Trial Verdict 2015-30: Boston Partner Peter Knight

Boston Partner Peter Knight—with the able and energetic assistance of Tony Abeln, Ronna Nesselle, and Diane Starett—successfully defended a pulmonologist in a wrongful death jury trial in Salem. The plaintiff’s claim was that a transbronchial biopsy was unnecessary and poorly executed resulting in a bleed of a bronchial artery and death. One significant pretrial motion precluded reference to lack of experience by the defendant and a lack of informed consent as to his minimal experience in carrying out the procedure. Before closings, the Superior Court held a Judicial Conference, where all Superior Court Judges were provided with Boston Partner Tory Weigand’s treatise on “but for” causation. The judge gave “but for” instructions, consistent with the consensus arrived at by the judges at the conference.