Thomas V. Girardi

At his firm, Girardi says the rules are simple: Always treat clients and opposing counsel with respect.

Never, for example, seek monetary sanctions against other lawyers. And when possible, avoid phone calls and emails and meet the opposition in person.

Girardi said he believes being nice is the best way to win - even when he represents clients with mammoth cases against major corporations.

"They have the money, and I want it," he said. "So you have to go back to the powers of persuasion you learned when you were 5 years old."

Those powers, he said, helped him and other lawyers at the firm negotiate some large but confidential settlements in the past year. Among the victories, Girardi and partner Keith D. Griffin recovered $240 million from a pharmaceutical company they accused of marketing a drug that caused heart attacks in some patients, Girardi said.

There was also a confidential $21 million settlement in a case involving a bus tour accident in which one person died and three were seriously injured, he said. And there was another confidential settlement - this one for $8.5 million - against a company whose faulty repair work caused a fire in Malibu that damaged a large home.

Girardi said lawyers from other plaintiffs firms have forgotten how to coax the other side into giving them what they want.

"Plaintiffs' lawyers have lost the ability to persuade," Girardi said. "They think being a jerk is persuasive. Seldom does that work."

There could be more opportunities in the future for settlements.

Girardi is representing Bryan Stow, a Santa Cruz paramedic beaten in the Dodger Stadium parking lot on Opening Day last year, in his lawsuit against the Dodgers and former owner Frank McCourt. Stow, who claims the Dodgers failed to provide adequate security, is seeking $50 million for future medical costs and pain and suffering. Girardi said he doubts the Dodgers' new owners will want a public court fight.

Girardi is also a member of the plaintiffs' executive committee overseeing a multidistrict litigation against the National Football League involving player claims of repeated concussions and brain injuries. He said he represents about 400 former NFL players who have filed or will file claims against the league.

Girardi also said he expects more pharmaceutical cases. They have been so profitable for the firm - in 2007 he helped broker a nearly $5 billion settlement with drug giant Merck & Co. Inc. in a case involving the Vioxx drug - one might expect drug companies would no longer market potentially dangerous drugs to consumers. But Girardi said there are still plenty of cases out there.

"They don't give a damn about the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration]," he said. "The only thing that drug companies understand is the potential for [legal exposure] because they don't give a shit about anything else."

- BRIAN SUMERS