Courtroom Success 2016-6: New Hampshire Partner William Smart

New Hampshire Partner Bill Smart obtained unanimous findings of both no-negligence and no-causation on behalf of an orthopedic surgeon following a Medical Malpractice Screening Panel hearing in Hillsborough Superior Court, Southern District. The Panel comprised a lawyer, a retired judge, and an independent orthopedic surgeon. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant surgeon was negligent for failing to operate on his distal radius fracture. Our expert testified that it was reasonable to cast the plaintiff’s wrist, and that surgery would not have led to a better result. The panel statute indicates: “If the findings are in the defendant’s favor, the plaintiff shall release the claim . . . without payment, or be subject to the admissibility of those findings . . .” N.H. RSA 519-B:10, II (2016). Plaintiff chose to dismiss the case rather than contend with the Panel findings at trial.