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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL KOSKOFF, ESQUIRE
______
HON. JOE COURTNEY
of connecticut
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and deeds of
Michael Koskoff, Esquire, a champion for civil and criminal justice who
passed away on April 24, 2019. Michael resided in the state of
Connecticut, where his law practice achieved the highest level of
success for his clients in courtrooms all across America, because his
intelligence, creativity, and high ethical and moral standards.
Michael was a unique attorney. His family has been part of the trial
bar over multiple generations, but also he was the scion of a family of
stage performers. Some were actors, singers and musicians. His father,
Theodore, was both his law partner and an accomplished cellist. ``We're
show people,'' Michael once explained. He won record settlements in
Connecticut negligence and malpractice cases by coupling skills he had
acquired in training to be a Shakespearean actor with a lifelong
antagonism toward corporate greed. He also pioneered the use of vivid
courtroom videos delivered in a documentary format.
For example, in 1979, Mr. Koskoff persuaded a jury in Danbury, CT, to
award his client $1.8 million in a wrongful-death case--Connecticut's
first verdict of more than $1 million in such a suit. In 1999, jurors
awarded $27 million for what he had demonstrated was a bungled heart
operation at Yale-New Haven Hospital, which left a 29-year-old man
permanently blind and brain-damaged. At the time, it was the biggest
personal injury verdict in the state's history. In a medical
malpractice case that became the subject of a book, Damages: One
Family's Legal Struggles in the World of Medicine by Barry Werth, a
couple represented by Mr. Koskoff settled for $6.25 million in the
early 1990s nine years after their baby, who had severe cerebral palsy
and developmental disabilities, was born at Norwalk Hospital in
Connecticut. (The child's twin brother had been stillborn there). In
his book, Mr. Werth described Mr. Koskoff's courtroom techniques as
``raw theater.'' ``Koskoff liked to depend on his own `visceral and
instinctive reality' of what was happening in a courtroom--was a
witness nervous? arrogant? appealing? unappealing?--to decide how best
to keep the drama fresh,'' Mr. Werth wrote. ``He also liked to keep the
other side's experts off balance by not letting them know what to
expect of him. If he met them, he might like them, and that would dull
his attack.''
Madam Speaker, in addition to his successful practice, Michael had a
rich family life. He married Rosalind Jacobs in 1963 and had four
children--two daughters, Sarah Koskoff, an actress and screen writer,
Juliet Koskoff a lawyer in New York, and two sons Jacob Koskoff a
screenwriter who collaborated with his father on the feature film
``Marshall,'' a rendering of a criminal trial Justice Thurgood Marshall
handled as an attorney in 1941. His other son, Joshua, is a partner in
Michael's firm who just last month prevailed in a groundbreaking case
against the gun manufacturer Remington Arms--a case that was brought by
the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.
Madam Speaker, Michael Koskoff brought to life the promise of
American ideals of fairness and justice for ``the little guy.'' With
all of his success though, he never ``put on airs'' with people he met.
He was generous with his time and support for his colleagues in the
legal profession, the arts, and political causes devoted to a better
community and nation. His presence will be sorely missed by those who
had the privilege to know him, including myself. However, it is safe to
say his memory will never be forgotten.
I would ask the House to please join me in extending deepest
condolences to Michael's wife Rosalind and his family for their loss.
____________________
