John Demas’s $32,000,000 One Day Wrongful Death Speed Trial

Two big-data studies predicted a verdict between $13 and $16 million. John Demas trusted his instincts and walked out of a Sacramento courtroom with $32 million. The case: An on-duty city detective swerved onto the freeway shoulder and killed two brothers, leaving two children without a father. John joins host Dan Ambrose to break down how he turned down a $15 million pre-close offer, spent 95% of voir dire on an "outside the box" damages framework, and opened with a Fleetwood Mac montage that had half the jury in tears.

Train and Connect with the Titans

☑️ John Demas | LinkedIn

☑️ Demas Law Group | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

☑️ Trial Lawyers University

☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos

☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

2026 Programming

☑️ TLU Beach, June 3-6, Huntington Beach, CA

Episode Snapshot

★ John’s family emigrated from Greece to Sacramento in the early '70s; his earliest memories are selling fruits and vegetables at flea markets every weekend and summer through law school.

★ His parents steered him toward dental school so he could eventually practice in Greece, but a constitutional law class in his second year of undergrad flipped a switch.

★ After being laid off nine months into his first job, John opened his own firm at age 24 with a law school buddy.

★ The $32 million verdict was against the City of Sacramento after an on-duty police detective swerved from a freeway lane onto the shoulder, killing two brothers.

★ John ran an in-person focus group of 12 people to practice voir dire, recording it to get reps on the "outside the box" framework and the core wrongful death issues before setting foot in the courtroom.

★ In voir dire, John drew a physical box on an easel labeled "full value of the loss," then walked jurors through every outside-the-box concern — city impact, the officer's job, making kids rich, money not bringing anyone back — and addressed each one head-on.

★ In rebuttal, after the defense called the loss "immeasurable," John wrote that word on his easel and revealed that the city's suggested damages worked out to $1.50 an hour. “This is what the city thinks this loss is worth,” he told the jury.

Produced and Powered by LawPods