This week we’re replaying a classic episode where your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Jim M. Perdue, Sr. and Jim M. Perdue, Jr of Perdue and Kidd (https://www.perdueandkidd.com/). 

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Episode Details:

Texas trial lawyers Jim M. Perdue, Sr. and Jim M. Perdue, Jr. -- Perdue & Kidd's father-and-son trial team -- take a look back at the first case they ever tried together. Listen as this accomplished trial team explains how they secured justice for the wrongful death of a patient who died as a result of the negligence of a nurse anesthetist during routine orthopedic surgery. In September 1997, 40-year-old Mark Alexander was scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder, but the anesthesiologist left him in the hands of an inexperienced nurse anesthetist, who failed to provide Mark with adequate ventilation during the surgery and neglected to record Mark's heart rate for 17 minutes. As a result, Mark was deprived of adequate blood flow to the brain for 10 to 14 minutes and remained in a coma for two weeks before passing away on October 3, 1997. Involved in the case while Mark was still in a coma, Jim M. Perdue, Sr. was able to collect powerful pieces of evidence he presented at trial: phone recordings and messages from Mark's family. In spite of the defense's attempts to cast blame on the other anesthesiologists and professional associations named in the lawsuit or to distance themselves from having any role in Mark's medical care, the father-and-son legal team was able to hold the doctors accountable for their contribution to Mark's substandard care and proximate cause of death. Jim M. Perdue, Sr. and Jim M. Perdue, Jr. strategically engaged the jury's senses with impressive storytelling and by sharing a visual timeline of the tragic events, a video of Mark languishing in a coma and the hard data comparison of the anesthetist's records versus the medical equipment records. In October 1999, a Harris County, Texas jury unanimously found the four defendants negligent and awarded $3.6 million in damages to Mark's wife and surviving parents. 

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Guest Bios:

Jim M. Perdue, Sr:

Jim M. Perdue, Sr. is Of Counsel to Perdue & Kidd. Mr. Perdue received both his Bachelor of Science cum laude and his Juris Doctorate cum laude from the University of Houston.

Mr. Perdue has had over five decades of success in securing substantial and in some cases unprecedented multi-million dollar verdicts and recoveries for his clients. He has lectured across the country, speaking before law schools, scientific associations, medical groups, bar associations, trial lawyer organizations, and colleges of advocacy, delivering over 400 presentations on topics including the substantive law of malpractice and product liability, professional responsibility, rules of evidence, the psychology of jury persuasion, special issue submission, and trial strategy and technique.

He has authored texts and treatises on the substantive law of medical malpractice and product liability. The appellate courts of Texas have often cited his books, law review, and law journal articles. Moreover, numerous appellate opinions in cases he has prosecuted have pioneered the way for today’s victims of negligence, defective products and corporate indifference.

In 1989, Forbes magazine dubbed Mr. Perdue “King of the Malpractice Lawyers.” He has been a trailblazer in plaintiffs’ litigation for the past fifty plus years. He is one of the most well-known medical malpractice and product liability trial lawyers in Texas.

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Jim M. Perdue, Jr:

Jim M. Perdue, Jr. is a named partner at Perdue & Kidd, with a national practice focusing on trying lawsuits, from cases involving defective medical products and pharmaceutical liability claims to catastrophic injuries of all types. He is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and Medical Professional Liability by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. He currently serves on the Rules Advisory Committee of the Texas Supreme Court.  Jim Perdue Jr. is both an Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates and Fellow in the International Society of Barristers. Mr. Perdue is listed among the “Top 100 Attorneys in Texas” in Texas Monthly by Thomson Reuters, where he has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” since the award was created 11 years ago. He is also named in “The Best Lawyers in America” (Woodward/White 2006-15) for Plaintiff’s Personal Injury practice.

Jim Perdue Jr. has tried over 30 personal injury cases to jury verdict, including multi-million dollar verdicts for cases involving pharmaceutical liability, workplace injury, and medical malpractice. This includes his $27.6 million dollar verdict against Boston Scientific, listed as one of the largest product liability verdicts of 2014 by the National Law Journal. Jim Perdue Jr. has spoken at over 100 legal seminars and published on a wide range of topics, from trial techniques to tort law. He has made appearances on Good Morning America, Court TV, and local television as a legal commentator on civil justice legislation, automotive safety, and product liability law.

Jim Perdue Jr. r attended the University of Texas and graduated summa cum laude. He then received his J.D. cum laude at the University of Houston Law Center and was named their Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 2006. He is Past-President of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, Past-Chair of the Professional Negligence Section of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, a member of Leader’s Forum of American Association for Justice, a fellow of the Texas and Houston Bar Foundations, and a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas. The Houston Young Lawyers Association honored Jim Perdue Jr. with the Woodrow B. Seals Outstanding Young Attorney Award in 2002.

Mr. Perdue serves on the Boards of TIRR Foundation, which is the charitable research arm of TIRR Hospital in Houston, Texas, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Foundation (Houston); and the Silver Spurs Alumni Association. Jim Perdue Jr. is a past director of the Texas Lyceum and Past President of the University of Houston Law Center Alumni Organization. He and his wife Nicole have three sons.

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Free Resources:

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2