In the age of technology, businesses are able to expand more rapidly than ever. Unfortunately, with this growth comes exposure to more possibilities for dispute. With litigation between businesses on the rise, businesses have recognized the necessity of trial lawyers to protect their interest.

There have been a number of occurrences over the years that emphasize the tremendous power of the tobacco companies in this country. In 1954, the tobacco industry faced their first liability lawsuit by a lung cancer victim. After 13 long years, the person suing dropped the lawsuit. In 1964, the Surgeon General released a report concluding that smoking causes lung cancer. Some two years later, federally mandated warnings were placed on cigarette packs for the first time. Very little happened publicly of any significance during the years between the late 1960s and the early 1990s. In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that smokers have a right to file lawsuits alleging cigarette-makers hid health dangers of tobacco.

When finally the evil tobacco industry appeared to be down for the count, it now seems that big tobacco has won again! The tobacco industry came out of their secret negotiating with a select group of Attorneys General with a national settlement offer that has been accepted by all states. This was done with a very limited review time available to the states. A comparison of this most recent nationwide settlement to the original proposal that was ultimately defeated in Congress by the Tobacco companies indicates that the tobacco companies have won this battle. Under the first proposal, requiring Congressional approval, the pay-out by the industry to the states would have been $368 Billion which obviously is much more than $206 Billion. More importantly, the safeguards and restrictions built into the first proposal were much superior to those found in the current edition.

The opening statement is a most important part of trying a lawsuit. Many lawyers do not treat the opening statement with the importance it deserves. Many opening statements are not well prepared which is inexcusable. Jurors generally have a very superficial knowledge of what your case involves even after experiencing voir dire examination. This is especially true where the trial judge conducts the examination. The jurors know nothing about the facts except what little they remember from voir dire. The lawyer for the Plaintiff has the responsibility of educating the jurors who know nothing about the facts and who also may have a distorted view of the law applicable to the case. In the post-tort reform atmosphere, the trial lawyer must deal with a great deal of adverse and oftentimes false information put out to the general public concerning lawsuits in general.

There are numerous ways to acquire new cases as a plaintiff’s attorney. The purpose of this paper is to list ten ways that have worked effectively for my firm. It is important to remember that a modern day plaintiff’s firm must take a multi-faceted approach in marketing its services to both the general public and potential referring attorneys. In order to take a cost productive and effective approach to successfully garner new cases, your firm must be willing to invest the resources to keep pace with our everchanging profession.