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trial attorneys

LEVINSON AND STEFANI INJURY LAWYERS FOUNDING PARTNER SPOKE AND MODERATED AT AAJ’S ULTIMATE TRIAL ADVOCACY COURSE

March 31, 2023 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Levinson and Stefani’s founding partner, Ken Levinson, was invited to the Association for Justice’s (“AAJ”) Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course: Art of Persuasion as a faculty member to present and moderate during the multi-day event. Ken’s topics were: Reaching Your Goal – Let’s talk Damages and How Focus Groups Can Help Your Case. In addition to presenting, Ken and other faculty members led small group workshops so those in attendance could further hone their trial skills.

AAJ’s 2023 Trial Advocacy Course: Art of Persuasion was held in Atlanta, Georgia, from March 25th to March 29th.

Ken founded his firm in 2014 in order to offer client-first legal representation for victims of personal injury from auto, truck, and bus crashes. Ken is a co- author of Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases, published by AAJ Press/Thomson-Reuters. Ken holds leadership roles with the American Association for Justice and the Chicago Bar Association. Ken also sits on the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Board of Managers.

ATRI Laments Both Small and Large Trucking Injury Verdicts; Ken Levinson Weighs in on Fair Trials

January 5, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Trucking industry complaints against small and large verdicts have been released in a new American Transportation Research Institute report, stating that even verdicts of less than $1 million have a lasting, cumulative effect on the industry, allowing it to experience significant financial strain.

The report also made sure to point out that trials consisting of cases involving deaths or injuries lead to larger awards, although it is unclear why this isn’t a no-brainer.

“The reality is that a jury and a judge hear evidence to value a case, and many times, families are left devastated and people are killed,” explained Ken Levinson of Levinson and Stefani. “Then, the verdict is high because the consequences and damages are so high due to unsafe behavior. I think any complaints against this are all propaganda to make more money for the insurance companies.”

In ATRI’s study, named “The Impact of Small Verdicts and Settlements on the Trucking Industry,” ATRI worked to dive into expensive litigation outcomes and the impacts even smaller awards have on motor carriers.

“While cases of this size are not individually as devastating to motor carriers and thus do not attract the attention of media outlets, in aggregate, they have a significant negative impact on the trucking industry,” the group said in its study.

Levinson noted that pointing to smaller cases that have deeper impact on the industry is tactical, and doesn’t give an accurate outlook of this particular litigation landscape.

“It’s more propaganda for the trucking industry to save money,” he said. “They’re using examples of outliers and distorting the facts to propagate their agenda and scare people.”

ATRI’s study had support from one attorney of Carlisle, Pennsylvania transportation law firm, Marcello & Kivisto LLC.

“This analysis proves a theory that I have always had: there are two markets as to the value of cases–the settlement market and the trial market,” firm attorney Doug Marcello, who worked with ATRI in its report. “There should be one market, and that is what a case is objectively worth.”

Levinson explained that this belief has little basis in the reality of the legal process.

“That’s absolutely absurd,” he said. “There is no objective value of a case—that’s why we have juries. This isn’t like a breach of contract, where the contract was made to provide a good or service for a million dollars and someone made a breach in contract. We’re talking about human lives—there is no objective value. That’s why we have a jury of unbiased citizens in the community hearing the evidence and assessing what they think the value is.”

In its report, ATRI claimed that cases involving severe injury have high average verdicts of around $368,237, and that cases involving deaths have the highest average verdicts of around $607,532. It also lamented findings that settlements typically lead to larger verdicts than jury cases.

“All sides present their case in a fair courtroom, and the jury, based on the evidence and facts, decides what they believe is fair and reasonable,” Levinson explained. “The other premise is that there’s a difference between settlement value and trial value—of course there is. Because there’s no objective value of a case, all sides of the equation evaluate the facts and the evidence and assess what they think a jury would do and they settle a case based on their best estimate and the assessment of risk. That’s why it’s different.”

Of course, cases involving any severe injury or fatality are deserving of large verdicts to mitigate those medical costs as well as the trauma endured.

“That’s why we have a jury of unbiased citizens in the community hearing the evidence and assessing what they think the value is,” said Levinson. “If there was an objective value, we could just plug it into a computer and it would spit out a number. There is no such thing; that’s like saying there is an objective value as to who should have won the last ten presidential elections. That’s why human beings make decisions. When you’re evaluating the death of a spouse or a child or a loved one, there’s no one objective value. That’s not how life works.”

Updates in 2021-2022 Edition of Ken Levinson’s Book Series

November 26, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The 2021 to 2022 Edition of Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases, written by Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson along with Tom D’Amore, has some new updates in its latest version.

The two-volume series, which aims to offer legal and scientific insight regarding how best to prepare auto injury cases for the best possible awards, has some updated materials in Chapter 1, “The Importance of Law Firm Marketing.” This chapter covers how best to build your firm brand using internet marketing, organic and local SEO, and Google search result rankings, as well as how to use social media and email marketing to your advantage.

“This series is designed to provide plaintiff attorneys with clear guidance on representing major automobile injury and death cases, and strategies for winning large damage awards with the least expenditure of effort,” explained Levinson.

Additionally, Chapter 8–Depositions–is revised to look further into how to boost remote deposition success when so many depositions are now held over Zoom following the pandemic. Specifically, this chapter covers how to allow all participants to see exhibits and witnesses as clearly as possible, how to maximize your video and audio quality, and as how to minimize background or technical difficulty disturbances.

“Our objective is to help attorneys achieve maximum damage awards on behalf of their severely injured clients,” said Levinson. “The series features written discovery, depositions, medical, and other expert witness testimony, and aspects of automobile jury trials–as well as the necessary forms needed to handle a case from beginning to end.”

The series, published Thomson Reuters, is available here.

Levinson and Stefani Welcomes Newest Associate Attorney, Vanessa A. Gebka

November 24, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Vanessa A. Gebka

Levinson and Stefani is thrilled to announce the firm’s newest associate attorney, Vanessa A. Gebka! Vanessa served as a law clerk for the firm for nearly two years before rising up to her new position, and earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law. 

“I hit the ground running the day after I was sworn in,” said Gebka of her start as an associate attorney. “I had a lot on my plate, as far as cases go, but I was happy to have the opportunity. Within about a week of being sworn in, I had already appeared in court for the first time as an attorney of record, I was able to file a motion under my name as the attorney, and I was also included in a deposition where I was listed as an attorney for the plaintiffs–so that’s all amazing to me and very exciting.”

At Loyola, Gebka worked on the Chicago Bar Association’s Moot Court Team and as a Student Clinician in Loyola’s Civitas ChildLaw Clinic. During her schooling, it didn’t take long for her to find the area of law that would become her passion.

“I’ve always wanted to work in personal injury,” she explained. “I always felt like it was the right area for me because I’ve always wanted to help people who have been harmed. I found this area of law and have been involved in it since the beginning of my law school career, and I really enjoyed it. Because I was a law clerk here for almost two years, I was able to become really familiar with everyone in the office and with the team here, and they’ve been very supportive.”

Gebka noted that she is incredibly grateful now that she gets to go to bat for the clients she cares about most.

“First of all, I think it’s a privilege and an honor for somebody to trust you in something as serious as a case where they’ve been seriously harmed or injured in something as traumatic as a car crash, even if that injury doesn’t happen to be as significant as other ones–just going through that kind of accident is very traumatic,” she said. “Just trusted as someone who can take care of that for them is an honor. I’m happy and thrilled to step up to the plate and be that person for these clients who are everyday people who have just been involved in something awful and just want someone to be their voice and advocate and help them get back to where they were before–to make them whole again.”

Ken Levinson to Speak at Connectionology Webinar

November 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, November 30th, Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson will be speaking in a free Connectionology webinar named “Over $400M in Verdicts, Thousands of Focus Groups: Lessons Learned.”

Levinson is thrilled to be part of this event as he believes deeply in attorneys sharing their unique methods and insight into helping their clients, because any lawyer should be willing to expand their own perspectives as often as possible.

“These are lessons about what the best lawyers in the country do to win their cases and their mentality in doing so,” explained Levinson. “One takeaway I’ve discovered from all the lawyers I’ve worked with–which includes some of the best in the country–is that they’re always willing to improve and learn. They never feel like they have all the answers, and they’re always looking to better themselves as trial lawyers and learn the best ways to tweak their cases for the better.”

Also speaking at the virtual conference will be Lauren D. Fraser or Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, P.C., and moderating will be Destiny R. Barbosa of Romano Law Group.

“We’ll also discuss some things lawyers make mistakes about,” Levinson continued. “For instance, they might have a great theme, but the wrong case. They’ve got to match, otherwise they’re going to lose. We’re going to talk for an hour or so and try to help lawyers help their clients.”

Any plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys, as well as paralegals, are invited to attend the webinar, which Levinson notes will be beneficial for anyone looking for an outside perspective into the world of focus groups and successful cases.

“We get lost in our own world and our own silos and how we prepare cases,” he said. “We sometimes get lost in the weeds and in the details of our cases. This event is a nice way to step back and see what other lawyers in the country are doing to best help their clients, get more perspective on what some other trial attorneys do to prepare, and how we can use that insight to help our clients.”

The free webinar event will take place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:30 P.M. EST–plaintiff attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, and paralegals can register here.

Ken Levinson to Speak on Innovative Trial Methods at Belli Society Seminar

October 7, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

This weekend, the Melvin M. Belli Society will be hosting its 73rd annual seminar entitled: In the Spirit of Belli: Cutting-Edge, New and Innovative Ideas for Your Cases and Your Practice, a three-day event in Atlanta for lawyers across the country to meet and immerse themselves in new and innovative methods of effective trial practices. On Sunday, the first full day of the event, Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson will be speaking.

Levinson’s lecture will focus on the top non-law books that trial lawyers should read–a discussion on the best non-law-focused literature for lawyers to up their game in reaching a jury in a particularly powerful way.

“I read a lot of non-law books–books on decision making, psychology, persuasion, storytelling, and other fields that I think help us as trial lawyers that aren’t necessarily in trial lawyer books,” Levinson explained. “I enjoy sharing what I’ve read so that we can use things like what a filmmaker does, for example, to help our clients. I really get a kick out of teaching other lawyers about things I’ve read or learned from other means.”

Understanding the nuances of effective storytelling is key during trial, Levinson noted.

“You could be in an artificial environment, in a movie theater, and within minutes you could be vying for the hero of the story or angry at the villain, and it’s really interesting how that emotion is played out,” he said. “You know consciously and intellectually that this is a story and a fake environment, but it can still get you emotionally invested. That has always fascinated me because in real life, sometimes lawyers don’t tell a proper story of their clients’ cases. They don’t use storytelling methods to get the jury engaged in a case, and that’s, I think, a wasted opportunity.”

In his talk, Levinson will discuss how to implement key takeaways from these kinds of books into the way a lawyer can powerfully affect a jury in any given case.

“Why not tell a compelling–yet truthful–story about our client’s struggles and what they’ve overcome?” he asked. “Storytelling can give us some techniques to make our clients’ true life stories as emotional and engaging as any fake story that we’re watching in a movie theater.”

The seminar takes place this Sunday and Monday at the Capital City Club Brookhaven in Atlanta.

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