Business
TLC Faculty and Board member Joseph H. Low IV was a recent guest on fellow TLC faculty member Scott Glovsky’s popular podcast Trial Lawyer Talk. The two discussed Low’s victory in “The Pendleton 8” prosecution, a capital murder case in which his 23-year old Marine client faced execution or life in prison. During the trial, Low had to take on the U.S. government by standing up to General James Mattis, who later served as Secretary of Defense. Low's client, along with seven other Marines, was accused of executing an Iraqi civilian during a mission behind enemy lines to abduct an Iraqi suspected of planting land mines along the U.S. military’s main supply route to Baghdad. Six of the eight other marines involved in the operation had taken plea deals that required them to testify against Low’s client. The government offered a plea deal: 15 years in prison and testimony against his squad leader, whose trial was still pending. The client refused knowing he was innocent of the charges. Trying the case was a huge gamble for Low and his client. They had been advised that their defense could not possibly overcome the opposing testimony of the six former comrades primed with the government’s version of the events. The trial was going to be a jury nullification case, with a mandatory minimum of life without the possibility of parole. Because of the methods that Low had been taught at the Trial Lawyers College which had been pioneered by founder Gerry Spence, Low understood the power of being able to show the jury, rather than just tell them a series of facts, about what had actually happened on that fateful day. In order to understand it himself, Low had to travel deep into enemy Iraqi territory to see for himself and talk to other Marines and local residents who were there. Armed with this first-hand knowledge of the lay of the land and buildings and what actually happened, Low was eventually able to use the TLC methods to "show" rather than "tell" the true story to the jury. The jury ultimately acquitted his client who is today a free man, married with a beautiful young daughter, practicing law in Texas with another TLC grad. Low's most recent civil verdict records include a $3.4 million verdict for pain and suffering for an 83-year-old African American woman whose car was sideswiped by a trailer moving off a stop sign (final offer prior to trial was $150,000); an $11.1 million verdict for pain and suffering on a disputed liability case for an 86-year-old African American woman who suffered an amputated finger, broken hand and mild traumatic brain injury (final settlement offer was $15,000); and as co-counsel with fellow TLC faculty member Daniel Rodriguez Bakersfield, CA., a $70.5 million verdict for pain and suffering for a surviving wife and her two children (the largest verdict in Kern County history which included $5.5 million for post-traumatic stress disorder, a U.S. record). To learn more about the methods taught at the Trial Lawyers College that led to this courtroom victory and countless others across the nation, apply for the TLC 3-week College, held on the Thunderhead Ranch in Wyoming on Sept. 12-Oct. 5. The application deadline is May 26, 202 at https://www.triallawyerscollege.org/course-listing/july-2020-trial-lawyers-college.