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John Demas’s $32,000,000 One Day Wrongful Death Speed Trial
Description
Two big-data studies predicted a verdict between $13 and $16 million. John Demas trusted his instincts and walked out of a Sacramento courtroom with $32 million. The case: An on-duty city detective swerved onto the freeway shoulder and killed two brothers, leaving two children without a father. John joins host Dan Ambrose to break down how he turned down a $15 million pre-close offer, spent 95% of voir dire on an "outside the box" damages framework, and opened with a Fleetwood Mac montage that had half the jury in tears.
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Episode Snapshot
★ John’s family emigrated from Greece to Sacramento in the early '70s; his earliest memories are selling fruits and vegetables at flea markets every weekend and summer through law school.
★ His parents steered him toward dental school so he could eventually practice in Greece, but a constitutional law class in his second year of undergrad flipped a switch.
★ After being laid off nine months into his first job, John opened his own firm at age 24 with a law school buddy.
★ The $32 million verdict was against the City of Sacramento after an on-duty police detective swerved from a freeway lane onto the shoulder, killing two brothers.
★ John ran an in-person focus group of 12 people to practice voir dire, recording it to get reps on the "outside the box" framework and the core wrongful death issues be