the attorney have a record of urging most clients to settle out of court?
Paula Jossart is a union designated attorney, a tenacious fighter, and a caring and compassionate client advocate. Respected by her peers, she was honored as a Minnesota Attorney of the Year, Outstanding Trial Lawyer by the Minnesota Association of Justice, a Rising Star by Minnesota Law & Politics numerous times, and named one of the Top Young Lawyers. She is a member of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys and the Minnesota Association of Justice.
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