VAN SCOY v. SIERRA MEDICAL CENTER
Personal Injury. Plaintiff suffered a knee injury when trying to cut sharply during a football scrimmage. Our client was the emergency room doctor who tried to admit him, only to be refused by the plaintiff and his father. Later they came back when the leg turned cold. His popliteal artery was torn and the operation had to ensue under emergency conditions. I fondly remember this case because it was tried in federal court, where I had been a law clerk some years before. Opposing counsel was one of Dave Harney’s partners, so medical malpractice was their forte. He settled with or dismissed the other parties, apparently because he thought fighting with me would be the easy way to go. He assumed the case was about medicine. I proved that his client was a liar several times over and managed to get his experts to help me. The jury went 6-0 for the defense. I was very proud of the effort and the result, but of course, one defense verdict in Los Angeles, where there are many great lawyers practicing in the defense of med mal cases, doesn’t get you much attention. I’ve never practiced in that area since.
