LJN Newsletters

  • AHLA Seeks Clarification on Malpractice Insurance

    Part One of a two-part article. Proper malpractice coverage is essential to any physician's practice. When that coverage is not readily available or premiums skyrocket, that essential can seem like a luxury. Physicians facing other economic pressures in their practice not infrequently opt to reduce their insurance limits, increase their deductible, drop their coverage altogether, retire or leave the area, or discontinue what they view as high-risk portions of their practice (eg, serving on ER call rosters or accepting Medicaid or indigent patients). As a result, physicians' personal assets (and careers) are more at risk, hospitals face more liability exposure as the "deep pocket," and patients face significantly reduced access to care.

    May 28, 2004Gerald M. Griffith

  • Verdicts

    Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

    May 28, 2004ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Revisiting Pretrial Protocol and Procedure

    Part Two of a two-part article. In last month's issue, we discussed the defense problem of increasingly high med-mal verdicts. This month, we explore strategies that defendants anticipating their personal day in court should consider if they hope to buck the trend toward high jury verdicts in medical malpractice actions.

    May 28, 2004Michael Brophy

  • Mistake of Judgment: Calling Out for Clarity

    In medical malpractice cases, it is a matter of hornbook law that health care providers bear no liability for poor outcomes resulting from the exercise of professional judgment, as long as they adhere to the relevant standard of care. In an attempt to facilitate jurors' understanding of this concept, courts across the country have given "mistake" or "error-of-judgment" charges, which typically instruct the jury that physicians are entitled to exercise their professional judgment in choosing either of two reasonable options.

    May 28, 2004J. Scott Kramer and Helena Ciechanowski

  • How Will It Play in New York?

    Judge Marilyn O'Connor of Family Court, Monroe County, issued a controversial order in March barring a frequently homeless couple from having any more children until they can show that they will be able to care for the four children they already have.

    May 28, 2004Janice G. Inman

  • Breaking Up with Clients

    Every year or so, divorce lawyer Alton Abramowitz does something that would make many a lawyer lose sleep: He breaks up with a client. He would rather not show clients the door, but, he says, their unrealistic expectations sometimes leave him with no other choice.

    May 28, 2004Wendy Davis

  • Decisions of Interest

    Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

    May 28, 2004ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Professional Licenses and Equitable Distribution

    In last month's newsletter, we discussed the issue of the unused professional license and its value, if any, when seeking equitable distribution at the time of divorce. The court in Pino v. Pino, 189 Misc.2d 331 (Sup. Ct. Nassau 2001), for one, has compared equitable distribution to imputed child support and maintenance and concluded that it possesses full authority to calculate the enhanced earning potential from the license and can add that monetary result to the monies to be equitably distributed. But this is a rather unexplored area of the law in New York -- an area ripe for litigation. Part Two of a two-part article.

    May 28, 2004Michael B. Solomon