Case Study: Decisive decision in successful malpractice defense

The defense of a medical professional or institution being sued for medical negligence presents a variety of interesting challenges. First, unlike other litigation matters, potential juries in malpractice cases already have well-formed opinions on the nature and quality of healthcare based on their own experiences. Secondly, malpractice cases that make it to trial usually involve significant injury to the plaintiff requiring the legal team to navigate sensitivities inherent in this type of defense.

Because the terms and concepts involved in medical negligence cases are usually complex and foreign to those outside the medical community, time needs to be taken to educate jurors and make sure they understand the anatomy or terms at issue in the particular case. Our approach was to break down the many different allegations and terms according to each defendant so our defense was straightforward and understandable to each juror. Careful preparation of the medical professionals for their testimony was important and really helped the jury understand that unfortunate results can still happen even when everyone does their job.

After 7 days of trial, Plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award $4 million in their client's favor. The jury deliberated only ninety minutes and came back with a unanimous verdict in favor of all the defendants, finding the hospital and the physicians were not guilty of any medical negligence in their care and treatment.

“The clear and concise fashion in which the jury deliberated conveyed confidence in their decision that the defendants care and treatment of the patient was well within the standards of proper medical care,” said Schmiedeskamp attorney Jim Hansen.