$3.8 Million Closing Argument Walkthrough: April 2024
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- čas přidán 10. 04. 2024
- This video explains my $3.8 million closing argument from our March 2024 wrongful death trial in federal court in Atlanta, Georgia.
Depositions from this case are on our channel.
Not a lawyer, but I found this deeply fascinating. I think this came up because I have seen some of your shorts, but I fully appreciated this longer content. The core of this case, the legal value of a human life is such an incredibly complex topic, as I think you showed so well in your argument. You certainly made me think about my own ideas, and anytime someone can make you stop and seriously question your own ideas, then that's a really good day.
Thanks for sharing
You “fully appreciate” the longer content? What are you even saying? Why are positive CZcams comments always so bizarre? Are you using AI to come up with these?
@@Ppluvr215 I think it means hes grateful for the free content? I dont know maybe youre reading too deep into it
@@Ppluvr215 no you are the weird one. just plain English
Well said. So appreciated this video. Thanks!
This was an amazing backstage view of how civil lawsuits can go and what is involved. Thank you for taking the time to put this out there for us laymen.
Just wanted to add a little more context to part of what is said in the video from one perspective. The value of life. Anyone who thinks 3.8 million is too much or anything like that. I've had a terminal medical condition since i was 9. I am 25 now. I could live to be 100 with treatment. This treatment costs 1.5mil EACH YEAR. (this is billed to insurance. About 60k every 2 weeks and this is for the MEDICATION ALONE.) Without it id have easily died by now and only would have been expected to live to 19.
Lets just say i lived to 19. For 9 million dollars that is just the last 6 years of my life just the medicine alone. Had she not been shot. Even 4 years of her life by that standard was worth more. She was expected to live 22.67 more years.
(yes i know there is a lot more context to her life here and who she was but putting a general point on it decide the rest yourself ofc)
That’s for sharing. Wish you the best.
@@MikeRafiLawyer Ty. I wish you the best as well.
Thank you for this. I sometimes feel guilty, sort of, because the medicine keeping me alive is 16k/month. I feel like I have to justify my worth. Keep breathing, keep on keeping on.
@@mapratt don't feel that way. You never asked for this. You just happen to be the one so unfortunate as to get it.
thx for sharing
Great video in my opinion, maybe next time use a better recording software, the facecam was kind of laggy.
I was watching on double speed at first and it’s hard to notice at that speed, but I slowed it down and you’re right. The delay is just long enough to notice and be annoyed by it lol
This is from a Zoom
I'm a first-year law student and have been binging your videos recently. It's really helpful to hear how you explain proceedings for newbies like me 🙌❤
Happy to help. If there’s a topic you want me to cover let me know and I’ll do my best. And, if there’s anything I can do for you, shoot me an email or give me a call. Wish you the best of luck in your career.
Your content is seriously underrated and you are a great public speaker!
Thanks! Just started these videos on here a few months ago. More to come!
Hey Mike, I have been following you for about six months now. I appreciate your candid views and work. I think you are a great attorney! I am very familiar with civil litigation in more ways than one. You’re a good guy! Keep up the great work! I absolutely enjoy your content. Peace, brother.
Thanks!
Thank you for this. This was very impactful to me in a very personal way.
The value of life, non demonstrable medical issues, and the value of daily second chances. The gratitude walk and the indomitable spirit.
Censure for that kind of behaviour is not enough IMO - the law firm should have lost their ability to practice and the lawyer should have been dis-barred permanently. If they're doing it here, they've done it before - it's completely unethical and brings the entire profession into disrepute.
Also, the 'value' of a life should not be measured upon how someone is living or able to live that life. Anything under $1M for a human life is unacceptable.
somehow it seems that in the legal world, the “actually obvious” thing in question is not, in fact, actually allowed to be discussed.. at least, not directly…
“that’s unfair” or “she broke the law” or “they lied and took my money”, is only part of it. i used to hate it, but now am sort of entranced by the complexity, and learning to appreciate the subtlety of proper legal advice..
lawyers study as much as doctors, but use words instead of scalpels.. too many words will lose the case, as you lose the attention span of the audience. plus fingerprinting and background check.. its fascinating
This was an excellent presentation, warts and all. Thank you!
Rising 3L law student here-this was a great video! Can't believe the answer was struck! I'm sure that made your life a whole lot easier. I appreciated all of the little details of trial that we never go over in law school. I'll be on the other side of it this summer, working civil litigation defense. I'll also be working at the domestic violence clinic this upcoming school year, so the trial tips were well appreciated, especially the evidentiary and examination aspects-although I'll only be doing bench trials of course. Thanks for the video!
I found this a compelling video. I appreciate your storytelling capacities.
This was absolutely fascinating as someone who is neither a lawyer or based in the US. It was really interesting to learn how numbers are achieved.
"Honest", "straightforward", "competent", how is a personal injury lawyer so refreshing and informative to watch? I gotta go to law school.
Amazing. Thank you so much! I learned a lot about this.
Phenomenal closing, well done and excellent advocacy!!!❤
Love your videos!
Good morning. Nice podcast. Keep it up.
Very enlightening, really made me think about the value of one’s life
Incredibly interesting. Thx, from an autistic french withOUT a special interest in american law.
Given the talk about jury deliberations, can you get a hung jury in this phase of the trial? Like if a juror just refused to accept the number than the rest of the jury has decided on.
Yes
Interesting video. Thanks for sharing
I’m a law student in Russia and these kinds of videos are practically of no use for our civil law legal system, kek.
However I find Mike’s content, and especially long videos like this very entertaining because for me it shows how things are done on the other side of the globe.
Thanks Mike for such an insightful and deeply interesting webinar. Really looking forward to seeing more stuff like this.
Wow. You took a huge chance in your closing. This whole case is a study in value of life. I like your explanation of the privilege walk and the person way ahead is better than the person who is way behind.
I just can't imagine every law student not watching your channel! I would almost say it should be mandatory! No matter what sector they planned to practice. I love all your videos! You guys always seem to have a bad reputation yet nobody can ever give solid reasons as to why. I believe you are changing the way ppl judge attorneys! Congratulations on another win!
Not a lawyer, but I find listening to something like this very fascinating over something like a podcast when I'm doing extra work. I know it's not necessarily a happy subject sometimes but hearing your passion for it, and a subject matter I know very little about, I think it was really well put together, and explained in a way for maximum information passage to us the listener.
This was a great listen. I’ve always had a somewhat of an interest in law, but I recently sat on a jury, of course by my luck I ended ip being the alternate and didn’t get to deliberate, which was quite upsetting actually.
The rest of my fellow jurors handled it in the exact same way I would though.
I found it especially interesting where you said ‘you have to believe yourself/what you are saying.’ I simply could not shake my thoughts that the plaintiffs lawyer did NOT believe what he was saying. I don’t think they had much of a case to begin with, honestly, but he could have handled that significantly better.
Looking forward to more!
interesting story. looking forward to seeing more like this expanding your arguments
On the way
Thanks for the video - really enjoyed your strategic analysis. I feel challenged by the life-value assessment (life is priceless, but in terms of liability) need to do so some soul-searching. Loved the fighter-jet analogy.
What's the best way to connect?
About a case, call my office. Otherwise, LinkedIn is a good option.
Baby lawyer here, thanks for providing such great information and thoughts for public consumption. Hopefully I can incorporate some of this in my own practice.
1:02:15 After watching "Hot Coffee" documentary, I'm not at all surprised that the verdict amount was reduced by the judge. I'm in the UK and I know this - how come the jurors in the USA didn't know this? It sucks, big time, and only benefits rich folks, companies and corporations. The little guy (or gal) gets scr*wed and denied the amount the jury decided on! That's not justice to me. You did a good job, though, and you honoured Kisha's memory and her children's futures.
In regards to her “not waking up”. My mother passed a few weeks ago. She had not been awake for days. Seconds before she passed she woke up for a few seconds. She didn’t move a muscle. Not sure how the medical examiner could declare what he did.
Hey enjoyed the video I’ve been considering criminal defense when i graduate high school do u have any tips
Clients are lucky to benefit from your high standards
I wish you would get involved in politics! We need intelligent, moral leaders!
Very interesting!
Regarding depositions, as a layman, I had thought the purpose of them was not only to get more information, but also to use it in court. I know during them, that opposing counsel can object, but the deposed still answers and if the object is sustained, then you can't use that portion in court, but otherwise if overruled or no objection, then fair game. I would love learning more about depositions if you can share more examples or even share some on your channel.
Thanks!
Sure. I can do that.
I used to work as a legal secretary for uninsured loss recovery. I would love to work for your firm, it sounds so interesting to me! I've always thought that the legal secretaries on opposing sides could have a real ding-dong argument about the case, if they ever met face-to-face, which the lawyers would probably find very amusing!
I typed this before I heard Kisha's story - poor lady! She suffered so very much in so many ways. She tried so hard as well, managing to graduate and trying to work as a nurse and a daycare assistant, was really admirable. Even when she had that psychotic break, she was trying to protect her baby, bless her. Sounds like all the trauma from her childhood caught up with her, and no wonder. She was so badly let down by those who should have loved and protected her. RIP Kisha. I hope her daughter is being looked after properly now and is loved.
I'm going to need you to frame that purple art piece on the wall.
This was very interesting thank you very much.
On the value of a life. The way the jurors decided that was, for me unacceptable and flimsy justification at best. I believe that there is not and should never be any “mathematical” or “logical” way to determine the life of a person.
I believe that it does not matter how many “buts” there are. The value of a life much more than employment, wealth, depression, history of crime, history of mental illness etc.
For me life is invaluable no matter what. If I was on the jury, I would award $1 billion. Why? Because it is outrageous, and incomprehensible in the same way that the value of a life is outrageous and incomprehensible.
Who cares if the defendants cannot pay that? They played with the lives of other people. They knew that there were real dangers, but made a “risk assessment” and judged the lives of those who come to their complex worth less than the cost of reasonable security and potential future litigation.
Who are they to dare make such an assessment? Do they think themselves better than others? This is outrageous.
But other than my rant, thank you for the fantastic video, it was enlightening and made me also reconsider important questions and what is my truth!
Thing is we all make risk assessments about the lives of ourselves and those around us all the time and there is a limit to how much one can reasonably do, even with billions of dollars. It's all well and good to say every human life is invaluable, but in practical terms all of us can easily make live or die decisions that might be difficult for us to live with but it would nonetheless meet with the approbation of our peers.
@@JG-oi5ggI agree 100% that my stance is impractical and I would also agree that we make certain types of risk assesmments daily which impacts ourselves and the lives of those around us.
My problem lies where the risk could have been easily minimized or reasonably lessened, if the owners/managers actually cared about their tenants. In cases like the one he talks about, a reckless disregard for their safety and extremely negligent behaviour on thier part only tells me that the business/corporation disregarded the substantial risk for some meagre profit. That is not a reasonable risk assesment in my mind, and is enough to hold the business liable for the $1 billion.
If you throw away a life for profit, you do not get the profit. (This would also discourage other businesses from thinking the same way.) In my opinion any business or company is never worth more than the life of a person.
Also how the jury 'worked it out', I think this is dumb. I just would not take into account her circumstances in trying to adjudge her life's "value". Own up to yourself, state a number that you think is fair and do not try to justify it by showing some bogus math calculation. I would rather you justify it with principle or reasnonable arguments.
Otherwise you are just shifting the blame.
Sorry about the long essay. Enjoy your day!
@@generaltnt2790 fair enough! I think we agree in principle. The laws capping punitive damages are regressive and anti-constitutional. Likewise the federal and state fines for white collar crime are generally low enough to be justified as the cost of doing business. They should be percentages of total value and/or revenue for a number of years.
How or why do they reduce the punitive damages? Why is there a cap? That doesn't seem fair if the jury is unaware of that fact.
honestly I was a bit curious up until you said you had briefed your client on roughly what was gonna be said
Hey mike I work as a legal secretary in Florida for a PI firm so things maybe different since you’re in Georgia. But why was this case tried in Federal court and not Civil Circuit?
Was wondering how the apartment complex was responsible for the shooting? Some form of negligence?
The typical theory of liability here is the complex knew of a reoccurring danger and didn't take steps to mitigate. Just from what I'm understanding in this video, the other party entered into severe enough litigation misconduct that the court took an adverse inference, leading to the jury instruction to be "they are liable, we're just determining money now". That said I'm just a nosey engineer, not a lawyer.
@@wyattc3508 So I'm assuming since the complex was dangerous, and whatever steps to remedy that were not taken they are at fault for a crime that happens there? So basically their negligence made the environment for the harm. Kinda makes sense, but also sucks to be the landlord.
@fredv7349 Not really, this isn't a mom and pop single rental home were talking about here. Evicting trouble makers, adding lights and security cameras, a security guard, etc... all these are chump change for a large complex. Having safe apartment communities is all just a matter of cutting into profits.
negligence requires
1). A owes B a duty of care 2). A breached that duty
3). B was harmed
4). the cause of harm was largely due to A’s breach
it helps me to think about it as a physically dangerous scenario. For example, if a restaurant knew that their roof was gonna collapse any day now, and after failing inspection after inspection, they continue to chose to keep money in pocket instead of repair or replace, and decide not to disclose unsafe scenario, in that scenario, when roof collapse on room full of patrons, its clear they owed a duty of care to AT A MINIMUM disclose the issue, could’ve done carry out only until fixed, etc.
and then gross negligence is a higher standard than just normal negligence
There's a thing about discord Having updated their terms of service to prevent people from sewing them because another Company is stealing your chat history from their servers
Is that legal??
Is this DrOmalo from the NFL Concussion protocol?
Yes. His deposition from the case is on mu channel.
I have nothing to do with the law whatsover, American one especially, yet I still found this video fascinating! please make more case-based longer format content if you can
Putting up a video of a deposition with a really cool angle this week.
I also wanted to hear about how the apartment complex was considered at fault for a shooting, who was involved, their sentence and all. And who is the client? Where the money goes to?
Why the judge found the apartment complex responsible in the other webinar on this playlist.
Clients are the estate and 3 children. Money goes to them.
@@MikeRafiLawyer Thank you
You look like the lawyer guy from the rookie
Great video, BUT I have one question, In Phase 2 why did the jury have to calculate a figure to estimate the apartment complex profit that "won't matter"? Why was the figure reduced to $250,000? Just trying to understand, thank you.
It's required that jury decides the value of both compensatory and punitive values. Punitive values are capped at 250.000 (In Georgia? Idk about federal) but the jury is NOT told about this and are generally expected not to know about it, lest they use that knowledge to award more compensatory and less punitive.
It's a fucked up system. Thankfully, with the advent of social media and digestible law content like this channel, more and more lay people are aware of it
@@emisor9272 Thank you for this explanation! There is so much law content to learn wow
Holy shit he just 8 miles them. He went for it and it worked
Curious: Do you cuss in court? Eg the "bull----" or f bombs and the like that you drop in these vids? This was inspiring, thanks.
Answer: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLyhdb6q/
The pilot may eject but the compensation for a soldiers death is half a million. This is not to claim her life was worth less just a hindsight of my time in the service and how little value was placed on our lives. Having witnessed war and truly knowing pain and suffering and the value of life I think her family is owed much more.
51:14 - 51:34
Just want to make sure I understand: basically because their answer to your complaint was full of shit, the court granted a default judgment?
No. It was because of the evidentiary games that he mentioned. Striking the answer was punishment, which lead to a default on liability.
No, they hid evidence, destroyed evidence, hid witnesses, lied about hiding and destroying evidence, lied about hiding witnesses…
There’s another webinar about it.
@@MikeRafiLawyer okay that makes more sense. Thanks for the response.
If you won the lottery and had 100 million dollars in your bank account, and you knew you were going to die tomorrow, but you could give up all that money for 1 more year of life, would you do it?
You get a decent webcam for $30 or so, would improve the video 10 fold
I'll say the medical examiner was inarticulate not wrong. The bullet puncturing the aorta caused a rapid loss of blood pressure which probably would have caused unconsciousness very quickly. You got lucky with the examiner.
I see we’re coming from, but I don’t think that’s right. The brain has a blood reserve. Think of when your car gas light comes on, but you still have those extra 5 miles. So even if the body isn’t getting all the blood it needs, the brain is using its reserve blood for 3 to 5 minutes. And both pathologist agreed to that.
The medical examiner said she was unconscious because she was asleep and she never would’ve woken up through all of that. But the expert pathologist thought she would’ve woken up, not from the bullet going through her body, but from the effects that the loss of blood had on her body - inability to breathe, shock, fright, terror, and so on. And that makes more sense to me and it made more sense the jury.
This might sound stupid but hey it's honest, It reminded me of 8 mile with Eminem LOL. The final "rap battle" if you've seen it you remember it:
"...This guy ain't no mutha-fckin mc
I know everything he's got to say against me:
I am white, I am a fckin bum
I do live in a trailer with my mom
my boy future is an uncle tom
I do got a dumb friend named cheddar bob
who shoots himself in his leg with his own gun
I did get jumped
by all six of you chumps
and Ray did fck my girl
i'm still standing here screaming fck free world!!
I'm not a lawyer, does it show? I am having to bring an employment discrimination and retaliation claim pro se though. Because my dumbass thought that learning the law, reading cases, and writing a tight complaint would be time better spent than pitching my case to as many lawyers as I could find. That's how I found your videos. It's different law for sure ...helpful still though.
Anyway thank you for your well planned and insightful long form videos especially the one on writhing the demand letter. I think you had one on brief writing too (didn't it have like a football beer commercial theme or something...?) Anyway I wont be rapping in my complaint so don't worry about that.
This was just a not-so-quick thank you for what you've been doing and a reminder that you do it well.
Where are you
I had a case and need a lawyer.
Very interesting case! I don't wanna be the European a-hole here but none of this would have happened if yall had brick walls instead of that glorified cardboard, sorry.
Value of life = Life long free money entitlements X 3. (and nothing else does) So, who you are, what you have done, what crimes you commit none of that matters?
The only thing that matters is the value of your entitlements. (that sounds about accurate)