John Edwards

This article is about the American politician, former Senator, and 2004 Vice Presidential candidate. For other uses, see John Edwards (disambiguation).

Legal career

Before entering politics, Edwards was a successful trial attorney who represented families and children that had allegedly been wrongly injured by negligent corporate manufacturers and municipal entities, as well as those allegedly injured by medical malpractice, especially by obstetricians. Edwards made his personal fortune of millions of dollars in the process. Edwards's total net worth is estimated to be between $22 million and $69.7 million. Drawing on his experience in personal injury cases, Edwards has characterized himself as a defender of "the little guy." Critics argue that Edwards' suits have enriched a handful of people at the expense of consumers and business as a whole.

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A profile of Edwards in the New York Times during the 2004 campaign reported that his first big personal injury case was tried in 1984, winning $3.7 million on behalf of a man allegedly disabled during treatment for alcoholism. In 1985, he won a $6.5 million verdict in a cerebral palsy case in which medical malpractice was alleged, and according to the Times article, "Mr. Edwards filed at least 20 similar lawsuits against doctors and hospitals in deliveries gone wrong, winning verdicts and settlements of more than $60 million, typically keeping about a third." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/31/politics/campaign/31EDWA.html Edwards' tactics in medical malpractice cases have been criticized for alleged use of junk science; Edwards denies the charges.http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/000778.html

Related Topics:
New York Times - Cerebral palsy - Medical malpractice - Junk science

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The biggest case of his legal career was a 1993 personal injury lawsuit against Sta-Rite, the manufacturer of an allegedly defective pool drain that disemboweled a Cary, North Carolina girl when other children at the pool removed its protective cover. Edwards persuaded a jury to find Sta-Rite negligent by showing that the company had been aware of at least twelve similar injuries to other children. Turning down all offers of settlement from the company, Edwards pressed the case forward until he secured a $25,000,000 award from the jury, the largest personal injury award in North Carolina history. Fellow lawyers and law students crowded the courtroom to hear Edwards' closing arguments, while he spoke to the jury for two straight hours without referring to notes in an emotional appeal. The company, which denied liability, settled for the $25 million while the jury was deliberating punitive damages, rather than risk appeal and bankruptcy. Edwards also recovered several million from settlements with other defendants in the case, including the taxpayers of the municipality that ran the pool.

Related Topics:
1993 - Sta-Rite - Cary, North Carolina - North Carolina - Punitive damages

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In December 2003, during his presidential campaign, Edwards (with John Auchard) published Four Trials (ISBN 0-74324-4974), a biographical book focusing on some cases from his legal career.

Related Topics:
2003 - John Auchard

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