Every TV show about lawyers and the law has perfectly scripted snippets of a trial which are very dramatic with smoking guns, salacious admissions, and attentive jurors who finally hear the truth and make a decision.
In real life there are very few civil cases that ever make it to a jury trial. At Domina Law our motto is “Trial Practice. Not Just Talk.” and that fits us and what we do here so well that the US Patent and Trademark Office granted us a trademark on that exact slogan. Civil trial practice is extremely rare this day in age with less than 2% of lawyers ever trying a civil case.
At Domina Law we do this work often, and it is frankly our most favorite thing to do. Brian Jorde of Domina Law handled a medical malpractice trial against multiple defendants and a doctor who was accused of falling below the standard of care when he performed a hip surgery. After surgery the patient, our client, suffered nerve damage and developed foot drop and was unable to walk as he had previously. This created a significant impact on this individual’s life, not only given his recreational activities and interest, but also greatly affected the nature of his work which required him to be mobile and on his feet for more than eight hours each day.
After filing suit and conducting discovery and depositions, Domina Law settled with one defendant which allowed our client to move forward against the target defendants. We pursued the matter to jury trial against other defendants that refused to settle.
The insurance company, behind the defendants apparently has a model to induce doctors to give it business and write their medical malpractice coverage with them that essentially is “we will not settle, we will defend you”. While that might sound good, the reality is these insurance companies just end up paying the insurance defense lawyers in the tall buildings throughout our state and others unnecessarily to defend cases when they would be smarted to allocate those funds to the deserving injured parties – unfortunately it is not that easy and you need experienced lawyers able and willing to battle insurance companies and their lawyers as long as it takes.
Our case went to trial and on the fourth day of trial, after exciting cross-examination by Brian of one of the defense’s alleged “experts” and just before Brian was to question defendant’s second expert, defendants agreed to settle the case. The settlement was confidential, and Domina Law’s client is thankful for the result and Domina Law’s service.
If you or anyone you know has suffered from medical malpractice by a hospital or doctor who has not provided you with the level of care you deserve, please call us today to tell us more about it!