“ I have known Tom for over 60 years, since the 1963 North Suburban High School Golf Championship. Tom played for Evanston High School and I played for Niles West. Tom and I had a lot in common. He is half Greek, as am I. We both were married in the Greek Orthodox Church. Tom’s lovely wife, Deana, is Greek and my wife Debbie, cooks great Greek food. Our lives intersected again in 1973. Tom was working for Phil Corboy and I was an associate at Kirkland & Ellis. Tom was representing the family of a man who was a laboratory technician, killed in a labora- tory explosion of rocket fuel powder. I was representing a company that owned the rocket fuel powder and was using the lab to manufacture the fuel. The main issue in the case was what caused the fuel pow- der to ignite. The powder would not ignite even if you dropped a lit match into it. Tom and I traveled to San Francisco and took depositions in the office of Melvin Belli, who defended Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of president John F. Kennedy. Right be- fore trial Tom disclosed an expert witness whose opinion was that a static electric discharge caused the rocket fuel pow- der to ignite, causing the explosion. He demonstrated how this could happen by walking in front of the jury on the carpeted courtroom floor and touching the metal gate that opens and closes to let jurors en- ter and leave the courtroom. He received a static spark to his hand. I then watched each of the jurors enter and leave the courtroom by avoiding touching the metal gate with their bare hand. They would use either a gloved hand or would lean up against the gate with their body. This was like magic, using the courtroom to pain- fully remind the jurors what caused the ex- plosion. I then realized Tom would win the case. This demonstrates Tom’s brilliance as a trial lawyer, using the courtroom itself to reinforce his theory of causation.”
Senator Dick Durbin, Tom Demetrio and President Bill Clinton
Demetrio also pointed to the strength of his final arguments. Then there’s the ability to select the right jurors for a case, which Demetrio says is the most important part of a trial. “De-selecting and getting rid of jurors whom you know are going to hurt you is the biggest factor in whether you win or lose a case,” he said. “If you succeed in doing that, you are halfway to a winning verdict. I’ve always had the philosophy that after opening statements are done, the case should be over. If you were successful in de-selecting the right jurors and you craft a strong opening state- ment, you’ve put yourself in a strong position to win. And if you are also the most prepared guy in the courtroom, that’s how you succeed.” Demetrio has certainly enjoyed success throughout his career, notching sev- eral headline-grabbing verdicts and settlements. But sometimes the cases that have the most impact aren’t the ones that make headlines. Demetrio points to one past client who was installing a fence in his backyard after having earlier called Commonwealth Edison to send workers out to mark where he should not be digging. The client began digging, following the utility’s instructions, but still suffered a shock strong enough to send him to the emer- gency room. The client was OK, but as Demetrio puts it, “He was madder than a hornet’s nest.” Demetrio initially figured that the case wouldn’t be worth taking on. After all, the plaintiff was not seriously hurt. But after meeting with the client, Demetrio changed his mind. “He convinced me to think otherwise. He told me that we had to make a state- ment, that this is for the next person who might not be lucky and might die,” Demetrio said. Demetrio took the case. Then, about two weeks later, the same client asked if Demetrio could help a friend of his, a man named Dave Rickerson. In 1981, Rickerson’s wife was driving her two sons — one 10, the other 8 -- when a semi-tractor trailer truck weighing 28,000 pounds crossed the center line of the four-lane highway and collided with the car head-on.
John W. Bell, Johnson & Bell Ltd.
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2023 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 61
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