July 2010
James F. Kavanaugh, Jr. was quoted in a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article entitled "Jury waiver agreement called solution to anti-plaintiff bias".
James F. Kavanaugh, Jr. was quoted in a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article entitled "Jury waiver agreement called solution to anti-plaintiff bias". The article examines the practice of two Springfield lawyers who are persuading defendants to forfeit their rights to a jury trial in order to avoid what some attorneys believe to be a widespread bias by Massachusetts juries against personal injury plaintiffs. Mr. Kavanaugh commented, the agreement raises "tricky" ethical questions for defense counsel because of the conflict it creates between the defendant and the insurance company. "In the typical case, the individual defendant's interests would always be to make the deal because his exposure would be eliminated by the plaintiff's offer, and there would be no downside, but the insurance company, in a lot of cases, is going to feel differently."