Trade Secret Asset Management

The prospect of a large punitive damages award is an imminent threat in today's anti-corporate environment and can seriously harm the reputation of any company. Written by successful trial lawyer Peter A. Bicks of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, who won the biggest defense verdict of 2004- 6 billion dollars - Defending a Company in a Punitive Damages Case describes the key strategic issues in a punitive damages case and how to develop a game plan to defeat punitive damages all together. A "must-read" for general counsel, in-house attorneys, major corporate executives, and trial lawyers, this book is based on real-life cases and trials where punitive damages have been successfully defended. The book provides high-level strategic and practical advise on the most important considerations, such as: how winning against punitive damages must be part of an overall litigation Planning & Strategy, the keys to selecting a jury that will not want to punish your client, key recommendations for winning at trial, and how to protect your client's chances to make sure that any runaway verdict will be reversed after trial or on appeal.

About the Author:

Peter A. Bicks is a partner in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP. Mr. Bicks has a broad range of trial and litigation experience in the areas of mass tort, products liability, contracts, intellectual property, corporate governance, accountant's liability, securities fraud, and bankruptcy. He has had consistent trial success around the country and was the winning lead trial counsel for Union Carbide in Kelly Moore v. Union Carbide, the biggest defense jury verdict in 2004, 6 billion dollars, in a landmark commercial fraud case tried in East Texas.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Punitive Damages Are Part of a Bigger Litigation Planning & Strategy
• Chapter 2: Procedural Issues
• Chapter 3: Jury Selection
• A. Jury Consultant Should Be Used
• B. Deselecting the Wrong Jurors is Critical
• C. Put a Face on the Company
• D. Confront Sympathy and Anger
• Substantive Issues
• A. Jury Instructions
• B. In Limine Motions
• The Trial
• A. Trial Counsel
• B. Burden of Proof
• C. The Difference Between Mistakes and Conduct Intended to Harm
• D. Context
• E. Putting a Face on the Corporate Defendant
• F. Punitive Damages Expert Witnesses
• G. Increasing Your Chances of Reducing a Punitives Finding or Having it Overturned
• Appendices
• About the Author