Pre-Trial Prep Pays Off

Noah P. Hamann, Jeffrey F. Clement

Asking not how the case could be closed but how it could be won, BCM’s Civil Department emerged victorious in a recent law division case in the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Our client was accused of improperly servicing a combine harvester resulting in damages to the plaintiff of $30,000.00.

Thorough preparation and teamwork between Firm attorneys Noah Hamann and Jeffrey Clement resulted in a crucial pre-trial win on a motion in limine. The motion precluded plaintiff from presenting a hearsay invoice, thereby preventing him from linking the repair work to the client’s supposed failures. Additionally, plaintiff was unable to use the invoice to correlate the monetary damages to the defendant’s work.

At trial, petitioner offered only his own unschooled testimony in support of his claim of the failure of the repairs while BCM adduced the testimony of two highly credentialed expert witnesses who discounted plaintiff’s allegations and additionally mounted affirmative defenses of contributory negligence and failure to mitigate.

Prior to trial plaintiff refused to negotiate. The Judge ruled in favor of BCM’s clients on all issues. The defense verdict resulted in a significant savings.

By putting in the work at all stages of litigation, the efforts of the defense crippled plaintiff’s ability to meet his burden of proof at trial.