Four Trials
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Four Trials is a book by former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina and his co-writer, John Auchard. The book was published by Simon & Schuster in December 2003, before Edwards unsuccessfully ran for President and, later, vice president on the Democratic Party ticket with fellow Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in the 2004 presidential election.
The book is autobiographical in nature and relates the story of four different civil trials where Edwards acted as an attorney for people seeking damages (petitioners) against large institutions and insurance companies (respondents). Interspersing the stories of each trial are remembrances from Edward's childhood, time in law school, and meeting his wife Elizabeth Edwards. Edwards also writes about his children (including Wade, his teenage son who died in a freak car accident).
The "Four Trials" in the book are four different trials covered in four chapters: "E.G." (an alcoholic who was treated by an aggressive aversion therapy that caused coma and brain damage), "Jennifer" (a women whose child had serious injuries because her obstetrician didn't perform a Cesarean section), "Josh" (a young child whose parents were killed in a car crash by a speeding truck driver who was paid by the number of miles he drove), and "Valerie" (a girl who got seriously injured by a swimming pool drain due to faulty design).
The book was notable because it is one of the few political books to credit a co-writer. In its hardcover edition it runs 256 pages.
