- Posted October 31, 2014
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Court won't overturn malpractice verdict
PONTIAC (AP) - The Michigan appeals court has upheld a $144 million verdict in the 1995 birth of a suburban Detroit girl who can't walk or talk and requires full-time care.
In a 3-0 decision, the court says the trial in Oakland County was "far from perfect." But it found no grounds to upset the malpractice verdict in favor of Markell VanSlembrouck, who's now 18.
Experts who testified for VanSlembrouck said a traumatic birth at Beaumont Hospital caused her disabilities. But defense experts blamed genetic abnormalities. They noted that she was missing a portion of her cerebellum, among other problems.
The appeals court says some of Geoffrey Fieger's final remarks to jurors were inflammatory but didn't spoil the verdict.
The decision by judges Elizabeth Gleicher, Stephen Borrello and Deborah Servitto was released Wednesday.
Published: Fri, Oct 31, 2014
headlines Oakland County
headlines National
- 50 Years of Service: ABA has been a ‘stalwart ally’ for LSC funding
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Biden recalls time he bluffed knowledge of torts case and why he changed his mind about civil-trial work
- Lawyers’ ‘barrage of personal attacks’ on opponents started with tissue-box toss, appeals court says
- Longtime prosecutor resigns after judge tosses him from case, citing Perry Mason-type revelations
- 24% of law students expect to work in public service, survey says