United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Can you please share what you and your attorneys did to prepare for trial. Our trial is coming up soon and I am curious as to what to expect or what to ask them about. Did you do a mock trial? How many days did you spend preparing?

We spent a few hours the weekend prior to trial going over the questions to expect. I found that the hardest part was trying to remember not to say things like, "we were told to...". It is part of your natural speech, but in court you cannot that. It is heresay. Unfortunatly, you cannot know what the other side will ask. Just tell the truth, and you will be fine.

We too will be headed to trial in the near future. I know some of you have been through it. If you could please share some it would really help some of us and would be greatly appreciated. Are there things you wish you would've prepared for more and didn't? Are there things you felt glad you were prepared for and if so, what? Looking back on your trial win or lose, what type of things do you feel your attorney did that really helped grab and convince the jury of the cause of the injury, etc. What things do you think would have been helpful or more convincive? I like to think that we can learn and help others, so if you would be willing to share I know it would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you.

We were prepared the same; a few hours the day before trial began.
We didn't go over specific answers because our attorney wanted it to be honest and not rehearsed.

Just remember to tell the trueth, be polite and poised/composed (helps to say "sir" or "ma'am" to the opposing lawyer); don't offer any extra information to the questions asked.

All the best!

Peggy

I think the thing that helped us most in trial was having a large visual of how the injury actually occurs. The defense tried to use the posterior shoulder issue in our case and I found a picture of the posterior shoulder being stretched so our lawer argued that it really didn't matter what shoulder it was,all that mattered was that it was caused by excesssive traction period. Also it is very helpful(although very tough) to not get snippy or angry with the defense attorney when being questioned. Just know that you are telling the truth and dont let them get to you. One more thing I would suggest is making eye contact with the ob/midwife, whoever the defendent is. This will show your confidence and integrety to the jury. Good luck with your trial.
Beth

We were going to trial shortly but just confirmed the settlement today. Our attorney was in the mindset of going to trial since day one which we felt was very important, you can't expect settlement. We forwarded treatment calendars so our attorney could make a huge display of all of our child's treatment since birth. We had a few pretrial meetings and phone conferences. One of the most important things to do is write down what happens after birth so you don't loose any of the information over the period of time until trial. We also had a mock trial which was awesome. The jurors weren't told it was a mock trial until it was over. The deliberations were taped live so we got to watch it. We also got to see what our attorney would be like in trial and the attorney was worth every penny of the fee. Our attorney made a birth to present video, and keep all splints, devices, etc.
You can say that someone said something as long as that person is a party in the suit, so if your old ob told you something you can say he/she told me this.
Attend all depositions possible. Don't sound too medical.
The one thing we realized is that no amount of money is ever enough, at least the ob admitted that he/she was wrong.

We were going to trial shortly but just confirmed the settlement. Our attorney was in the mindset of going to trial since day one which we felt was very important, you can't expect settlement. We forwarded treatment calendars so our attorney could make a huge display of all of our child's treatment since birth. We had a few pretrial meetings and phone conferences. One of the most important things to do is write down what happens after birth so you don't loose any of the information over the period of time until trial. We also had a mock trial which was awesome. The jurors weren't told it was a mock trial until it was over. The deliberations were taped live so we got to watch it. We also got to see what our attorney would be like in trial and the attorney was worth every penny of the fee. Our attorney made a birth to present video, and keep all splints, devices, etc.
You can say that someone said something as long as that person is a party in the suit, so if your old ob told you something you can say he/she told me this.
Attend all depositions possible. Don't sound too medical.
The one thing we realized is that no amount of money is ever enough, at least the ob admitted that he/she was wrong.
Another important thing, make sure your testimony matches your deposition otherwise the defense will be all over you.

I'm curious to know if anyone has gathered any statistics on the amount of preparation versus trial wins or losses? How much does a parent's (prepared OR unprepared) testimony affect a trial? I'm asking because I was told that our preparation would only be for a couple of hours the day before the trial and it seems to me that many families prepare much more than that. I guess I'm just very anxious.

We did not prepare that much before we took the stand. We spent a few hours the night before going over the case with our attorneys. We felt very confident that if we just told the truth- that we totally trusted our OB's decision not to consider a C-section- that the evidence in the case would prove itself. We did go over our depos' the day before too, which I was glad that I did do that, because the defense did ask me to look at my depo to refresh my memory and I was glad that I had.
My biggest words of advice are to remain calm, tell the truth,think about your answer and look at the jury and the Dr in the face, so the jury can see that you are not intimidated my him.