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When the balance shifted: in every trial, there is a moment when you can tell something important has happened: you've made a critical point, averted potential disaster, or changed the trial's momentum. Here, four lawyers share what moved juries in their client's favor - whether technique, testimony, or just plain luck.

Article Excerpt
A nurse's dramatic story

Before I start a trial, I try to determine when it is most likely that the jury will become intellectually and emotionally aware of the impact that the defendant's carelessness had on the plaintiff's life. Sometimes it is impossible to predict this moment, but it almost always happens.

In one case, I represented a young boy who was injured at birth. His mother's uterus ruptured during labor when she was attempting a vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC), but with an absent attending anesthesiologist, nothing could be done to help the baby.

The mother had delivered her first child by C-section. Her obstetrician convinced her to attempt a VBAC this time. When she went to the hospital in labor, her contractions were confirmed by an external fetal monitor. The obstetrician evaluated her and began administering Pitocin to strengthen the contractions. Over the next seven hours, her Pitocin level was modestly increased until an effective contraction pattern...

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