The trial: Trabue v. Atlanta Women's Specialists
The attorney: William Stone
Case summary: Shannon Trabue suffered a catastrophic brain injury when she collapsed in a Georgia hospital days after childbirth. Trabue's family sued the medical professionals involved, contending that they failed to act in time to prevent fluid overload that led to her pulmonary edema.
Synopsis: Stone saves his focus on non-economic damages for rebuttal argument. He uses the "want-ad" technique, complete with a demonstrative image of the hypothetical ad, to demonstrate that no one would want the "job" that contains the lifelong requirements associated with Trabue's injury. He pairs this technique with cost comparisons, arguing jurors can use an hourly rate the defense paid its expert witnesses when settling on an hourly rate for the "job" that Trabue did not want.
Stone also intersperses Trabue's own loss with notes from his own life, which implicitly invites jurors to compare themselves to Trabue's loss.
The verdict: $45.8 million, including $18 million for Trabue's non-economic damages, and $18 million for loss of consortium.
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