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First Coast


COURT UPHOLDS $5 MILLION MALPRACTICE VERDICT AGAINST MORGAN & MORGAN

WJCT News | By Bill Bortzfield
Published December 10, 2018 at 11:42 AM EST
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Blogtrepreneur
/
Flickr Commons

A circuit judge in Sarasota ruled Monday that the verdict in a legal malpractice
case against the Morgan & Morgan law firm should stand. 



Our Jacksonville Daily Record news partner reports the judge also denied Morgan
& Morgan’s motion for a new trial and another motion to reduce the $5 million
award determined by the jury.

Credit Via Jacksonville Daily Record
/

Attorney Donald St. Denis

Attorney Donald St. Denis of St. Denis & Davey in Jacksonville, who represented
the plaintiffs in the malpractice lawsuit, said Friday he has a hearing
scheduled Tuesday in Sarasota on a motion to award his firm $1.6 million in
attorney’s fees and costs.

“We’ve been working on this for two years. I’ve got a ton of time in this case,”
he said Friday.

St. Denis made offers on behalf of his clients in August 2016 and again in
January 2017 for $2.5 million and $4 million, respectively, to settle the
malpractice suit before going to trial, but Morgan & Morgan’s counteroffer was
only $1,000, he said.

Morgan & Morgan intends to appeal the jury’s verdict.

“This case is a long way from over,” John Morgan said Friday in an email
response. “We defended this case because we think we are right. And we will
continue fighting it because we still believe we are right. We fully expect to
win outright on appeal and have a judgment in our favor entered by the appellate
courts.”

Credit Via The Jacksonville Daily Record
/

Attorney John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan

St. Denis represented Shawna and Rock Pollack in the malpractice action related
to Morgan & Morgan’s handling of a personal injury case the couple filed after
their child was permanently injured during birth.

On Oct. 17, a jury in circuit court in Sarasota County found that Morgan &
Morgan attorney Armando Lauritano was 100 percent responsible for Shawna and
Rock Pollock losing their rights to a medical malpractice claim against a
Sarasota obstetrics practice, a nurse midwife and the hospital where their child
was born.

The case began Nov. 2, 2006, when Shawna Pollock was admitted to Sarasota
Memorial Hospital to give birth.

After she was given a hormone to induce labor, the unborn infant began to
experience slowed fetal heartbeat and Pollock began writhing in pain.

By the time an emergency cesarean section was performed, Pollock’s uterus had
ruptured, depriving the fetus of oxygen, which caused permanent brain damage.

After the birth, the Pollocks contacted Morgan & Morgan. An investigator from
the firm met the couple at Ronald McDonald House, where they were staying while
their infant son was in All Children’s Hospital in Tampa.

On Feb. 17, 2007, the Pollocks agreed to be represented by Morgan & Morgan. They
agreed to pay the firm up to 40 percent of a recovery up to $1 million, 30
percent between $1 million and $2 million and 20 percent of recovery in excess
of $2 million.

St. Denis argued to the jury that Morgan & Morgan was focused on collecting a
large fee for the child’s brain injury claim to the point that its
representative failed to provide the required presuit notice of claims for
injuries sustained during the delivery by Shawna Pollock, including that she no
longer is able to have children.

After it became clear that the baby would qualify for no-fault benefits from the
Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, and after
the statute of limitations period for submitting notice the Pollocks intended to
seek compensation for their personal loss had expired, Morgan & Morgan withdrew
from representing the Pollocks.

The jury found that the OB-GYN practice, the nurse midwife and Sarasota Memorial
Hospital were negligent in the care of Shawna Pollock.

The medical practice and nurse midwife were found by the jury to be liable for
$4.5 million in damages and the hospital was found liable for $500,000 in
damages, if the Pollocks had not lost their rights to sue for damages.

In its $5 million verdict, the jury further found that Lauritano was negligent
in his handling of the Pollocks’ interests, that the Pollacks did not freely and
intentionally give up their right to seek compensation from the physicians and
hospital and that Lauritano was liable for the loss they incurred.

Photo used under Creative Commons license and Blogtrepreneur.

Tags
First Coast appJohn MorganMorgan & Morgan
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Bill Bortzfield
Bill joined WJCT News in September of 2017 from The Florida Times-Union, where
he served in a variety of multimedia journalism positions.
See stories by Bill Bortzfield
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