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Concept
The Verdict
Summary
The Verdict is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. It stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea, and Lindsay Crouse. A down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer accepts a medical malpractice case to improve his own situation, but discovers along the way that he is doing the right thing.
The Verdict garnered critical acclaim and box office success. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Newman), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Mason), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Once-promising attorney Frank Galvin is an alcoholic ambulance chaser. As a favor, former partner Mickey Morrissey sends him a medical malpractice case which is all but certain to be settled out-of-court for a significant amount. The case involves a young woman given general anesthesia during childbirth at a Catholic hospital, after which she choked on her vomit and was left comatose. The plaintiffs, her sister and brother-in-law, intend to use the settlement to pay for her care.
Galvin is deeply affected upon seeing the woman. A representative of the Catholic diocese offers a $210,000 settlement. Without his clients' knowledge, Galvin declines and states his intention to take the case to trial, stunning the opposing party and the judge assigned to the case. While preparing for trial, Galvin encounters Laura in a bar and becomes romantically involved with her.
Galvin experiences several setbacks. The hospital's attorney, Ed Concannon, has a large legal team that is masterful with the press. The comatose woman's brother-in-law angrily confronts Galvin after Concannon's team tells him of the settlement offer that Galvin rejected. Galvin's medical expert disappears before testifying, and a hastily-arranged substitute's credentials are challenged. Nobody who was in the operating room is willing to testify that negligence occurred.
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