One "out-of-the-box" technique for solving problems is to see if you can turn lemons into lemonade. Here's one example of how an attorney turned what looked like problems that would kill his client's tobacco suit into the client's advantage.
Michael J. Piuze's client was suing for his cancer that started out as lung cancer and had metastasized to his spine and then to his brain. Piuze knew that the defense would be arguing that the plaintiff not only had been an alcoholic, but had also become addicted to drugs. How did this plaintiff attorney overcome the defense and use it to his advantage? How did he turn lemons into lemonade? Take a minute (or more) and think about how you would handle those addictions and see if there is any way, knowing the lemonade technique, that you could have turned them to your advantage.
Here's what Piuze argued: the client had been addicted to heroin and then to methadone, but he was able to become drug free. He had also suffered from alcoholism, but he had managed to become sober. However, his addiction to tobacco was stronger than his addiction to alcohol and drugs, and, no matter how he tried to quit, and his attempts to quit included using both hypnosis and Smokers Anonymous, he couldn't kick his nicotine addiction.
The result of the suit: a jury verdict for $5.54 million compensatory and $3 billion punitive damages. The trial judge reduced the punitive award to $100 million, but allowed the compensatory award to remain.
The case is now on appeal. The case is reported in Lawyers Weekly USA, August 20, 2001, January 7, 2002 and January 6, 2003.
If any of you readers have had a similar situation in which you not only have overcome an obstacle, but have turned it to your advantage, I would appreciate your e-mailing your out-of-the box solution to me.
Posted by ajlevy at June 5, 2003 10:17 AM