What is it like to try a 5+ week case via Zoom? What is it like to guide the case for six years to get to that point? The Washington State Association for Justice provides a peek behind the curtain in a piece about the first medical malpractice plaintiff’s verdict in a virtual trial: Zoom Justice in the Time of COVID.

Six years ago the case came to our office of a newborn baby injured during his first day of life. He had, at that point, been hospitalized continually for six months since the injury. His parents’ hope at the time of the call was that he would be discharged from the hospital soon. Sadly, complications continued to arise and it would be another fifteen months before he was able to walk out. You see, one of his vocal cords was avulsed – torn off – during what was supposed to be a non-emergent intubation attempt. What followed were infections, code events, and countless procedures – some of them profoundly painful – at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The end result was that he had to learn to speak and interact with the world two years behind his identical twin brother.

CMG Law partner Tyler Goldberg-Hoss, associate Carl-Erich Kruse, and co-counsel Tony Russo met with a number of attorneys and technical experts to design how they were going to present this case, with a substantial medical record and many witnesses, on small screens. In the end, they won a tremendous verdict for very deserving clients late this spring. Thanks to the jury’s $6M verdict, the family will be able to procure the support they need to make up for the deficits he suffers from thanks to the negligence of providers at UWMC.

Finally: if you want to learn more, and you are a WSAJ member, Tyler and Carl-Erich will be giving a presentation about the case at the upcoming WSAJ winter convention on December 10.