The winning defense attorney in back-to-back medical malpractice trials during the past two weeks noted a key part of his strategy was to compartmentalize the emotion accompanying the plaintiffs’ plights. In Jonathan Peters’ most recent cases, the plaintiffs — one dying of cancer and the other paralyzed — were asking juries to hold their doctors responsible for $14 million in combined damages.

“I like to think of myself as a compassionate person,” said Peters, a name partner of Peters & Monyak.