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Justice denied: not all clients who deserve to win do so. Here, three lawyers share stories of cases that could not succeed because the doors of justice were locked.

Article Excerpt
The worst thing imaginable

WILLIAM S. BAILEY

In the early 1980s, after a semiretired senior partner in my first firm lost his 55-year-old son to a sudden, massive heart attack, he told me, "You never want to bury your children, no matter how old they are." Even though my own children were in preschool at the time, I understood exactly what he meant. Then, as now, the worst thing I can imagine for any parent at any age is the loss of a child.

Anecdotal evidence and scientific research both demonstrate the severe mental suffering of parents who lose adult children. When popular entertainer Dean Martin's beloved son Dino died in a jet crash, those closest to Martin observed that he seemed to lose the will to live. Clinical research has also shown profound disturbances in the day-to-day functioning of grieving parents.

In 2002, I began a trial in which my passion as a father joined with my passion for justice as a trial lawyer: I represented George and Kathryn Philippides in a wrongful death case over the loss of their intelligent, handsome, and charismatic 22-year-old son Yianni.

I had taken the case knowing that my state's law appeared to foreclose legal action by nondependent parents for the death of an adult child. But the love and sacrifices George and Kathryn had made for Yianni and their two older children, as well as the kindness and respect they showed to all people, justified giving this case everything I had. Beyond this, I felt a special admiration for Yianni, whose short life revealed great potential.

Yianni excelled in college, majoring in international relations and philosophy. After graduation, he decided to take a little time off before embarking on his career, supporting himself as a bicycle messenger in Seattle. While on his last delivery of the day, he was run down on his bicycle in a marked downtown crosswalk by a car driven by Robert Bernard, a traveling salesman.

Yianni was rushed to the regional trauma center, unconscious, with a severe head injury. His sister called their parents, on vacation in Alaska, and they rushed to their son's bedside. Yianni never regained consciousness. After several brain surgeries, he lingered on life support for a week, then died.

Although Bernard remained in Seatle for several days before returning home to Michigan, he never came by the hospital while Yianni clung to life, nor did he apologize to the family after Yianni died. His only penalty: a $250 traffic ticket for failure to yield the fight-of-way.

George and Kathryn never would have filed a lawsuit if Bernard had simply apologized, expressed regret, or asked for forgiveness. But he had said nothing, going on with his life...

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