22 Trial Lawyer • Fall 2023 Missed Direction Continued from p 21 worker, published author and invited reviewer for professional journals, he was the confident, heavyweight defense finisher. We knew little about him before he testified, but knew he was substantial. We had suspected that he might catch Tidwell’s error and clean it up, and we had prepared a cross-examination in which we would go through all of Tidwell’s mistakes with Ueeck, getting Ueeck to contradict Tidwell and make the defense look shifty. But on direct examination when the defense lawyer put Tidwell’s CBCT exhibit on the screen, Ueeck adopted all of it. The dog leg, the gap between the teeth, the clear lack of obstruction — all on the wrong side of the mouth, and Ueeck did not see the error. Cross-examination was one of those joys that you rarely get. Watching the stunned expression and the air go out of him with the simple question (paraphrasing here), “Dr. Ueeck, looking at this exhibit with the laser pointer, isn’t that an L and isn’t that an R?” A substantial defense theme had been that Dr. Binder was experienced, had done many, many wisdom tooth removals, and was unlikely to have used too much pressure. Thus the question (paraphrasing again), “Dr. Ueeck, wouldn’t you agree that no matter how experienced you are, you can still screw up?” The defense never brought up Binder’s experience again. Almost as overkill, we called a radiologist on rebuttal who, over the weekend, had done cross-sections of the CBCT showing that the real tooth 32 was obstructed by tooth 31 and had no path for removal — exactly what the panoramic had shown. The jury was out two hours and returned a verdict of $400,000 for pain and suffering plus Tianna’s economic damages. The defense paid it. We owe thanks to our experts, particularly retired dentist Jim Allen of Bend and active dentist Dain Paxton of Portland. Both were available for valuable advice during the buildup and during the trial itself, including providing us with the articles we used in the Tidwell crossexamination. Dr. Paxton was found for us by the Expert Institute, an OTLA sponsor. We highly recommend them based on that and other experiences. Tina Stupasky represents injured people with claims involving medical negligence and vehicle collisions. She contributes to the OTLA Guardians at the Guardians Club level. Stupasky is a partner in the firm Jensen Elmore Stupasky & Lessley PC, 298 Pearl St., Eugene, OR 97401. You can reach her at 541-342-1141 or tstupasky@ jeslaw.com. Bryan Lessley practices personal injury law. He is a shareholder in the firm Jensen Elmore Stupasky & Lessley, P.C., 298 Pearl St., Eugene, OR 97401. He can be reached at bryan@jeslaw.com or 541-342-1141. Your client has a story to tell. Hire a communication professional to help tell it.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTY1NDIzOQ==