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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 Jun 04, 2019
Tuesday Jun 04, 2019
Best Lawyers of America’s 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year Mike Haggard of The Haggard Law Firm explains how he secured one of the largest single personal injury verdicts in Florida history on behalf of Lorri and Lonnie Hinton, the parents of 2-year-old Loren “Tookie” Hinton. Loren suffered irreversible brain damage, leaving her unable to walk or talk after she nearly drowned in an apartment complex pool. The six-foot-deep pool was enclosed by a broken gate that the complex’s staff knowingly delayed fixing, without notifying tenants of the danger it posed to children. A Broward County jury assigned 99% of the blame to 2331 Adams Street Corporation and 1% to Loren’s father Lonnie for a lapse in supervision.
Tuesday May 28, 2019
Tuesday May 28, 2019
Brooklyn Gang Unit prosecutor turned personal injury attorney Scott Occhiogrosso of Block O’Toole & Murphy discusses how he secured the largest non-medical malpractice jury verdict in New York history. In April 2016, 23-year-old bicyclist Robert Liciaga was struck by a falling railroad tie after New York City Transit Authority workers failed to follow procedure and practice safety measures while executing an elevated track replacement above Broadway. Liciaga is now paralyzed from the waist down.
After graduating from law school, Mr. Occhiogrosso - - like several of his colleagues at the firm - - began his training as a trial lawyer in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. He handled thousands of serious cases and spent his days navigating the gritty, cavernous courtrooms in downtown Brooklyn. He had occasion to work side-by-side with now firm partners Stephen J. Murphy and S. Joseph Donahue and made a distinct impression on them while he honed his skills as a prosecutor. Mr. Occhiogrosso was recognized for his tenacity and skills, resulting in a promotion to the prestigious Brooklyn Gang Unit. While with the Gang Unit, Mr. Occhiogrosso focused on prosecuting criminals that were involved in violent crimes and gang-related activities. He handled cases involving drug, robbery, burglary, assault, attempted murder and murder charges and did so with tremendous success. It was at the District Attorney's Office where Mr. Occhiogrosso developed a reputation for being an ethical but formidable adversary. Most importantly, his experiences solidified his desire as a lawyer to impact people in a positive way. He left the District Attorney's Office in 2005 determined to advance his skills and experience as a trial attorney, beginning as a defense attorney in the civil arena for the Port Authority. Mr. Occhiogrosso fought on behalf of police officers and other Port Authority employees, successfully defending hundreds of multi-million dollar cases through trial and settlement. He continued to gain valuable courtroom experience while learning the nuances of civil practice. In 2010, he left the Port Authority and joined a well respected, boutique plaintiff personal injury practice, continuing his career as a New York City trial attorney. In his brief but invaluable tenure with that firm, among other successes, he obtained a jury verdict of $5.5 Million in a fiercely contested medical malpractice case against a seasoned adversary in Manhattan.
In 2013, Scott joined Jeffrey A. Block, Daniel P. O'Toole, Stephen J. Murphy, and S. Joseph Donohue in being selected by his peers as a New York Super Lawyer, signifying that he is among the top 5% of attorneys in the field of plaintiff's personal injury law.
Mr. Occhiogrosso is fluent in both Spanish and English. He lectures about worker safety and legal rights to Spanish-speaking laborers in New York.
Tuesday May 21, 2019
Tuesday May 21, 2019
Tuesday May 14, 2019
Tuesday May 14, 2019
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Award-winning trial attorney Alan Hamilton of Shiver Hamilton discusses a complex wrongful death case involving a motorcyclist who was fatally injured in a 2017 tractor-trailer collision in Columbus, Georgia. A jury in the Muscogee State Court returned a $22 million verdict for U.S. Army veteran Cindy Tran Huynh’s life and $5 million for the suffering she endured.
Alan Hamilton focuses his law practice on significant personal injury cases, wrongful death, and business torts. Alan has helped numerous clients obtain seven- and eight-figure verdicts and settlements during his career. He has represented individuals and appeared before courts in twelve different states. Prior to co-founding Shiver Hamilton, LLC, Alan practiced with a nationally recognized trial firm and served as a federal judicial law clerk. Since its founding in 2011, Shiver Hamilton has obtained a series of outstanding jury verdicts, many of them far exceeding the insurance company’s best offer.
Alan decided early on to dedicate his career to representing injured victims of negligence and corporate wrongdoing, turning down multiple job offers from corporate defense law firms to pursue a law practice representing plaintiffs.
Tuesday Apr 30, 2019
Tuesday Apr 30, 2019
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
On this bonus episode of The Great Trials Podcast, Steve and Yvonne speak with Steve Susman, Executive Director of The Civil Jury Project at NYU.
Learn more: https://civiljuryproject.law.nyu.edu/
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
Tuesday Apr 16, 2019
Tuesday Apr 16, 2019
12-time Top 100 Washington Super Lawyers honoree Karen Koehler of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Koehler Moore talks about her popular blog, “Lawyer As Human,” and the daily challenge to balance the needs of her clients and their cases with the demands of everyday life.
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Tuesday Apr 16, 2019
Tuesday Apr 16, 2019
This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Karen Koehler of Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore Law Firm (stritmatter.com).
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Case Details:
Acclaimed trial lawyer Karen Koehler, also known as the “Velvet Hammer,” discusses how she secured justice for dozens of victims of the Sept. 24, 2015 mass casualty crash involving a defective duck boat -- a World War II vessel turned amphibious vehicle -- and a tour bus full of international students on the Aurora Bridge in Seattle. She held the state of Washington responsible for the dangerous undivided, two-lane highway on which the wreck occurred as well as the Ride the Ducks Seattle and Ride the Ducks International companies for their disregard for safety in maintaining their duck boats.
Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents
Guest Bio:
In the mid-2000’s an opponent told me that other defense attorneys were calling me “The Velvet Hammer™”. When asked why, he said: because you smile so sweetly while you are hammering us into the ground. I thought that was funny and adopted the name.
Being a lawyer is part of my soul. My work is part of who I am. The stories of my clients will never leave me. The child who could not bear to see his father take his last breath... The son who waved goodbye to his mother as he headed off to school, not realizing that would be the last time he would see her… The teenager on a school trip who woke up to see bones coming out through her skin… The young man struck down and killed in front of the police who had been ordered not to enter the Mardi Gras riot zone…The siblings who were in the hospital for so long that they had to postpone the funeral for their parents by a year… The eighth grader sitting in the rear passenger seat when the bumper from another car went through the vehicle and into her lovely face… The Boeing worker whose leg was almost torn off from the impact, fragments of bone lying in the street… The maintenance lead burned to death by an acid solution… The widows who created shrines in their bedrooms for their beloved spouses…The sister who saw her baby sister die. So much preventable sorrow.
My job is to make sure that wrongdoers are brought to justice and that the lives and losses of my clients are fully honored and respected. I love my job.
- Trial Lawyer of the Year, Washington State Association for Justice (WSAJ), 2005
- Named as Top 10 Super Lawyer in Washington State, Super Lawyers, 2014
- Named as Top 100 Super Lawyer in Washington State, Super Lawyers, 2007-2018
- Named as Top 50 Women Washington Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers, 2003-2018
- Named as one of the top 500 leading Lawyers in America, Lawdragon Magazine, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2015
- Listed in "The Best Lawyers in America", Best Lawyers publication, 2006-present
- Top Trial Practice Blawg, American Bar Association, 2011, 2012
- Rated AV, Martindale-Hubbell (highest available rating)
Show Sponsors
Legal Technology Services - LTSatlanta.com
Forge Consulting - ForgeConsulting.com
Harris, Lowry, and Manton - hlmlawfirm.com
Free Resources:
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2