News
Auto cases the insurers designate as "Minor impact" due to minimal visible vehicle damage are amongst the most difficult plaintiff cases to win, despite there being no correlation between vehicle damage and occupant injury.
Join trial consultant David Ball and veteran trial lawyer Gary Johnson for a webinar called "Reptile in MIST Cases." This webinar will discuss the use of the Reptile method to win "Minor Impact Soft Tissue" cases.
Trial Guides is pleased to announce the pre-order of David Ball on Damages 3.
David Ball on Damages has been America’s best selling text on proving damages since the release of the brilliant first edition in 2001. The second (red) edition has been one of the best selling books at Trial Guides.
Now, David Ball on Damages 3 teaches you how to integrate the Reptile and Rules of the Road methods, along with new voir dire techniques, into the classic Damages method.
The authors of one of our hottest selling books, Reptile: The Manual to the Plaintiff's Revolution, have both read and reviewed the new edition of Trial Guides' best selling book Rules of the Road:
"It's hard to improve on a masterpiece, but Rick Friedman and Pat Malone did it again. The second edition masterfully provides case examples and practical templates beyond the first edition. It takes all of us to a new level. A must-have and must-read."
-Don Keenan, Trial Lawyer, author of Reptile and Past-President of the Inner Circle of Advocates.
In 2002, a Kentucky jury ordered the defendant gas company to pay more than $270 million to the plaintiff, a man whose water well exploded, resulting in minor burn injuries with no lasting damages. A series of focus groups conducted over the months before trial showed just how difficult the case would be. Instead of backing away from the challenge, Gary Johnson used an approach he calls "Judo Law" to leverage the facts, and to turn the most difficult issues to his advantage. The approach turned this unwinnable case—in a county that everyone said would not give a decent verdict—into what is believed to be the largest verdict ever given to an individual for a company's environmental negligence.
The article notes "An examination of recent trends in professional liability litigation shows a subtle but dramatic shift in favor of plaintiffs." It goes on to note "This movement probably began several years ago, with the publication of the book titled Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff Lawyer's Guide to Proving Liability."
A jury in Dallas County Texas recently returned an $84 million verdict against U-Haul Corporation in a negligence case for failure to inspect, warn of dangers, and repair its trucks. Plaintiff's trial attorneys Marquette Wolf and Ted Lyon of Texas argued the case.
Attorney Wolf patterned his arguments after the "Reptile" research in David Ball and Don Keenan's newest book, Reptile: The 2009 Manual of the Plaintiff's Revolution. When used in conjunction with the technique outlined in Rules of the Road, this research has the power to negate tort reform. Wolf suggested to the jury that corporations must follow the rules, and added that corporations know how to be careful, but only choose to do so when protecting their money rather than people.
