The rise in such deliveries, to about 26 percent today from 6 percent in 1970, has failed to decrease the rate of cerebral palsy, scientists say. Studies indicate that in most cases, the disorder is caused by fetal brain injury long before labor begins.

An examination of Mr. Edwards's legal career also opens a window onto the world of personal injury litigation. In building his career, Mr. Edwards underbid other lawyers to win promising clients, sifted through several dozen expert witnesses to find one who would attest to his claims, and opposed state legislation that would have helped all families with brain-damaged children and not just those few who win big malpractice awards.

In an interview on yesterday, Mr. Edwards did not dispute the contention that the use of fetal heart rate monitors leads to many unneeded Caesarean deliveries or that few cases of cerebral palsy are caused by mishandled deliveries. But he said his cases, selected from hundreds of potential clients with the disorder, were exceptions.

''I took very seriously our responsibility to determine if our cases were merited,'' Mr. Edwards said. ''Before I ever accepted a brain-injured child case, we would spend months investigating it.''

As for the unneeded Caesareans, he said, ''The question is, would you rather have cases where that happens instead of having cases where you don't intervene and a child either becomes disabled for life or dies in utero?''

A Talent for Trials

Lawyers in North Carolina agree that Mr. Edwards was an exceptionally talented lawyer, endowed with a prodigious work ethic, native self-confidence, good looks, charisma and an ability to talk about complicated subjects in accessible language.

That, said his former partner Wade M. Smith, is a lethal combination in a trial lawyer. ''People don't see him coming until it's too late,'' Mr. Smith said. ''It's true in politics and it was true in the law.''