Q: Tell me more about that. A: What do you mean, tell you more about that? Do you want to know what the content was? Q: Yes. A: Things like Devon hiding his Hepatitis C status from me, things like Devon taking my daughter, things like Devon lying about all kinds of things that took place during our divorce. It was — do you want me to continue? As the jury listened to the landlord’s history of sexual misdeeds, child kidnapping and fraud on the court, I was more convinced than ever that we may actually win this case. The morning of closing arguments, trial legend William “Bill” Barton coached me on how to address my client’s heroin addiction with the jury, as well as how to address concerns some jurors might have about giving a large sum of money to a plaintiff in recovery. Barton helped me with the following excerpt: “I called my trial mentor this morning who trained me up 15 years ago. I said, ‘I got a worry. What if some people on the jury argue that, you know, we allow Josh this kind of money; it could ruin his life.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’ve heard jurors say those things.’ He said, ‘Remind them that’s not in the jury’s instructions. Remind them that you would never let that happen and remind them that they don’t know whether any money from a verdict is going into a conservatorship or a trust. It’s just not in the judge’s instructions. It’s not to be considered.’” The defendants decided to go on the offensive during their closing. When talking about damages the landlord’s attorney suggested the following: “Josh says that he offered $500 for the return of the cat. If that’s how much the cat was worth to him, then it’s inappropriate to award him any more than that.” In my rebuttal, I talked about The Lesson of the Widow’s Mite, concluding with the same short speech I’ve given in my past eight jury trials. I learned the rebuttal speech from trial lawyer and mentor Jan Baisch, who holds the record for the most seven-figure jury verdicts in Oregon history. “Defense attorney is a good lawyer. She gets paid either way. And I’m just a trial attorney. Next week, I’m going to have a different client. This case is about Josh, his harms and losses. He’s been through hell. And he didn’t deserve what happened. And I would ask you to give a fair verdict for him and we’ll be here when you get back. Thank you.” The jury took just a few hours to reach its unanimous verdict. To our surprise, the jury allowed our client every penny we had sought in our closing argument: $175,000 non-economic damages and $1.2 million punitive damages. The next day, the headline of The New York Post read: Jury awards Oregon man $1.4M after claiming landlord stole pet cat following mysterious disappearance. The defendants hired replacement counsel after the verdict made national headlines. My friend Robert Le, who had given me pointers throughout the entire trial, advised me to seek post-verdict attorney fees based on the false statements and unreasonable defenses the landlord had made throughout the case. Mark Bocci mediated a settlement prior to entry of judgment. Barton kept my promise to the jury by following up with Smith directly and ensuring that his case proceeds were put into a trust for safe keeping. Our first-year associate Haberman’s first-ever jury trial turned out to be a seven-figure verdict. He went on to win another seven-figure verdict with me in his second jury trial just six months later. Through his trustee, Smith put the jury’s money to good use: he bought a home and a small barber shop at the Oregon coast, hired a lawyer to get his girlfriend her US citizenship and put the rest into annuities. Smith is still sober and off drugs. 37 Trial Lawyer | Fall 2024
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