Editor's Note

Attorneys and judges sometimes worry trials are becoming less significant, but each year the editors of the Daily Journal find an impressive collection of litigation victories that had major impact for individuals, industries and the larger society. In this issue, we recognize the largest and most significant trial verdicts, appellate reversals and defense victories during 2014. The honors are broken into four categories: 10 plaintiffs' verdicts by dollar, 10 plaintiffs' verdicts by impact, 20 defense results, and 5 appellate reversals. The defense wins include not only verdicts but also successful pretrial motions such as denials of certification in proposed class actions. The goal is to honor excellent work by litigators, whether they took a case to trial or prevailed before it got that far.

For the purposes of selecting cases on the lists, we did not consider post-verdict events, although they are included in the summaries. A few cases are listed twice, either because a large plaintiff's damages award was overturned by the trial judge before the case went up on appeal or because the defense achieved its primary goals even if the plaintiff was awarded monetary damages.

In making the selections, we consider verdicts or trial outcomes that have a larger significance on the law, an industry or society. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP's ability to persuade a superior court judge to strike down longtime teacher tenure and seniority protections on the grounds they deny students the right to an equal education has highlighted the debate over low-income schools and drawn attention from the Obama administration. McManis Faulkner's long legal battle on behalf of a former Stanford University student from Malaysia placed on the federal no-fly list ended with the client being cleared more than nine years later.

Some of the work honored in this issue cases garnered national headlines. Others got little attention outside of legal circles. In every case, the attorneys demonstrated that excellent trial work remains a prized skill.

- The Editors