Just Verdicts

The hospital had a good policy that would have prevented a 67-year-old woman from being prematurely discharged. Instead, she was discharged and found dead 12 hours later. Host Brendan Lupetin unpacks this wrongful death case with the trial team of Dorothy Dohanics, Carmen Nocera and Ben Cohen. Tune in to hear how Dorothy's meticulous discovery work and Carmen and Ben's strategic courtroom work drove their $5.25 million verdict. 

☑️ Ben Cohen 

☑️ Dorothy Dohanics | LinkedIn

☑️ Carmen Nocera | LinkedIn

☑️ Harry S. Cohen & Associates on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

☑️ Brendan Lupetin | LinkedIn

☑️ Lupetin & Unatin, LLC

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Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

In the first of a two-part series about approaches to arguing punitives, host Brendan Lupetin focuses on Mark Lanier's $9 billion verdict against Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Brendan breaks down the three-part strategy that ensured Mark’s success: emphasizing the purpose of punitive damages beyond compensation, empowering jurors to understand their verdict will travel globally within 30 seconds, and making astronomical corporate wealth comprehensible by converting $60 billion into relatable $60,000 scenarios. Come back for the second installment, when Brendan will analyze how Shanin Specter won $109 million from West Penn Power Company in the Goretzka case.

Host Brendan Lupetin tackles the strategic paradox every trial lawyer faces: how to emphasize your strongest evidence through repetition without annoying jurors who hate lawyers who "say the same thing over and over." Drawing extensively from David Ball's "Theater Tips and Strategies for Jury Trials," Brendan explains the critical distinction between strategic repetition that wins cases and mindless repetition that loses them. He reveals Ball's gold standard for what to repeat—only what you want favorable jurors to say in deliberations—and shares the cautionary tale of a lawyer who said "in the blue Honda Civic southbound on US Interstate Highway number 95" sixty-seven times in a six-day trial, undermining his case's impact.

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When Jordan Strokovsky received a call about a 27-year-old medical assistant who lost his leg at Temple University Hospital, he knew within minutes something wasn't right. In this breakdown of his career-defining $25.9 million verdict in Parks v. Temple University Hospital, Jordan reveals to host Brendan Lupetin how he transformed a damages-only case into one of Philadelphia's largest amputation verdicts. 

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☑️ Lupetin & Unatin, LLC

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Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

While representing a client who lost his foot after relying on his employer’s medical helpline, Helen Lawless and the trial team realized that the helpline did “exactly what it was supposed to do.” And their strategy was born. In this case breakdown with host Brendan Lupetin, Helen explains that the helpline was actually a lucrative business model designed to keep workers from getting proper medical care. Their “constant refrain” to the jury, Helen says, was that the company benefited from the deceptive helpline just as it intended. Ultimately, a Philadelphia jury awarded her client $4.2 million.

☑️ Helen Lawless | LinkedIn

☑️ Kline & Specter on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube 

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• Helen reveals how the Workcompvidence company deliberately kept injured workers from seeking proper medical care, monitoring patients but only providing "first aid" advice to avoid recordable workplace injuries.
• The company used a strategy called "tight management" to reduce "panic factors" that might lead workers to seek proper medical treatment, with nurses representing themselves as part of a doctor's practice.
• When the construction site job ended, the company "closed" their client's case without informing him, leaving him without care until his foot deteriorated to the point of requiring amputation.
• The defense claimed they owed no duty to the injured worker, but the jury disagreed, awarding $4.42 million in compensatory damages despite having no offer from the defense before trial.
• The trial featured detailed testimony about the company's business model that included marketing materials showing how they promised to reduce worker compensation costs for employers.

Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

Host Brendan Lupetin breaks down two powerful psychological principles that can transform your trial strategy: the focusing illusion and the framing effect. Drawing from cognitive research and courtroom experience, Brendan explains that jurors focus on what's presented as most important – and lawyers who don’t control the jurors’ focus leave their case to chance. Using examples from a recent medical malpractice victory involving critical limb ischemia, he demonstrates how deliberate focusing—rather than presenting every available fact—leads to stronger verdicts and more persuasive arguments. 

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A $25 million medical malpractice verdict came from strategies most attorneys would reject: omitting economic damages entirely, using minimal medical literature, and framing informed consent to transcend political divides. Katie Bertram and Kieran Murphy of Bertram & Murphy dissect their victory with host Brendan Lupetin. The attorneys reveal how focus groups guided their decision to withhold a $7 million economic loss claim that could have anchored the jury to a lower amount. Tune in for an inside look into their methodical approach to cross-examination that avoided battles over medical literature while exposing expert credibility issues.

☑️ Katie Bertram | LinkedIn

☑️ Kieran Murphy | LinkedIn

☑️ Bertram & Murphy on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube 

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• Katie shares her core trial philosophy: Stop trying to convince jurors and instead frame facts in ways they can understand.
• The team’s $25 million verdict for a cancer patient came after the counterintuitive decision to omit economic damages worth millions, which prevented defense attorneys from nitpicking their client's future earnings.
• Kieran explains how they proved the lack of informed consent by demonstrating the primary care doctor didn't understand her own electronic medical record system, undermining her claim that she properly communicated with the patient.
• Rather than presenting complex medical literature in cross-examination, they focus on letting the expert's character reveal itself.
• Their trial preparation emphasizes authenticity while crafting a narrative focused on the defendant's actions rather than emotional appeals.

Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

"We're big believers in looking at cases and trying to drive the value we believe they're worth," says Eric Chaffin about the $130,000 verdict he and Justin Joseph secured when the insurance company offered just $10,000. Host Brendan Lupetin explores how the trial partners transformed a "typical" meniscal tear case into a compelling human story. Using psychodrama techniques and focusing on the emotional impact of the injury, they convinced jurors to look beyond minimal vehicle damage and limited medical treatment to see the true impact on their "quintessential Pittsburgh" beer delivery driver client.

☑️ Eric Chaffin | LinkedIn | Instagram 

☑️ Justin Joseph | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Chaffin Luhana on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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• The client, a 58-year-old beer delivery driver, was injured when a garbage truck backed into his stopped vehicle, striking his knee against the dash and tearing his meniscus.
• Despite being an admitted liability case, the defense challenged causation, arguing the meniscal tear was age-related rather than traumatic.
• The attorneys used psychodrama to help their "stoic Pittsburgher" client better visualize and articulate his experience, strengthening factual and emotional aspects of his testimony.
• When the defense admitted liability just days before trial, the attorneys pivoted their strategy to focus exclusively on damages, emphasizing the human impact of the injury.
• A key defense mistake was continuing to challenge the client's credibility even after admitting liability, allowing the plaintiff's team to highlight the contradiction of "accepting responsibility" while simultaneously attacking their client.
• Despite the client having only six months of documented treatment, the jury awarded $30,000 for past pain and suffering and $100,000 for future damages, recognizing the ongoing impact of the injury.

Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

"We don't know and we don't care how Mike came into contact with that raft," trial lawyer Mike Calder told jurors in a case many attorneys had rejected. In this conversation with host Brendan Lupetin, Mike and trial partner Jon Perry of Perry Calder dissect their $19 million verdict for a 21-year-old who became quadriplegic after a swimming pool accident. Originally signing the case with limited expectations, the team persevered after homeowners who initially expressed responsibility later denied fault. Tune in as they reveal how they overcame premises liability challenges, identified a critical warning label, and built a case that resonated deeply with jurors.

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☑️ Mike Calder | LinkedIn

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• In July 2013, college student Michael Fraser became quadriplegic after hitting his head in a swimming pool accident involving a large inflatable raft that propelled him unexpectedly into the shallow end.
• When other attorneys declined the case, Mike Calder met with the family after learning that the homeowners had allegedly expressed responsibility for the accident to the victim's mother.
• Mike and Jon found a hook for the case when they discovered that the raft had a warning label stating "never allow diving on this raft" - a warning the homeowners had covered up with handles used to tow the raft behind their boat.
• The team called the homeowners as hostile witnesses, establishing they knew the warning, had covered it up, and were unwilling to admit wrongdoing – even testifying they would do nothing differently in the future.
• Despite receiving no settlement offers and facing complex appellate challenges after the verdict, the team ultimately collected on the full judgment, which had grown with interest to more than the initial $19 million.

Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

When a 64-year-old man with classic stroke symptoms was misdiagnosed with Bell's Palsy, his care was delayed by 19 critical hours. Host Brendan Lupetin interviews classmates-turned-colleagues Ben Cohen and Carmen Nocera about their $856,000 medical malpractice verdict in Washington County, PA. The young attorneys reveal how they exposed contradictions in the defense's position, leveraged a damning phone call recording, and maintained credibility with the jury through a grueling two-week trial against experienced defense lawyers.

☑️ Ben Cohen | LinkedIn

☑️ Carmen Nocera | LinkedIn

☑️ Harry S. Cohen & Associates on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

☑️ Brendan Lupetin | LinkedIn

☑️ Lupetin & Unatin, LLC

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• The case involved Steve Burrows, a 64-year-old active outdoorsman who experienced sudden onset of numerous stroke symptoms but was misdiagnosed with Bell's Palsy.
• Despite the medical maxim "time is brain," treatment for stroke was delayed 19 hours, resulting in permanent neurological deficits including a vocal cord paralysis that made eating and drinking extremely difficult.
• A critical phone consultation between the ER doctor and a neurologist, initiated only because the patient's friend insisted, revealed that the doctor presented incomplete information and was committed to the Bell's Palsy diagnosis.
• The defense tried to argue that stroke symptoms began the day before, putting the patient outside the treatment window, but records showed those minor symptoms had completely resolved.
• The attorneys explain how Washington County's generous voir dire process, including comprehensive questionnaires provided weeks in advance, helped them identify jurors comfortable making decisions between competing expert opinions.
• After a seven-hour deliberation, the jury awarded $856,000, finding negligence by both the hospital and emergency room physician.

Ready to refer or collaborate on med mal, medical negligence, and catastrophic injury cases? Visit our attorney referral page at PAMedMal.com/Refer. We handle cases in Pennsylvania and across the United States.