While at UNC, he met _Elizabeth Anania_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Edwards) , who is four years his senior. They married in the summer of
1977 and had four children. _Wade_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_Edwards) ,
was born in 1979, _Cate_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cate_Edwards) in
1982, Emma Claire in 1998, and Jack, born in 2000. Their son Wade was killed in
a car accident when strong winds swept his Jeep off a North Carolina highway
in 1996. Edwards and his wife began the Wade Edwards Foundation in their son's
memory; the purpose of the nonprofit organization is "to reward, encourage,
and inspire young people in the pursuit of excellence." The Foundation funded
the Wade Edwards Learning Lab at Wade's high school, _Broughton High
School_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_High_School) in Raleigh, along with
scholarship competitions and essay awards. Just weeks before Wade died, he
had been honored at the White House by First Lady _Hillary Clinton_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton) for an essay he wrote on entering the
voting booth with his father._[4]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-FoxNewsWade) _[5]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-WadeFoundation)
On _November 3_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_3) , _2004_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004) , Elizabeth Edwards revealed that she had been
diagnosed with _breast cancer_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer) . She
was treated via _chemotherapy_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy)
and _radiotherapy_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotherapy) ,_[6]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-2) and continued to work within the
Democratic Party and her husband's _One America Committee_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_America_Committee) . On _March 22_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_22) , _2007_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007) , Edwards and his
wife announced that her cancer had returned; she was diagnosed with _stage IV_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_staging) _breast cancer_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer) , with newly discovered _metastases_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metastasis) to the bone and possibly to her lung._[7]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-pressconference) _[8]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-3) They said that the cancer was
"no longer curable, but is completely treatable"_[9]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-4) and that they planned to continue campaigning
together with an occasional break when she requires treatment._[10]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-Elizabethhealth) _[7]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-pressconference)
Legal career
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Four_Trials.jpg)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Four_Trials.jpg)
_Four Trials_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Trials) by John Edwards
After law school, he _clerked_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_clerk) for
a Federal judge and in 1978 became an associate at the _Nashville_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville) law firm of Dearborn & Ewing, doing primarily
trial work, defending a Nashville bank and other corporate clients. The
Edwards family returned to North Carolina in 1981, settling in the capital of
_Raleigh_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh,_North_Carolina) where he
joined the firm of Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork)
In 1984 Edwards was assigned to a perceived unwinnable medical malpractice
lawsuit; the firm had only accepted it as a favor to an attorney and state
senator who did not want to keep it. Nevertheless, Edwards won a $3.7 million
verdict on behalf of his client, who suffered permanent brain and nerve damage
after a doctor prescribed a drug overdose of anti-_alcoholism_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism) drug _Antabuse_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antabuse) during alcohol aversion therapy._[12]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-findlaw) In other cases, Edwards sued the _American Red
Cross_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Red_Cross) three times, alleging
transmission of _AIDS_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS) through tainted
blood products, resulting in a confidential settlement each time, and defended
a North Carolina newspaper against a libel charge._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork)
In 1985, Edwards represented a five-year-old child born with cerebral palsy
whose doctor did not choose to perform an immediate Caesarian delivery when a
fetal monitor showed she was in distress. Edwards won a $6.5 million verdict
for his client, but five weeks later, the presiding judge sustained the
verdict but overturned the award on grounds that it was "excessive" and that it
appeared "to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice,"
adding that in his opinion "the evidence was insufficient to support the
verdict." He offered the plaintiffs half of the jury's award, but the child's family
appealed the case and settled for $4.25 million._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork) Winning this case established
the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing
to determine if the patient understood risks of a particular procedure._[12]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-findlaw)
After this trial, Edwards gained national attention as a plaintiff's lawyer.
He filed at least twenty similar lawsuits in the years following and achieved
verdicts and settlements of more than $60 million for his clients. These
successful lawsuits were followed by similar ones across the country. When asked
about an increase in Caesarean deliveries nationwide, perhaps to avoid
similar medical malpractice lawsuits, Edwards said, "The question is, would you
rather have cases where that happens instead of having cases where you don't
intervene and a child either becomes disabled for life or dies in utero?"_[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork)
In 1993, Edwards began his own firm in Raleigh (now known as _Kirby & Holt_
(http://www.kirby-holt.com/) ) with a friend, David Kirby. He became known as
the top plaintiffs' attorney in North Carolina._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork) The biggest case of his legal
career was a 1997 product liability lawsuit against Sta-Rite, the manufacturer
of a defective pool drain cover. The case involved a three-year-old
girl_[13]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-5) who was disemboweled
by the _suction_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suction) power of the pool
drain _pump_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump) when she sat on an open pool
drain whose protective cover other children at the pool had removed, after the
swim club had failed to install the cover properly. Despite 12 prior suits
with similar claims, Sta-Rite continued to make and sell drain covers lacking
warnings. Sta-Rite protested that an additional warning would have made no
difference because the pool owners already knew the importance of keeping the
cover secured.
In his closing arguments, Edwards spoke to the jury for an hour and a half
and referenced his son, Wade, who had been killed shortly before testimony
began. Mark Dayton, editor of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, would later call it
"the most impressive legal performance I have ever seen."_[14]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-6) The jury awarded the family $25
million, the largest personal injury award in North Carolina history. The company
settled for the $25 million while the jury was deliberating additional
_punitive damages_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punitive_damages) , rather than
risk losing an appeal. For their part in this case, Edwards and law partner
David Kirby earned the _Association of Trial Lawyers of America_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Trial_Lawyers_of_America) 's national award for
public service._[12]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-findlaw) The family said that they hired Edwards over other attorneys because he
alone had offered to accept a smaller percentage as fee unless the award was
unexpectedly high, while all of the other lawyers they spoke with said they
required the full one-third fee. The size of the jury award was unprecedented,
and Edwards did receive the standard one-third plus expenses fee typical of
contingency cases. The family was so impressed with his intelligence and
commitment_[11]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork)
that they volunteered for his Senate campaign the next year.
After Edwards won a large verdict against a trucking company whose worker had
been involved in a fatal accident, the North Carolina legislature passed a
law prohibiting such awards unless the employee's actions had been
specifically sanctioned by the company._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#_note-EdwardsTrialWork)
In December 2003, during his first presidential campaign, Edwards (with _John
Auchard_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Auchard) ) published _Four
Trials_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Trials) , a biographical book focusing
on cases from his legal career. The success of the Sta-Rite case and his
son's death (Edwards had hoped his son would eventually join him in private law
practice) prompted Edwards to leave the legal profession and seek public
office.
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