Power of the People, the Jury's Impact on the Case of Flight 4184

The case involving Flight 4184 settled last year, without a trial, for $110 million for 27 families. Even without a trial, I learned something about the power of a jury.

September 15. A jury is selected. A team of plaintiffs' lawyers begin working round-the-clock, negotiating the settlement. One by one, we dealt with each family's individual needs.

But if it was to settle, it all came down to an apology, some form of recognition that what the defendants had done was wrong. The families needed a statement demonstrating the responsibility of American Airlines and the foreign manufactures of the aircraft that crashed Halloween night in 1994. Without such a statement, the case was sure to go the trial.

The jury sat hour after hour . . . it turned into day after day. We were running out of reasons why the trial was not underway, because we could not tell the jury of the settlement negotiations without the possibility of prejudicing a party should it all collapse in the end.

The trial was to be a showcase for the latest state-of-the-art legal technology. Recalling deposition testimony at the touch of a button, recreating the accident second by second, frame by frame, synchronized with the cockpit voice recorder. Graphics depicting exactly what happened with the icing of the wings that chilly night.

It became clear that the defendants simply did not want the jury to hear my opening argument. The defendants were fearful of the information that a trial would uncover, but it appeared the real fear was based in hearing the message a jury could send through its verdict.

Juries can be a very powerful force. In the case of Flight 4184, it became a powerful force to encourage settlement for approximately $110 million. The jury in this case served a number of purposes. Certainly it fulfilled its political function through each juror's commitment to judging the case with equity, fairness,and impartiality.

A social purpose was fulfilled with the victims' families being allowed a healing, of sorts, through the unprecedented apology - in open court - from the defense lawyers.

But it was clear that this jury served an educational purpose as well, underscoring the jury's growing importance in civil cases. The jury's mere presence forced the defendants to be accountable, being judged by 12 men and women who would set the standard for what conduct would not be tolerated when a plane goes down.

At the time of the settlement, I was exhausted and relieved for my clients. In a way, I was a little disappointed that the case would not go to verdict. Perhaps the jurors went home, too, a little disappointed in not being allowed to decide the facts.

However, looking back, the jurors should realize that they had much the same impact in that courtroom without ever hearing a word of testimony. Through that silence, the American people spoke.