Author Description

This courtroom drama is based on the true story of the author's first jury trial -- a "bet the ranch" case that will determine not only his client's future, but his own family's as well. Russell Kussman gives up a successful career as a doctor to try his hand at being a trial lawyer. Having been an Emergency Room physician at large inner-city hospitals, he wrongly assumes he can transpose his medical competence and skills into legal ones - even though he has no legal experience whatsoever. Fresh out of law school, having never tried a case (or even seen a jury trial), Kussman opens his own law firm with just one client -- a six-year old boy born with severe birth defects, allegedly caused by an obstetrician's negligent administration of sex hormones to his mother during early pregnancy. Oblivious to the challenges and risks involved, Kussman takes on two of the top defense lawyers in America, representing a well-established Los Angeles obstetrician and a powerful Big Pharma drug company. Once the trial gets underway, he quickly realizes he's bitten off far more than he can chew. But by then, it is too late. The trial rushes forward, beyond his control. Weeks turn into months as his odds of winning become virtually nil. And his odds of salvaging a legal career from the wreckage of his only case are even less. With hard work and a bit of luck, Kussman manages to go the distance and make a contest out of it. But the outlook remains bleak. Having naively put his client's future -- and that of his own budding family -- in serious jeopardy, he can only wait helplessly for the jury to reach a verdict.