Professional Liability Advocate

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By: Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP

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Bonnie Ackerman
Brian S. Gatens
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Latest from Professional Liability Advocate

Physicians typically recall, with stunning clarity, the moment a patient’s treatment went wrong.  Following an adverse event, physicians often are tormented by competing desires to apologize and instincts to forge ahead without acknowledgement. A patient’s decision to file a malpractice action may be triggered by the physician’s response to a problem − or lack thereof. The Washington Post highlighted contrasting tales of medical errors in which two patients suffered devastating consequences during surgery. Frustrated by…
We all are familiar with complex medical malpractice lawsuits against hospitals that include claims against the numerous professionals and staff members involved in the treatment of admitted patients. The list of parties and potential cross-claims against other parties can be extensive. Approximately 25 million surgical procedures, however, are performed every year at ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), as opposed to at acute care hospitals. Given the nature of ASCs and their common business model − to…
I vividly recall attending the Bronx Bar Association Dinner last fall when it was announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would ban pre-dispute arbitration provisions in nursing home admission agreements as of November 28, 2016. This news was relayed to me by a Bronx Supreme Court judge who had denied my very first motion to compel arbitration under such a provision. That denial ultimately was reversed on appeal.…
Attorneys are accustomed to being called “ambulance chasers” or “sharks,” always interested in increasing their fees. Even if a lawyer reduces a bill for an unhappy client, that conduct may backfire if the client isn’t satisfied with the reduction. The attorney cannot later renege on the gratuitous fee discount or reduction, no matter what the reason. In a March 3, 2017, ruling, the Massachusetts Appeals Court − the commonwealth’s intermediate appellate court − held that…
Hospitals are commonly named as defendants in medical malpractice lawsuits for claims arising from alleged injuries within their walls, but what is their exposure to liability for claims that arise from alleged sexual assaults by staff on their premises? In September 2016, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a five-part investigative series examining the alleged epidemic of physician sex abuse in all 50 states. The series examined the purported problem of sexual abuse by physicians, including how…
If you are selling or acquiring an accounting practice, you need to read the AICPA’s new guidance “Transfer of Files and Return of Client Records in Sale, Transfer, Discontinuance or Acquisition of a Practice,” which clarifies the obligations of the selling and the acquiring parties and explains how to deal with clients that do not respond to the notification of the transaction.…
As anticipated, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released new regulations addressing the use of arbitration agreements in nursing home admission agreements applicable to facilities that participate in Medicaid and Medicare programs. However, the scope has far exceeded what was expected. The proposed regulations only sought to ban mandatory arbitration agreements as a condition of admission. The actual regulations prohibit “pre-dispute” arbitration agreements instead.…
We have assisted many accounting firms in the creation or revision of their client engagement letters. They very often question the need to include certain provisions intended to limit their liability to their clients and sometimes ask whether the provision is even enforceable. Whether the provision will be enforced is uncertain due to the very limited case law addressing liability-limiting provisions in accountants’ client engagement letters, and there could be variations in enforcement from state…
Federal courts correct bad litigation behavior, eventually. People take being sued personally, and lawsuits can take an emotional toll on defendants, whether as an individual or as a representative of an employer. Anger and frustration always lead to the same questions: Can we sanction them for lying? Can I get my fees (or my insurance deductible) back? Won’t the court do something?…
On April 3, 2016, the public learned that millions of client documents from the Panamanian law firm and corporate services provider Mossack Fonseca & Co. (MF) had made their way to an international organization, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and that the information would be used to publish potentially damaging stories. In addition, authorities across the globe, from Japan to Switzerland to the United States, are reviewing the documents and investigating potential tax…