Trial Magazine

Trial lawyers are resilient: We fight with our minds and hearts fully engaged, and when we get knocked down, we get up and fight another day. Despite this fierce attitude, who among us has not looked back to make sure we did everything we could to win on behalf of our clients? And that goes for all types of cases, not just the focus of this month’s Trial: premises liability.

Whether it involves falls, burns, power line incidents, construction or ski area injuries, AAJ has abundant resources for handling premises liability cases. AAJ voting members can view AAJ’s complimentary member webinar “Building a Strong Foundation for Premises Injury Cases,” along with other free webinars at www.justice.org/memberwebinars. And in this issue of Trial, read about confronting spoliation of evidence (p. 16), creating a discovery plan in trip-and-fall cases (p. 24), dangerous amusement park rides (p. 38), and wildfire litigation (p. 30).

AAJ’s Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section and related Litigation Groups on ­premises liability give members access to document libraries, list servers, networking opportunities, and ­education programs. You can turn to these resources for answers. Find premises-related AAJ ­Litigation Groups at www.justice.org/litigationgroups.

The Exchange, AAJ’s online document database, is another great resource that I turn to on a regular basis. It contains more than 150,000 documents from plaintiff attorneys’ cases (free to members) and also curated Litigation Packets that compile documents on specific practice areas and cases. Packets related to premises liability include Parking Lots: Inadequate Maintenance and Design; Federal Tort Claims Act: Motor Vehicle and Premises Liability Cases; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.: Discovery Abuse; and Premises Security Liability: Apartment Complexes.

I’ve tried many premises liability cases, and one thing keeps coming to mind: Even when the underlying legal theories are the same, the jury’s perception of the parties and facts are unique to each case. And what about the defendant’s reputation? Not all corporations are viewed equally. How jurors feel about one corporation may be vastly different from how they feel about Monsanto or Walmart. What about responsiveness? Did the defendant take immediate steps to warn consumers of spill dangers? Or did the defendant affirmatively decide to do nothing or even go so far as to destroy evidence?

This brings me to an AAJ Education program that focuses on foundational trial skills, including voir dire, openings and closings, and direct and cross of lay and expert witnesses. The Essentials of Civil Litigation will be held March 7–9 in Salt Lake City. It’s an intensive three-day program geared to attorneys in practice 10 years or less and provides workshops and feedback from experienced trial lawyers and consultants.

And if you’ve handled at least five jury trials, consider attending ATLA’s Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course®: The Art of Persuasion from March 16–20 at Harvard Law School. You’ll learn advanced communication techniques and trial strategies through hands-on workshops in small groups. Visit www.justice.org/CLE or call (800) 424-2727 for more information.

AAJ’s products and services are valuable because they are created by plaintiff lawyers for other plaintiff lawyers. Knowing that AAJ members are invested in helping one another always inspires me to fight another day.

Elise R. Sanguinetti is a partner at Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at elise.sanguinetti@justice.org.