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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