What's Happening at Hart Wagner

The jury verdicts keep rolling in for Hart Wagner healthcare clients.  Trial attorney Troy Bundy and the jury delivered a powerful message: this well-respected and thoughtful Oregon physician met the standard of care.  Plaintiff claimed that, during surgery, our client negligently injured her common bile duct which led to further injuries.  Plaintiff demanded over $800,000 in damages and the defendants denied any negligence in this case.

The Oregon Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law stating that there will be a $3 million cap on damages that plaintiffs can receive in lawsuits against the state or its employees.  Janet Schroer was instrumental in this decision which affects all public bodies and all caps on damages.  Portland Tribune states that this case has been “closely followed” by trial lawyers, the Oregon Medical Association and public entities in Oregon.  This was a huge victory for Janet and her client.

On April 27, 2016, a Multnomah County jury returned a unanimous defense verdict for Traylor’s client who had rear-ended the plaintiff and caused substantial damage to her vehicle. Plaintiff was seeking $2.2 million in damages for a brain injury. Traylor was able to subpoena information from Plaintiff’s own insurance company showing she had been in a much more significant accident just a month earlier, and although symptoms did not start until after the second accident, Traylor convinced the jury through the use of a neuro-psychologist and neurologist that the brain injury was more likely than not caused by the prior accident. Traylor’s client had offered over $125,000 to settle the case prior to trial.

On March 15, 2016, a jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Joe Traylor’s client in a Clark County case involving a plaintiff who was injured trying to separate his pit bull from a fight with defendant’s black lab in plaintiff’s back yard. Plaintiff needed over $20,000 in hand surgery to repair bite damage caused when one of the dogs bit him. Plaintiff alleged that at 2 a.m. he took his pit bull out into his back yard to urinate when defendant’s black lab came charging through a hole in his fence and attacked him. Subsequent investigation by Traylor revealed that Plaintiff drank substantially more than the 2 beers he admitted to, and was likely bitten when he tried to separate the two dogs from fighting. Even though defendant’s black lab was trespassing on plaintiff’s property, the Jury concluded defendant was not at fault as plaintiff’s veracity problems kept him from establishing all of the elements necessary to win his case. It was a very challenging case from a legal perspective, despite the plaintiff’s character flaws.