To listen, click here Larry Smith Interview or visit our website at www.juryimpact.net.
Here are some snippets of the interview:
Q: What’s the most important quality of a great trial lawyer?
A: “Somebody who can tell the story, somebody who can convey [to a lay jury] a very complex set of medical issues. It is almost like everything else that we do in life – [to be successful you must have an] ability to relate. The ability to relate from one human being to another makes a tremendous difference… In medicine, sometimes the law doesn’t mean a whole awful lot. What does mean a lot is the story.”
Q: How do different jurisdictions influence verdicts?
A: “Malpractice is a local phenomenon. [At MedStar] I have six different jurisdictions I have to worry about: five in Maryland and one in the District of Columbia, and they are all different. If you take the same case and try that case in DC 10 times, you may win that case eight times. If you take that same case and try…in Baltimore City with the same witnesses, same everything, [you are likely to] lose that case probably [eight out of 10 times]. So part of the analysis has to be, ‘do I realistically have a chance with a jury [in this jurisdiction] to prove to them what I need to prove in order to prevail?’”
Q: How important is “humanizing” witnesses?
A: “One of the lawyers I enjoy working with said to me before a trial – we [were putting on the stand] one of [our] nurses [who was also] one of the defendants [in the case] who was really well credentialed. She also was a member of the Armed Forces before she became one of our [nurses] – and he said, ‘I’m going to spend 30 seconds on her academic credentials, and I’m going to spend 10 minutes on her personal credentials. I’m going to [show] this jury what a wonderful person [she] is.’ And, I’ve got to tell you, just watching the jury…you could see them really tuned in. They could care less what school she went to; they loved [the fact that she served her country and had given such great] public service…”
Q: What’s the next “big thing” in healthcare?
A: “We’re not [slowly] moving towards [hospitals employing doctors], we are right in the thick of it… I looked at the data recently, and four years ago about 50% of the physicians in this country were employed [directly] by a healthcare [system] or an insurance company. Today, that [number] is 77% and it is expected in the next two years to be over 80%. So, we are talking about a smaller and smaller number of physicians who are going to be independent and more and more physicians who are going to tie their [professional] practice to a healthcare [system] such as MedStar…or one of the insurance companies…”
