CLOSING ARGUMENTS

Jeremiah J. O’Keefe, Sr.

Vs

Loewen Group, Inc.

by

Willie E. Gary, Esq.

Key Points in Closing Arguments

I. Start notebook early

II. Take pictures of witnesses after they

testify

A. In a long trial (1 week or more)

B. In closing use pictures of witnesses that

testified

III. Make sure deposition testimony you

want to use during closing is read or

admitted into record

IV. Use creative exhibits or blow-ups

V. Think like a juror and talk like a juror

VI. Empower jurors to right a wrong

VII. Discuss verdict form

JEREMIAH O’KEEFE et al v LOEWEN GROUP

HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

FACTS

1. Jerry O’Keefe was the owner of a funeral home in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The principal defendant was the Loewen Group, Inc., an international

Canadian corporation that owned over 600 funeral homes across the

country and spent 200 million dollars each year to buy funeral homes.

The Loewen Group purchased a competitor of O’Keefe’s, Reiman

Funeral Home, as well as its insurance company, Family Guarantee

Life Insurance and set up David and Michael Reiman as its local

“partners.”

2. O’Keefe also owned an insurance business, Gulf National and had an

agreement with Wright Furguson Funeral Home, also purchased by

Loewen. After Loewen bought Wright Furguson he advised O’Keefe

he was canceling the agreements between O’Keefe and Wright

Furguson.

3. In 1991, Jerry O’Keefe and Gulf National sued Loewen for breach of

contract. After months of discussions and negotiations a settlement

agreement was reached. Loewen failed to meet the settlement terms

and an amended complaint was filed, which in addition to the original

contract case included additional counts.

4. During the trial it developed that the Loewen Group was being

financed by Japanese bankers, buying funeral homes to control the

market, not telling the local people that it was Canadian owned and

immediately raised their prices when they monopolized the market.

5. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, the morning of December

7, 1941 brought the United States into World War II. At the tender

age of 19, Jerry O’Keefe volunteered to serve his country and joined

the Navy where he worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming

an ace fighter pilot. Jerry sacrificed his life and fought hard during

the war and as a result, he never wanted to do business with Japan.

6. This was clearly a punitive damages case.

COUNTS IN COMPLAINT

BREACH OF ORIGINAL CONTRACTS

INTERFERENCE WITH ORIGINAL CONTRACTS

TORTIOUS BREACH OF ORIGINAL CONTRACTS

BREACH OF IMPLIED COVENANTS OF GOOD FAITH (ORIGINAL CONTRACTS)

BREACH OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

TORTIOUS BREACH OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

BREACH OF IMPLIED COVENANTS OF GOOD FAITH (SETTLEMENT

AGREEMENT)

OPPRESSION

STATE ANTI-MONOPOLY LAWS

COMMON LAW FRAUD

TORT OF UNFAIR COMPETITION

CAUSATION AND DAMAGES

AD DAMNUM AND DEMAND FOR JUDGMENT