Lawyer Monthly Magazine -December 2019 Edition

five kids and they had told him a lot of whoppers over the years but nothing like this. Judge Farnan then dismissed the ownership defense and referred the discovery misconduct matter to a special master, who later found that Canon’s lawyers had committed discovery misconduct. At trial we won a $34.7 million verdict. The 60-page special master’s report issued about a year later had recommended, among other things, that the pro hac vice admissions of Canon’s lawyers be revoked and that they be fined and pay our attorneys’ fees related to the special master’s investigation. Within days of the special master’s report we settled the case on confidential terms. Suffice it to say that failure to produce that document was an enormously costly mistake. What does your trial prep routine consist of? I remind my team that the only thing the jury will know about the case is what they see and hear inside the courtroom, which is a fraction of what the trial team knows. I then begin with a thorough review of the documentary evidence. Despite the enormous volume of documents produced in litigation, the actual documents admitted as exhibits in trial are a small fraction of that. I ask every member of the team to list the 50 best and 50 worst documents, and then we prepare how we will use the 50 best to our advantage and how we will defuse the 50 worst. I also often use mock trials and focus groups with the actual witnesses. This provides both preparation and feedback. The morning before the trial, I give my complete opening statement to the entire trial team and then we critique it and I modify it accordingly. If you could give just one piece of advice to a lawyer on the eve of their first trial, what would it be? Have a plan B. Trials never unfold exactly as you expect so you need to expect the unexpected. You need to ask the question, “What could go wrong here?” and come up with a response. LM Super Lawyers By Ronald J. Schutz, Robins Kaplan 56 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | DEC 2019 HAVE A PLAN B. TRIALS NEVER UNFOLD EXACTLY AS YOU EXPECT SO YOU NEED TO EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. ABOUT RONALD J. SCHUTZ Ronald J. Schutz is the chair of Robins Kaplan LLP’s executive board and an experienced trial attorney. Mr. Schutz is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He has also been named by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America and by Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the 300 Leading IP Strategists in the world. In 2008, the National Law Journal named Mr. Schutz to its annual list of the Top 10 Winning Litigators in the United States. Mr. Schutz has extensive trial experience. Among his significant jury verdicts are the following: $110 million ( Fonar v. GE ); $66 million ( Grantley v. Clear Channel ); $35 million ( St. Clair v. Canon ); $25 million ( St. Clair v. Sony ); $8 million ( Personal Audio v. Apple ); and $6 million (with settlement of $13.5 million after verdict) Megdal v. La- Z-Boy . ROBINS KAPLAN Robins Kaplan is among the nation’s premier trial law firms, with more than 250 attorneys in eight major cities. Covering a wide range of practice areas, including intellectual property, business litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, mass tort, antitrust, and insurance, Robins Kaplan achieves landmark triumphs and drives thousands of other cases to resolution before they ever hit the courtroom or the front page.