I actually meant every word of it, but could have said it in a less blunt fashion. Medical malpractice litigation is something I actually know quite a bit about, and have made quite a bit of money on med mal cases over the years.
Juries are not stupid. I have so much faith in the jury system that it borders on awe. Each one person may not be all that smart, but twelve of them together are pretty damned sharp.
Judges are not stupid, either. They may be sleepy, bored, ornery, even downright cantakerous, but they're a lot smarter than they seem sitting there with their eyes closed.
Insurance defense lawyers are not stupid, either. They typically try more cases in a month than the average litigator tries in a year, and the ordinary lawyer tries in a lifetime.
Defense expert witnesses are not stupid, either. Insurance companies can and do hire the best.
So the argument that the juries are too dumb to realize that ol' Edwards is snowing them, and Edwards just got dumb lucky doesn't go too far with me. It may seem easy when you watch it on TV, but TV doesn't show the years of putting a case together, piece by piece, the depositions, the motions for summary judgment, the motions to strike, the endless appeals. Your typical trial lawyer, plaintiff OR defense, works 16 hour days six days a week, and sometimes on Sunday. A "bad baby" case takes about two weeks of actual trial, and costs at least $50,000 per side just on costs and expert witness fees, not counting the defense attorneys, who don't work on contingency fees, that probably adds another $100,000.
One little old nurse thinks she/he knows more about the cases than all those other people put together? I don't think so.
Edwards is really, really sharp. He's a far better lawyer than me, I don't mind admitting. He's meticulous, thorough, focussed, driven, personable, articulate, limber, ready for action, and could charm the birds from the trees. He doesn't have the depth of knowledge that, say, Cheney has, but he's young yet. A damned sight better choice for Veep than Quayle. I always say they picked the wrong Quayle, Marilyn was the brains in that couple. |
