Professional Liability

Representative Experience

We Assist Our Clients Outside the Courtroom

• Advised a wide variety of hospitals and clinical practices on day-to-day risk management, loss prevention, medical staff/peer review issues, insurance, regulatory compliance, and operational matters
• Represented employed and independent physicians and nurses before various licensure boards

We Obtain Quick and Favorable Resolutions to Meet Our Clients’ Goals

• Successfully resolved claims pre-suit to avoid negative publicity for clients
• Obtained favorable pre-suit settlements for clients by quickly and efficiently investigating the claims

We Get Results Before Trial

• Successfully obtained summary judgment for attorneys in legal malpractice claims and health care providers in medical malpractice claims
• Won motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for parent companies of skilled nursing facilities in multiple states
• Successfully obtained enforcement of arbitration agreements for health care clients
• Won motions to dismiss for failure to follow pre-suit requirements in medical negligence cases and successfully upheld the decisions through appeal

We Try Cases

• Successfully defended skilled nursing facilities at jury trials and arbitrations in multiple states in a variety of resident care and employment discrimination matters
• Won jury verdicts on behalf of physicians and other medical care providers in multiple states in medical malpractice cases involving permanent injuries and death
• Obtained a defense jury verdict on behalf of a county school board
• Obtained a defense jury verdict on behalf of a hospital accused of breach of contract and West Virginia Patient Safety Act violations
• Successfully defended numerous cases of employment discrimination before the Human Rights Commission on behalf of large hospitals and large manufacturers
• Won a jury verdict on behalf of one of the largest banks in the world in a claim alleging fraudulent misrepresentation, aiding and abetting, and violations of the Blue Sky Act

We Are Trusted When It Matters Most

• Defended a CPA’s service as trustee for an “operating” trust with more than $13 million worth of businesses and assets in the timber, logging, and lumber industries
• Served as lead trial counsel in cases worth a total of more than $100 million to clients
• Coordinated the defense of dozens of medical negligence, corporate negligence, wrongful death, and residents’ rights claims, which routinely included significant and wide-ranging discovery disputes, including the coordination of extensive e-discovery
• Represented numerous long-term care facilities and assisted living facilities in over 100 separate wrongful death actions brought by families of deceased former residents
• Defended multiple attorneys in various types of legal malpractice cases
• Served as lead counsel in litigation involving a $22 million construction project
• Defended long-term care facilities in COVID-19 litigation in state, federal district, and appellate courts involving claims of immunity under the PREP Act
• Represented clients before the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel involving multiyear, complex toxic tort litigation with 100+ plaintiffs and multiple defendants
• Defended medical device manufacturers in product liability matters, including in the areas of surgically implanted pain pumps, and in the vaginal mesh multidistrict litigation

Highlights

• Steptoe & Johnson attorneys try and win cases regularly
• Team members are strategically located throughout the United States to assist national clients
• In-house nurse paralegals, accountants, and engineers assist our attorneys in crafting a defense for professionals
• More than 40 areas of practice provide cross-team collaboration
• The Professional Liability Group works closely with the firm’s Health Care Group and Long-Term Care Team in order to stay abreast of current trends and concerns