Verdict and Status	Type Description	Name Court, Docket, Date	Lead Plaintiff’s attorney(s) Firm	Lead Defense attorney(s) Firm
Defense Motion for new trial denied.	Products Liability Flight attendant claimed second-hand smoke caused her lung cancer	Routh v. Philip Morris Inc. Miami-Dade Co., Fla., Cir. Ct. 00-03030 CA 11 (10/14/03)	Steven K. Hunter, Angones, Hunter, McClure, Lynch, Williams & Garcia, Miami; Stuart R. Silver, Kluger, Peretz, Kaplan & Berlin, Miami	William P. Geraghty and Kenneth J. Reilly, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Miami
Defense	Premises Liability Shopper fell when she stepped on grape near checkout	Nisivoccia v. Glass Gardens Inc. Morris County, N.J., Super. Ct. MRS-L-3769-95 (3/27/03)	Lewis Stein, Nusbaum, Stein, Goldstein, Bronstein & Kron, Succasunna, N.J.	Robert Francis Gold, Gold, Albanese, Bartletti & Velazquez, Morristown, N.J.
Defense Post-trial motions withdrawn.	Products Liability Diabetic claimed that his foot was burned by Explorer heater	Stewart v. Ford Motor Co. Sacramento Co., Calif., Super. Ct. 00AS05909 (5/12/03)	Michael L. Gums, Law Offices of Michael Gums, Sacramento, Calif.; David M. Blackman, Blackman & Blackman, Sacramento, Calif.	H. Grant Law, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, San Francisco; Vickie E. Turner, Wilson, Petty, Kosmo & Turner, San Diego
Defense Motion for new trial denied. Appeal pending.	Negligence Parolee returned to job site and murdered customer	Estate of Vrendenburg v. National Catastrophe Restoration Inc. Sedgwick Co., Kan., Dist. Ct. 01-C-3713 (5/13/03)	Gary E. Patterson and Travis J. Burk, Patterson, Gott & Graybill, Wichita, Kan.	Gary M. Austerman and Christopher M. Magana, Klenda, Mitchell, Austerman & Zuercher, Wichita, Kan.
Defense	Products Liability Woman’ estate blamed asbestos in Kent cigarette filter	Estate of Badenhoop v. Lorillard Tobacco Co. D. Md. 01-CV-00152-JFM (4/29/03)	John E. Herrick, Ness Motley, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; John Amato IV, Goodman, Meagher & Enoch, Baltimore	Roger C. Geary and James E. Berger, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Kansas City, Mo.
Defense Appeal filed.	Infliction of Emotional Distress After autopsy, child was returned without major organs	Macrelli v. Children's Hospital Suffolk Co., Mass., Super. Ct. 99-4183B (6/5/03)	Michael R. Hugo, Hugo & Pollack, Boston	William J. Dailey Jr., Sloane & Walsh, Boston
Defense	Medical Malpractice Woman on suicide watch killed herself in hospital	Dyakovetsky v. Sharp Memorial Hospital San Diego Co., Calif., Super. Ct. 779336 (9/15/03)	Sheldon A. Ostroff, Huffman & Kostas, San Diego	Thomas E. Lotz, Lotz Doggett & Rawers, San Diego; Mark L. Brandon, Grace Brandon & Hollis, San Diego
Defense Appeal pending.	Products Liability Man died after Honda Civic hit in front fender, door	Greenwood v. Honda Motor Co. Maricopa Co., Ariz., Super. Ct. CV 99-022663 (3/6/03)	Larry E. Coben and Daniel Dell'Osso, Coben & Associates, Scottsdale, Ariz.	Paul G. Cereghini and Lori A. Zirkle, Bowman & Brooke, Phoenix
Defense Court costs awarded.	Employment Manager was tough on all, regardless of race	EEOC v. United Parcel Service Inc. N.D. Texas 6:01-CV-00109 (5/7/03)	Suzanne M. Anderson, EEOC, Dallas	Shelton E. Padgett, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, San Antonio
Defense	Negligence Uninvited guest kicked to death after teenager’s kegger	Estate of Jones v. De Laroserie Palm Beach Co., Fla., Cir. Ct. CA 01-8275 AI (5/22/03)	Jack Orsley, Orsley & Cripps, West Palm Beach, Fla.	John Lurvey, Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevens & Abel, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Defense	Employment AOL fired woman while she was on pregnancy leave	Al Mukhtar v. America Online Inc. E.D. Va. 03-59-A (11/20/03)	Elaine C. Bredehoft and Janet A. Vecchia, Charlson Bredehoft, Reston, Va.	James L. Banks Jr., McGuireWoods, McClean, Va.
Defense Appeal filed.	Products Liability Guest hit eye opening faux armoire door in hotel	D'amore v. Ritz Carlton San Francisco Orange Co., Calif., Super. Ct. 01CC16169 (5/30/03)	Silvio Natale, Nelson & Natale, Los Angeles	Dan Doyle, D'Antony Poliquin & Doyle, Laguna Hills, Calif.; James C. Fraser, Law Office of Patrick Whalen, South Coast Metro, Calif.
Defense Motion for new trial denied.	Products Liability Appliance installer received a shock from Maytag drier	Hepburn v. Maytag Appliance Sales Co. Orange Co., Fla., Cir. Ct. CIO-01-4522;DIV.40 (2/5/03)	David J. Beasley, Law Office of David J. Beasley, Orlando, Fla.	Kevin J. Carroll, Ausley & McMullen, Tallahassee, Fla.
Defense Motion for new trial pending.	Consumer Protection Class did not expect economy ink in HP’s low-priced printers	Hughes v. Hewlett Packard Co. Orange Co., N.C., Super. Ct. No. 01-cvs-46 (9/11/03)	Richard McCune, Welebir & McCune, Redlands, Calif.	Robert Cooper, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Los Angeles
Defense Costs awarded.	Premises Liability Toddler drowned in Tommy Lee’s pool during birthday party	Karven v. Lee Los Angeles Co., Calif., Super. Ct. SC 070 820 (4/17/03)	Thomas V. Girardi and David R. Lira, Girardi & Keese, Los Angeles	James M. Baratta and Robin A. Webb, Grant, Genovese & Baratta, Irvine, Calif.
Defense	Medical Malpractice Jehovah Witness objected to use of platelets during surgery	Stankewitz v. Koumjian San Diego Co., Calif., Super. Ct. GIE014269 (10/30/03)	James M. McCabe, Law Office of James M. McCabe, San Diego	Robert W. Frank, Neil, Dymott, Perkins, Brown & Frank, San Diego
Defense Notice of appeal filed.	Hotel Terrorist killed American hotel guests in Egypt	Guidi v. InterContinental Hotel Corp. S.D.N.Y. 95 Civ 9007 LAP (5/15/03)	Harvey Weitz and Veronica A. Albanese, Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot, New York	Alan Kaminsky and Robert Wallace, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, New York
Defense Notice of appeal filed.	Wrongful Death Estate of shark attack victims blamed kayak firm for death	Monazzami-Taghadomi v. Extreme Sports Maui D. Hawaii CV01-00171 ACK-KSC (5/8/03)	Peter A. Schey, Los Angeles; Teresa Tico, Hanalei, Hawaii	Ann H. Aratani, Ayabe, Chong, Nishimoto, Sia & Nakamura, Honolulu; Paul D. Stockler, Anchorage, Alaska
Defense	Government Spot fire grew, destroying 37,000 acres	Bartek v. State of Alaska Palmer Super. Ct., Alaska, 3rd Jud. Dist. 3 PA 98-247-CI (with) 3 AN 99-7266-CI (4/30/03)	John H. Hinderaker and Gerard M. Nolting, Faegre & Benson, Minneapolis	Timothy J. Lamb and James B. Friderici, Delaney, Wiles, Hayes, Garety, Ellis & Young, Anchorage, Alaska
Defense	Medical Malpractice Ruptured aneurysm should have been foreseen, remedied	Blalack v. Moskowitz Gregg Co., Texas, Dist. Ct. 2001-197-B (8/29/03)	Richard L. Howell and Steve Ohvrall, Demarest, Smith, Giunta & Howell, Dallas	C. Victor Haley and John L. Price, Fairchild, Price, Thomas & Haley, Nacogdoches, Texas
Methodology Let us not forget the art and skill involved in obtaining a defense verdict, of which we have identified 20 notable examples. They are cases that were won by overcoming odds heightened by high-profile parties, sympathetic plaintiffs, unsympathetic defendants and skillful opposing counsel. Of the several criteria considered by our editors, cases where a plaintiff appeared to have the advantage or where the amount at stake was substantial carried the most weight.