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Lloyd Bell Breaks Down His Trial-Winning Techniques

One of the country's most innovative med mal lawyers details his approach to winning big verdicts.

Across more than three decades of trial practice, Lloyd Bell has used innovative courtroom techniques to win a full slate of major verdicts, including multiple eight-figure medical malpractice awards.

Bell talked with CVN's Arlin Crisco about his courtroom approach. The discussion uses video from Bell's biggest trials to highlight the techniques that are key to his success. You'll learn how Bell breaks down complex medical terminology to jurors, what he considers the key to framing a damages request, and more. They are courtroom-proven techniques from one of the top med mal lawyers in the business.

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Lloyd Bell Details His Trial-Winning Techniques

Lloyd Bell

Lloyd Bell, the founding partner of the Bell Law Firm, has spent more than 25 years in trial practice. Bell is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, and the second Georgia attorney ever inducted into the organization, comprised of the nation's best plaintiff's attorneys. Bell's notable trials include a $26 million verdict for a woman who suffered brain damage after complications with a blood clot, and a $15 million award for a man paralyzed in a fall from a medical exam table.

Topics Lloyd Bell Discusses

Click each topic below to skip directly to the discussion. 

Introduction

Bell talks about his practice, including his concentration on medical malpractice cases. He details the issues inherent in med mal cases and what he considers the primary key to winning them. 

What you'll learn:

• The hurdles inherent in any medical malpractice case. 
• How to simplify a complex case for the jury. 

Quotable moment:

You have to make the medicine accessible to [jurors] and demystify it. — Bell on the importance of simplifying a complex medical malpractice case. 

Choosing demonstratives

Bell discusses his creative approach to demonstratives, aimed at both strengthening a case and making the narrative more vivid. 

What you'll learn:

• Picking the appropriate demonstrative for a case
• Using demonstratives to account for different juror learning styles.  

Quotable moment:

You’re only limited by your imagination and creativity. When I was doing more road wreck cases and trucking wrecks, one of the greatest sources for demonstrative aids was in the play room… in my house. — Bell on the importance of being creative in selecting demonstratives.

Common-object demonstratives v. anatomical demonstratives

Bell outlines when it is better to use a common-object demonstrative, such as a wrapping paper tube, as opposed to an anatomical model.  

What you'll learn:

• The importance of juror comfort level in detailing a case.
• Using color to make demonstratives stand out.

Quotable moment: 

“The use of color is very deliberate when I’m preparing demonstratives to teach the story of the case.” — Bell on his use of color when selecting demonstratives. 

Your body as a demonstrative

Bell outlines using the body as a demonstrative to make a case's story as powerful as possible.  

What you'll learn:

• When it can be appropriate to use your body to tell the case's story.  
• The importance of moving beyond the lectern to connect with jurors. 

Quotable moment:

It helps the jury to see things in motion. That’s just a fundamental principle of good trial advocacy. — Bell on using your body as a demonstrative to make a point. 

Questioning a defendant physician

Bell breaks down his approach to questioning a defendant physician.  

What you'll learn:

• How to react to disrespectful or combative witnesses.   
• Counteracting the deference a jury may give to a defendant physician. 

Quotable moment:

If you honor their feelings… it helps establish your credibility with the jury and it doesn’t impede your… search for the truth. In fact, you’re more likely to get the truthful answers if you approach the witness from a place of empathy and understanding. — Bell on taking an empathetic approach to questioning a defendant physician.

Expert witness preparation

Bell details the best ways to choose and prepare witnesses for testimony. 

What you'll learn: 

• How to choose the right expert for your case.
• Which is more important: expert credentials or presentation style?  
• Why it is vital for an attorney to learn the underlying medicine themselves before engaging an expert. 

Quotable moment:

Juries don’t decide which expert to believe based on whose got the thickest resume…. They care about the relationship. — Bell on the importance of a witness connecting with the jury during testimony.  

Damages

Bell explains how he argues damages, and how to discuss non-economic, or pain and suffering, damages. 

What you'll learn:

• How to tell your client's story to best support your damage claim. 
• How to break down damages for a jury. 
• Whether to specify a number when requesting damages.

Quotable moment:

I don't have a formula or hard-and-fast rule. — Bell on how he tailors his approach to a damage request based on the circumstances surrounding the trial and case.  

Next Steps

CVN offers hours of video on the topics Bell discussed. Here's where to head next in our library. 

Watch CVN's trial coverage of Lloyd Bell.

Learn about CVN's 10 must-watch medical malpractice trials that led to plaintiff's verdicts.