The Great Trials Podcast The Great Trials Podcast

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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Show Sponsors:
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Harris Lowry Manton LLP - hlmlawfirm.com
 
Free Resources:
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2

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 servi

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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Show Sponsors:
Legal Technology Services - LegalTechService.com
Digital Law Marketing - DigitalLawMarketing.com
Harris Lowry Manton LLP - hlmlawfirm.com
 
Free Resources:
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2

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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Show Sponsors:
Legal Technology Services - LegalTechService.com
Digital Law Marketing - DigitalLawMarketing.com
Harris Lowry Manton LLP - hlmlawfirm.com
 
Free Resources:
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1
Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2

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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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 natio