Elawvate Rahul Ravipudi, Ben Gideon

Join Ben for his conversation with legendary Kentucky trial lawyer, Peter Perlman. Peter talks about how his upbringing, as the son of a 5 and 10 cent store owner, shaped his values and taught him the importance of finding ways to help others. During his long and successful career as a trial lawyer, Peter applied these lessons in cases that helped his individual clients and led to larger industry-wide changes that have helped countless others. These cases span a wide range of practice areas, from auto defect litigation, aviation, personal injury, and even a Title IX case brought to keep the door open for female college athletes. Through his own practice, and terms as President of AAJ and the Civil Justice Foundation, few trial lawyers have done more to promote and enhance the cause of individual victims and social justice than Peter Perlman.

Join Ben for his discussion with attorneys Taylor Asen and Trevor Savage about their recent $2.4 million verdict in Bangor, Maine in a case involving a surgical mal positioning that caused an arm injury and CRPS. Taylor and Trevor explain how they worked closely with the client to get her to the right specialist who could diagnose her medical condition. They talk about the challenges of presenting a CRPS injury at trial. They discuss how they resisted the defense effort to stipulate to liability and were able to present compelling evidence of corporate indifference and system failure in the lack of safeguards or systems to make sure that the surgery was done safely, and the lack of follow through, investigation, or changes that came out of this incident. They discuss how they responded to the defense’s 11th hour surprise surveillance video, which the judge allowed into evidence over objection. They used the surveillance to further polarize the case and show the lie in the hospital’s claim to be taking responsibility for its actions. They discuss the use of data analysis to recognize the true value of the case and to formulate the amount asked for in closing.

Join Rahul and Ben for their conversation with Canadian trial lawyer, Paul Miller, who shares the fascinating account of his effort to find justice for Canadian diplomats impacted by Havana Syndrome. Paul explains the mounting evidence showing that Canadian and American diplomats posted in Cuba, England, Russia, Vietnam, and China have been targeted by weapons that use microwave or similar technology that is invisible but can cause brain damage, leading to a variety of life-long injuries and symptoms. The story is somewhere between science fiction and spy novel, but much more troubling because the human victims are real people, including diplomats and their families.

Join Rahul and Ben for their discussion with Indiana trial lawyer Lee Christie and Trial Lawyers for Justice Attorney, Karen Zahka, as they break down their recent trial against Tesla. Although the case started out as a simple pickup truck vs. motorcycle accident involving a left turn, the personal involvement of Elon Musk led to an unusual investment of resources on the defense side and high drama in the courtroom. To get to verdict, the plaintiff had to navigate a series of landmines and obstacles, including numerous law firms entering and exiting the case, a sea of motions, dozens of requests for mistrial and a hold-out juror that almost led to a mistrial during jury deliberations.

Link to animation video mentioned in episode:
https://hypelegal.wistia.com/medias/z8rn4p0v6u

In this episode, Rahul and Ben discuss major trends in trial practice and big picture take aways from the last 3 ½ years of the podcast. The conversation begins with a discussion of nuclear verdicts in the golden age of trial, moves on to case analysis and key issues, then to strategies or courtroom success, and ends with discussion of the impact of the MAGA juror.

We’ve all heard the stories of doctors who cause harm to patients by systematically performing medically unnecessary procedures, just to line their own pockets. These circumstances rise to a level beyond ordinary medical negligence to fraud or criminal acts. However, when we litigate individual medical malpractice cases, the rules of discovery and evidence can pose barriers that make it difficult to determine whether a client’s experience reflects a larger pattern and practice by the doctor and the medical business. Join us for our discussion with Washington, DC trial lawyer, Katie Bertram, as she tells the story of a case in which she was able to show this larger pattern of a doctor performing medically unnecessary medical procedures in an out-patient surgery center setting that provides very few checks and balances on this type of rogue behavior.