Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman

Tell us about your biggest trial win from January 2018 through June 2019 and how you achieved the result for your client.

Our biggest win was a $2.06 billion verdict in Pilliod v. Monsanto on behalf of an elderly couple that both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after being exposed to a pesticide called Roundup. We achieved this historic result by taking the weakness of the case, i.e., that the [Environmental Protection Agency] does not think Roundup causes cancer, and using that fact to show how invasive and successful Monsanto's 40 years of corruption and fraud has been. Their conduct, supported by hundreds of damning emails and internal documents, pitted against a husband and wife whose lives were devastated by the same cancer—the jury understood and decided to send a message.

Share two trial tips that have been key to your success.

1) Always be honest. I misspoke about an important fact in my opening before the defense had a chance to call me out about it. I openly apologized and owned it to the [jurors]. They appreciated it.

2) Pick your battles. Sometimes a bad fact is not a big deal. You don't have to win every battle, just a preponderance of them.