Wake Up and Act Like You Care!

A defendant who owned a janitorial service was sued for leaving a wet slippery puddle in a medical building. The plaintiff claimed she slipped and fell because of the wet spot but no one witnessed the accident.  At trial, it should have been difficult for the jury to award any money because there was no proof it happened and the woman had a considerable history of lawsuits for a wide assortment of injuries. 

That was before the owner of the business she was sueing had to be subpoened to attend his own trial.  He had gone bankrupt, but his insurance survived his business.  The owner seemed completely likable, but he was clearly not interested.  So uninterested that he began sleeping in the afternoons after lunch. He was literally sleeping for extended periods until his counsel would occasionally wake him up. 

When the jury retired to deliberate, he was back to sleeping again.  When the jury reached a verdict, they punished him, so they thought, for his sleeping and awarded the plaintiff multiples greater than she deserved. 

They hated him for his complete lack of concern and they wanted to teach him a lesson.  The only problem was that he learned nothing. It was all insurance money and had the jury known that, they probably would not have awarded what they did. 

So as a defendant, I highly recommend NOT SLEEPING during trial!!!!!