$4.7 Billion Jury Verdict Against the NFL: 3 Keys to Victory

$4.7 Billion Jury Verdict Against the NFL: 3 Keys to Victory

Last week, Susman Godfrey set a record: a $4.7 billion jury verdict against the NFL. It was the largest antitrust verdict in American history and the fifth-largest jury verdict in any type of case. Here is how the NFL verdict compares to the largest antitrust verdicts ever returned:

What does it take to secure a record-setting verdict? First, it takes a highly skilled group of trial lawyers. You can check that box, as Susman Godfrey is widely recognized as among the best trial lawyers in the country. DRC assisted the trial team, led by Bill Carmody and Amanda Bonn, with focus groups, demonstrative aids, jury selection, and trial strategy consulting. Here are three key strategies the trial team used to obtain the largest antitrust verdict of all time that you can use to gain an advantage at your next trial:

1. Be Receptive to New Arguments, Guided by Focus Group Feedback: The Susman team was never wedded to a particular way to argue the case and was guided by the jury research exercises in deciding which arguments and evidence would resonate most with jurors at trial. In DRC’s experience, the most successful trial attorneys are flexible in terms of their willingness to abandon what their gut tells them is a persuasive argument if that argument does not resonate with focus group jurors.   

2. Use Demonstrative Aids to Anchor Main Arguments: Susman knows what decades of research confirm: demonstrative aids are essential in a jury trial. This is a foregone conclusion in a society that gets information through seeing - on screens of all sizes. So, the question is, what is the most memorable way to impress your main arguments on jurors? Susman knows that simplicity wins when it comes to visual aids. For instance, the same type of “circle chart” that is used above was employed to demonstrate DirecTV’s size relative to Fox and CBS. It was also used to show how if DirecTV grew (DirecTV circle enlarged), the viewership of Fox and CBS would decrease (their circles shrank). Simple, yet memorable and effective.

3. Leverage Community Attitude Surveys and Jury Research for a Reliable De-Selection Profile: Community Attitude Surveys allow you to have more confidence in how jurors will perceive the parties, key issues, and widespread biases that exist in the venire. By polling hundreds of members of the venire, trial lawyers get a higher confidence interval – which is fancy psychology / statistics speak for further assurance that jurors’ attitudes represent a discernable trend that is not merely random. In this case, knowing the demographic profile of jurors who are suspicious of class action lawsuits, as well as those who had very positive feelings about the NFL, were two vital data points. Being armed with these insights headed into jury selection in federal court, where voir dire is basically non-existent, is priceless.   

We’re proud to have played a role in this historic verdict and look forward to continuing to support our clients in achieving similar successes.