Courts across the country are slowly showing signs of resuming normal business, but with civil jury trials still at least a few weeks away Courtroom View Network’s online trial video library is the only way for trial attorneys to keep their skills sharp by watching gavel-to-gavel on-demand video of real-world, high stakes civil trials.
CVN focuses heavily on practice areas that frequently see cases go to trial (check previous lists featuring trucking, premises liability, asbestos and traumatic brain injury trials), and this week we’re featuring 10 of the most compelling medical malpractice trials in our archive that ended in plaintiff verdicts or mid-trial settlements.
These make up just a small fraction of the medmal trials available, and that’s not even including the cases ending in defense verdicts (which we will feature shortly), which are equally significant to the stakeholders who monitor these trials.
Get access to all of this with a $99/month subscription with no contract. CVN provides the only video collection in the world of civil jury trials featuring top attorneys at work in front of real juries, and it’s a critical resource for any trial attorney, new or experienced, looking to learn from watching the best.
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1.) Trabue v. Atlanta Women’s Specialists (Fulton County Superior Court, GA)
Trial outcome: $45.8 million
CVN screenshot of William Stone delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/trabue-v-atlanta-womens-specialists-other-2017-02-06/
Plaintiff counsel: Stone Law Group Trial Lawyers LLC (William Stone, Ryals Stone, James Stone, Michael Regas)
Why you should watch: Jurors in 2017 found two Atlanta-area physicians negligent and awarded nearly $46 million for the catastrophic brain damage a woman suffered just days after the 2009 birth of her child.
The Fulton County State Court jury deliberated for about 15 hours before concluding Shannon Trabue's heart attack and subsequent brain damage were caused by the negligent care of Atlanta Women’s Specialists obstetricians Drs. Rebecca Simonsen and Stanley Angus.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/breaking-45.8m-med-mal-verdict-delivered-for-georgia-mothers-profound-post-childbirth-brain-damage
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2.) Beber v. MDVIP Inc. (Palm Beach County Circuit Court, FL)
Trial outcome: $8.5 million
CVN screenshot of Jack Scarola delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/beber-v-metzger-et-al-trial-2015-01-12
Plaintiff counsel: Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA (Jack Scarola, Karen Terry, Andrea Robinson)
Why you should watch: A Florida state court jury slammed private equity-backed medical concierge service MDVIP Inc. with an $8.5 million medical malpractice verdict in 2015, finding the company misrepresented its network of supposedly elite doctors and is responsible for the allegedly avoidable amputation of a patient’s leg.
A unanimous six-member jury returned the verdict after less than a full day of deliberations following a trial that lasted more than two weeks. The jury determined physician Charles Metzger was acting as an agent of MDVIP when he failed to properly diagnose a blood flow problem in Joan Beber’s leg soon enough to avoid amputation, and that Beber relied on misleading statements from MDVIP in seeking treatment from Metzger.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/top-medical-concierge-co.-hit-with-8.5m-malpractice-and-false-advertising-verdict
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3.) Sales v. Summerlin Hospital & Medical Center (Clark County Circuit Court, NV)
Trial outcome: confidential settlement reached during jury deliberations
CVN screenshot of Sean Claggett delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/elisa-sales-v-summerlin-hospital-medical-center-trial-2019-09-30
Plaintiff counsel: Claggett & Sykes Law Firm (Sean Claggett, Jennifer Morales), Hay Law (Carol Hay)
Why you should watch: A Las Vegas hospital in 2019 reached a settlement during jury deliberations in a potentially $63 million medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a woman alleging failure to begin emergency resuscitation quickly enough during surgery left her with permanent brain damage.
Attorneys for plaintiff Elisa Sales and Summerlin Hospital reached a confidential settlement shortly after the jury heard closing arguments on October 24 following 15 days of testimony. Sales’ attorney Sean Claggett of the Claggett & Sykes Law Firm accused a team of Summerlin doctors and support staff of failing to act in a timely manner as she went into respiratory arrest during a routine outpatient pacemaker replacement.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/hospital-settles-63m-brain-damage-trial-during-jury-deliberations
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4.) Vargas-Chavez, et al. v. Gonzalez-Garcia, et al (Broward County Circuit Court, FL)
Trial outcome: $24.5 million
CVN screenshot of Todd Michaels delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details: https://cvn.com/proceedings/vargas-chavez-et-al-v-gonzalez-garcia-et-al-trial-2019-04-16
Plaintiff counsel: The Freedland Firm (Daniel Harwin), The Haggard Law Firm PA (Todd Michaels)
Why you should watch: Jurors in 2019 handed down a $24.5 million award against a team of doctors for the death of a Florida woman hours after childbirth.
The jury, in Florida’s 17th Circuit Court, deliberated about two hours before reaching its verdict in the damages-only trial over the July 2015 death of Lilia Torres. The award includes $3.675 million to Torres’s husband, Rodolfo Vargas Chavez; $4.9 million each to three of Torres’s children; and $6.125 million to Lilian Daleyza Vargas, who was born shortly before her mother’s death.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/breaking-doctors-hit-with-24.5m-verdict-for-death-of-florida-mother-following-childbirth
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5.) Driscoll v. Harrison Medical Center, et al. (King County Superior Court, WA)
Trial outcome: confidential settlement shortly after opening statements
CVN screenshot of Nick Rowley engaging with jurors during the voir dire process
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/driscoll-eva-v-harrison-medical-center-et-al-trial-2018-11-05
Plaintiff counsel: Carpenter Zuckerman & Rowley LLP (Nick Rowley, Courtney Rowley)
Why you should watch: Although this complex and potentially high-exposure childbirth injury case settled shortly after opening statements, this trial offers the extremely rare opportunity to see video of the full jury selection process in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Very few states permit any news media coverage of the jury selection process, but Washington State has among the most open guidelines for cameras in the courtroom in the country.
If you’re an attorney involved in taking medmal cases to trial this is mandatory viewing, period.
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6.) Williams v. St. Francis Hospital (Muscogee County Superior Court, GA)
Trial outcome: $26 million
CVN screenshot of Lloyd Bell delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/williams-v-tidwell-et-al-trial
Plaintiff counsel: Bell Law Firm (Lloyd Bell, Michael Watson, David Schlachter, Sara Wardlow)
Why you should watch: Jurors in 2017 found a Georgia hospital responsible for the catastrophic brain damage one of its patients suffered during a 2012 respiratory collapse, and awarded the woman $26 million.
The Muscogee County State Court jury concluded a St. Francis Hospital staff physician, Dr. Erik Westerlund, failed to properly treat Sandra Williams for a post-operative neck hematoma, or blood clot, which closed off her trachea, and ultimately helped starve her brain of oxygen.
The verdit verdict, reached after more than 8 hours of deliberations, separately cleared the Columbus, Georgia hospital’s nurses, as well as Dr. Christopher Tidwell, a pulmonologist who treated Williams.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/26m-verdict-slams-ga-hospital-at-trial-over-patients-respiratory-collapse
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7.) Lewis v. The Emory Clinic (DeKalb County Superior Court, GA)
Trial outcome: $20.5 million
CVN screenshot of Jane Lamberti delivering her closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/lewis-v-emory-clinic-trial-2015-02-09
Plaintiff counsel: The Cochran Firm (Jane Lamberti, Shean Williams, Evon Williams, Gary Andrews)
Why you should watch: Brandon Lewis, 25 and mentally challenged, died while participating in a sleep study at the Emory Clinic to determine if he was suffering from sleep apnea.
His mother, Renee Lewis, filed suit against the clinic claiming he should not have been made to lie down during the study because of his pre-existing medical condition and that Brandon Harris, because of his mental status, felt he could not disregard the instructions he was given.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/emory-clinic-sleep-center-wrongful-death-case-continues-in-dekalb-georgia
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8.) Gray v. Iakovidis (Polk County Circuit Court, FL)
Trial outcome: $4.9 million
CVN screenshot of Edward Ricci delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/gray-v-iakovdis-et-al-trial-2018-06-25
Plaintiff counsel: Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA (Edward Ricci, Matthew Schwencke)
Why you should watch: A state court jury in 2018 awarded $4.9 million for the medical negligence it found cost a Florida man his lower leg.
Jurors, in Florida’s 10th Circuit, in Polk County, deliberated for about four hours before concluding Dr. Panagiotis Iakovidis, a vascular surgeon, was negligent in treating Samuel Gray for a 2013 blood clot in his left leg. Gray, then 61, underwent a below-the-knee amputation days after being treated for the clot.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/jury-awards-4.9m-after-finding-florida-docs-negligence-cost-patient-a-leg
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9.) Nelson v. Emory Healthcare (DeKalb County Superior Court)
Trial outcome: $15 million
CVN screenshot of Lloyd Bell delivering his closing argument
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
https://cvn.com/proceedings/nelson-v-emory-healthcare-trial-2016-04-18
Plaintiff counsel: Bell Law Firm (Lloyd Bell)
Why you should watch: Jurors in 2016 found Emory Healthcare liable for $15 million in damages for its role in the fall that paralyzed a patient during a routine blood draw.
With Emory admitting liability for the fall that paralyzed Cris Nelson, and the trial restricted to damages alone, jurors needed less than two hours to award Nelson $12 million and his wife, Deborah, $3 million for Nelson's 2012 fall from an examining room table.
Nelson, now 55, passed out and fell from an Emory medical clinic exam table while having blood drawn as part of a routine wellness exam. Nelson, who was seated upright without support during the blood draw, fractured his neck, rendering him a quadriplegic. Although he can now drive and use crutches at times, he continues to need a wheelchair, suffers from ongoing muscle spasticity, and requires assistance performing basic self-care.
More via the CVN News Blog: https://blog.cvn.com/15m-award-jabs-emory-healthcare-in-trial-over-patients-paralyzing-fall
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10.) Puente v. Catholic Health Initiatives (Polk County District Court, IA)
Trial outcome: confidential settlement shortly after opening statements
CVN screenshot of Nick Rowley delivering his opening statement
Link to gavel-to-gavel video of the trial and defense counsel details:
Plaintiff counsel: Carpenter Zuckerman & Rowley LLP (Nick Rowley)
Why you should watch: In January of 2019 the parties in a medical malpractice lawsuit in Iowa reached a confidential settlement after opening statements and a day of witness testimony in a trial over a hospital’s alleged failure to provide timely and appropriate treatment for a man’s anemia, resulting in his death.
The plaintiffs were represented by Nick Rowley of the California-based firm Carpenter Zuckerman & Rowley. Rowley, with his trademark vest and affable courtroom delivery, is known for his extremely aggressive trial strategy and willingness to swat away settlement offers that many plaintiff attorneys would take, resulting in him being named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2018 by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.
Mercy Medical Center was represented by Kevin Kuhn, a Denver-based partner at the powerhouse defense firm Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell (which boasts 110 lawyers) with a national reputation for his defense practice.
The opening statements were compelling enough that it compelled litigants ready to dig in for a lengthy trial to reach a last minute agreement. Watch for yourself to see why with a CVN subscription.
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Know about any trials, medmal or otherwise, that CVN should try to cover as courts open back up? Let us know!
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com