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Reasons to be cheerful!

Started by Tank, June 26, 2010, 03:13:35 PM

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billy rubin

#4845
you said it was the right verdict. how often do you see the wrong verdict in stuff like this?


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Icarus

I am opposed to wrongdoing or incompetence of practitioners in the healthcare industry. On the other hand, I am also opposed to the creative opportunism and evident greed of the personal injury lawyer industry.

Good on you and your associates Ecurb.

Asmodean

Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 25, 2022, 12:36:07 AMJust finished a two week jury trial in Bryan, Texas (near where Texas A&M is located). We were defending a doctor and hospital in our system against a medical malpractice claim. The jury came back in our favor, and found no negligence or other violation of law against our clients. It was the right verdict in this case. I am very happy, and just bought drinks all around for those present in the hotel bar!!

Congrats! Was it a difficult case?
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Ecurb Noselrub


Quote from: billy rubin on June 25, 2022, 02:13:54 AMyou said it was the right verdict. how often do you see the wrong verdict in stuff like this?

I guess "right and wrong" are in the eye of the beholder on matters like medical malpractice. If we think we did wrong, we usually try to settle. In this case, while we did not think we had done wrong, we did offer some money, as there is always some risk with a jury. But they wanted millions. The jury gave nothing. I think the evidence was in our favor.

Ecurb Noselrub

Quote from: Asmodean on June 25, 2022, 06:47:48 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 25, 2022, 12:36:07 AMJust finished a two week jury trial in Bryan, Texas (near where Texas A&M is located). We were defending a doctor and hospital in our system against a medical malpractice claim. The jury came back in our favor, and found no negligence or other violation of law against our clients. It was the right verdict in this case. I am very happy, and just bought drinks all around for those present in the hotel bar!!

Congrats! Was it a difficult case?

Very. Our documentation was not perfect, even though we did not do anything wrong. Plus, some of our witnesses were not very likeable. However, the plaintiff was simply not believable. She tried to say we did a procedure that she had not consented to, and made it impossible for her to work. Our experts rebutted that, and the jury rejected her claims.

billy rubin

law is a curious matter.

i used to be called for jury duty all the time when i lived in california. seventeen years. now that i live in ohio i am never called. twnety years. i don't know why.

the last time i was called for jury duty was a triple homicide, with laying in wait as an addition, which meant the death penalty. i spent 45 minutes explaining to the attrorneys and th ejudge why i did not object to killing people if i was 100 percent certain of their guilt, but would not support a guilty verdict if capital punishment could be applied with only a reasonable doubt being satisfied.

at the end both the defense and prosecution thanked me, and th ejudge said that i was an excellent candidate for a jury, just not this one . . .

go figure.

it didnt matter in the end because a mistrial was declared because they caught the defendant banging the assistant DA.

lol


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Icarus

I have served on two juries. Foreman on one of them.  One other of the jury selection events had me summarily dismissed.  Why?  In Florida, we tend to dress casually and comfortably. Me. the naive one. believed that the court deserved respect which included proper dress.  I showed up with a shirt and tie along with a conservative jacket.....oh.... and shoes. I swear that I was dismissed because I was too well dressed to suit the defense lawyers.

I am given to believe that jury selection is a keen science that is practiced by the best of lawyers. Ecurb can probably enlighten us about this important element of trial construction. 

Anne D.

Congrats, Ecurb!

Quote from: billy rubin on June 25, 2022, 11:25:41 PMlaw is a curious matter.

. . .

it didnt matter in the end because a mistrial was declared because they caught the defendant banging the assistant DA.

lol

Law is indeed a curious matter. And the practice of law even curiouser. Holy shit.

Ecurb Noselrub

Jury selection is a process of elimination, but it is a complicated matter on major cases like this one. The jury fills out questionnaires (employment, education, political party, etc.), then we hire a jury consultant to review them and rank them from bad to good. We look in our own database to see if any of them have sued the hospital before, or if anyone knows them. We had a local attorney look at the list, and he knew a few people and gave insight. Then we ask questions at the voir dire proceeding, when all the jurors are present in the court room. If any of them show a bias that they cannot set aside, we "challenge for cause", meaning we ask the judge to excuse them. He rules yes or no. Then, for the jurors who are left, each side gets six "preemptory strikes", meaning we strike the jurors we do not want on the jury. Nobody ever gets all of them off, and at this point it is more art and guesswork than science. The first 12 people who are not stricken by either side are the jury. Then there was one alternate in case anyone got sick, etc. There were 2 or 3 people we were concerned about. One of them ultimately was against us, but we only needed 10 out of 12 of the jurors after the alternate was excused at the end of final argument. The verdict was 11-1 in our favor, which is sufficient in a civil case. In criminal cases, it must be unanimous. The rules in civil cases vary from state to state.

After the trial, some of the jurors said they did not make up their minds until the final argument. That shows it was close. Both sides fought hard. Our perfect juror in a medical malpractice case would be an educated person (to understand the medical science), conservative (not free with someone else's money), practical, and who had no bad experiences with doctors/hospitals. We had several of these on the panel, and one of them was the foreman. This is an educated county, as Texas A&M University is located there. Of the 12 jurors, 4 had bachelor's degrees and 4 more had post-graduate degrees. That is unusual unless it is a mid-size county with a large university, which is what Brazos County is. And, generally, it is conservative. I would not want to live there, but they have good juries for our purposes!

billy rubin

texas a & m?

did you here about tbe man walking down the road in college ststion and standing on the corner was a corp turd in the uniform and boots and hat and sam brown belt

and a fat little pig with a pink bowcaround his neck tucked under his arm.

the man stooped and stared at the pig, then at the corp turd then back at the pig, and asked

where did you get that?

and the pig answered, i won him in a raffle


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

billy rubin

yesterday i lost another wheel, and i didnt die

got up at 0430 and drove through thr sunrise tbrough ohio. 70 mph. an occssional wiggle in the front end. 45 000 pounds of barite on tbe trailer

self, i said, need to get my mechanic to check out the new king pins

rush hour in akron dragged me down to five mph when suddenly the right front tire blew

i forced my way from the middle to the right lane through a line of indignant commuters, got out and saw thst i no longer had wheel bearings on tbe right steer wheel.

long story, an hour later the tow truck drivrr picked up my tractor on tbe hook, and the wheel fell off onto the ground. i hsd been driving with nothing holding the wheel on. the wobbling wheel had cut the tire apart on the tie rod end

good thing it cratered at 5mph instead of 70. losing a steer wheel at speed would have been very ugly, maybe not just for me.

so now im home with covid, and can take it easy. the truck needs everthing from the axle out, and it will take time to arrive. im good with that


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

billy rubin

and another thing. it wasnt my trailer and the brakes were bad. i got under to look and all the trailer brakes were backed off so far they didnt work, and the clevis on one was missing a pin so the activating mechanism was just dangling.

the kid who normally drove this trailer is not very good at what he does yet.

i had fishtailed twice empty on a wet road that morning because the trailer tried to come around and jacknife the tractor. so i stopped at a rest area and tightened all the brakes correctly.

when the kid showed up to take the barite that i could no longer deliver i pointed out that his trailer had had no brakes

i TOLD doug there was something wrong, he said . . .

it takes an ounce of knowledge and one wrench to adjust the brakes on a semi trailer. he did not apoear interested in obtaining either


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

billy rubin

#4857
but thats why im cheerful today



"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Magdalena

Quote from: billy rubin on July 30, 2022, 03:50:51 PMyesterday i lost another wheel, and i didnt die
...
Wow! That is a reason to be cheerful.


Quote from: billy rubin on July 30, 2022, 03:50:51 PMso now im home with covid, and can take it easy.
...
Aww, man! :-\

"I've had several "spiritual" or numinous experiences over the years, but never felt that they were the product of anything but the workings of my own mind in reaction to the universe." ~Recusant

No one

I make my own weather.

It's always hot and steamy here.