Professional Negligence
At Kolsby Gordon, we are committed to the idea that all professionals—doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, etc.—should perform to the standards of their profession. When professionals are negligent, the results can be devastating. Bad highway engineering can lead to fatal automobile accidents. Bad accounting can lead to corporate disaster, lost savings, and lost jobs. And there is almost no limit to the terrible effects that can result from negligent medical care.
For those who have been harmed by negligent professionals, Kolsby Gordon’s legal team has established a strong national reputation for our work in this area. Since we opened our doors fifty years ago, virtually every Kolsby Gordon attorney has successfully handled numerous professional negligence cases. Many have set precedents. Recent professional negligence cases we have handled at Kolsby Gordon include:
- Six-Figure Settlement for Severely Injured Women who Suffered Legal Incompetence After her doctors failed to timely order an MRI, despite written recommendations to do so, a woman’s spinal tumor went undiagnosed. Later, when the tumor was finally discovered, the treatment resulted in paraplegia, hemiplegia, bowel and bladder dysfunction, as well as multiple surgeries and hospital stays. She retained attorneys in an attempt to achieve relief for the medical bills, injuries, and needless pain and suffering that resulted from the health care providers’ negligence. The law firm handling her case made a crucial error, however: Failing to realize that her doctors were independent contractors at the government hospital where they worked, her attorneys sued the United States government, which owned the hospital. The case was dismissed, as the government is not liable for the actions of independent contractors. It was for this reason that legal action was taken by KG, which resulted in a substantial reward approximating what she might have been awarded had her original lawyers ever succeeded in bringing her medical malpractice case to court.
- Settlement of Case in Which Poor Legal Advice Leads to Failed Adoption There are a number of very important professional standards to be adhered to in adoption cases to reduce the likelihood of needlessly traumatic experiences for children, birth mothers and adopting parents alike. In this case, an attorney failed to properly counsel our clients as to birth matters and, as a result, they already had their adopted child in their home when the birth mother revoked her consent for the adoption. With proper legal counsel, the matter could have been avoided altogether.
- Our Firm’s Involvement Representing Victims of Estate Malpractice In planning an estate, professionals have an obligation to their clients to adhere to certain minimum professional standards. In this case, poor estate planning by a professional resulted in excessive tax liabilities for the estate’s beneficiaries. Kolsby Gordon attorneys represent the beneficiaries in an action against the estate planner.
- Our Firm’s Involvement Representing an Oxycontin Addict Whose Potential to File a Medical Malpractice Claim Was Ruined by Negligent Law Firm Acting contrary to the standards of the medical profession, a doctor prescribed the highly addictive narcotic Oxycontin to a patient for minor arthritis pain. Thereafter, he quickly became addicted and his addiction spiraled out of control, causing years of problems for him and his family eventually resulting in his incarceration. His malpractice claim against his doctor had merit, but it was never filed in court because the attorneys he met with sent a letter, after the statute of limitations had already passed, saying they would not represent him. As a result, he had no legal recourse to sue the prescribing doctor. Kolsby Gordon initiated a case on his behalf against his original law firm and has since obtained an out-of-court settlement for him.
