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Articles
| Overview |
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Summary |
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| Title |
Family of man who died after New York Hospital Queens delayed operation receives $7.6 million |
The family of a 60-year-old Korean immigrant, Nam Lee, was awarded $7.6 million by a Queens jury for his wrongful death.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
04-01-2012 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The 500 Leading Lawyers in America |
Law Dragon recently named Ms. Livingston a “legal legend,” acknowledging her prowess in medical malpractice and personal-injury cases. The publication highlighted the 500 Leading Lawyers in America and recognized Ms. Livingston as “one of the most sought-after and effective plaintiff-side trial lawyers.”
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| Publication |
Law Dragon |
| Date |
13-09-2011 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The 500 Leading Lawyers in America |
Law Dragon acknowledges that Tom Moore is a “magnificent advocate” on behalf of plaintiffs in negligence and malpractice cases. The publication lists Mr. Moore as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America, including his recent $40 Million verdict for a construction worker severely injured by a Verizon truck.
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| Publication |
Law Dragon |
| Date |
13-09-2011 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Suit nets disabled man 40M |
A Brooklyn jury awarded a “stunning” $40 million verdict to Matthew Falcone, a 53-year-old construction worker, who was left “severely disabled” after he was “sent flying when a truck traveling 50 miles an hour hit him.”
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
28-05-2010 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
$41M Slap at Verizon |
Matthew Falcone, a 53-year-old construction worker, was awarded $40.8 million after he was “left brain damaged and partially paralyzed after being struck by one of [Verizon’s] trucks.”
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| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
28-05-2010 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Boy's Family, Hospital Settle |
The family of six-year-old Michael Colombini, who died when he was struck in the head by an oxygen tank while in an MRI chamber, received a $2.9 million settlement from a Westchester County hospital.
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| Publication |
The Journal News |
| Date |
06-02-2010 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
2010 Lawyers of the Year |
Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore received several prominent mentions in the “2010 Lawyers of the Year” listings printed in New York Magazine.
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| Publication |
New York Magazine |
| Date |
21-12-2009 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Finds Doctors Liable in Death |
A jury in Buffalo, New York awarded $2.2 million to the family of Leah Jones-Kreinheder, who “died of a seizure linked to her mishandled birth.”
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| Publication |
The Buffalo News |
| Date |
10-12-2009 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hypoxia Blamed on Pursuit of Phantom Cancer |
A Westchester, New York medical-malpractice case ended with a $7 million verdict in favor of the family of 33-year-old Theresa Capwell.
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| Publication |
New York Law Journal |
| Date |
30-03-2009 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
New York Super Lawyers |
Included in “The top 10” out of 100:
Moore, Thomas A., Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore, New York
Included in “the top 50 women”:
Livingston, Judith A., Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore, New York
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| Publication |
New York Super Lawyers Metro Edition |
| Date |
01-01-2009 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Awards Family $7M in Ma's Malpractice Death |
A jury awarded the family of Theresa Capwell $7 million in a Westchester, New York medical-malpractice case. Ms. Capwell died at age 34 of pancreatitis (an inflamed pancreas) because her doctors incorrectly believed she had ovarian cancer.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
18-12-2008 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Fire and Oxygen: Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston |
A Super Lawyers Magazine article in September 2008 profiled Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston, presenting them as “one of the most successful couples in legal history at helping victims of medical malpractice.”
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| Publication |
Super Lawyers Magazine |
| Date |
02-09-2008 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$19.6M Awarded Couple After Baby Brain-Damage at Birth |
Thomas Moore, representing the Maing family in a Queens, New York medical-malpractice case, won a $19.6 million verdict for Eun Sook Maing, a jewelry designer, and her husband, Soo Maing, who works for the post office.
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| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
02-07-2008 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The New York Area's Best Lawyers: The Definitive Guide to Legal Representation in NY |
A full page in New York Magazine’s annual listing of best lawyers celebrated the “extraordinary success” of husband-and-wife team Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston, of Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore.
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| Publication |
New York Magazine |
| Date |
01-01-2008 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The New York Area's Best Lawyers |
A full page in American Lawyer Magazine’s annual listing of best lawyers showcased Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore as a law firm that has “exclusively represented plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death actions stemming from medical malpractice, general negligence, and labor law violations.”
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| Publication |
American Lawyer Magazine |
| Date |
01-01-2007 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
She'll Get $8.5M in Med Mess |
Thomas Moore tried the case of a woman, Karine Aquilino, who “was nearly comatose for a year after a botched brain operation.”
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
20-06-2006 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Awards Family $1.95 Million in Dick Schaap's Death |
A New York Times article described the case of the much-admired New York sports journalist, Dick Schaap, 67, who died after hip-replacement surgery.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
02-07-2005 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$6.75M Orphan: Hosp Must Pay Girl for Dad's Death |
A lengthy article in the Daily News reported on a Brooklyn jury verdict awarding $6.75 million to the children of Richard McNeil, who died due to severe medical negligence.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
01-04-2004 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The Plaintff's HOT LIST |
A National Law Journal article featured Kramer Dillof as one of the “Twenty-Five go-to teams for when the going gets tough.”
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
21-07-2003 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$16M Jury Award to Dancer |
A Daily News article reported on a $16.3 million Bronx medical-malpractice award to Kevin Smith, 42, a breakdancing pioneer who had suffered “crippling injuries.”
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
04-03-2003 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$10M to Mom of Drowned Boy |
Thomas Moore, according to a Daily News report, won $10 million for the mother of a Bronx teenager, Daniel Maracallo, who had drowned eight years earlier at a water park in Pennsylvania while on a class trip with 137 students.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
28-06-2002 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Disabled Girl Gets 56M Award |
Thirteen-year-old Beth Meyers’ “doctors failed miserably,” said her attorney, Thomas Moore, a Daily News article reported, and a Manhattan jury awarded the girl $56 million ($45 million for future pain and suffering, $5 million for past pain and suffering, and $6 million for medical care).
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
20-02-2002 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$56 Million For Girl Left Brain-Damaged |
A two-page article in the Staten Island Advance reported on the case of Beth Meyers, awarded $56 million when doctors failed to diagnose an infection that left her with permanent brain damage.
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| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
20-02-2002 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
#9 on the list of Top Ten Jury Verdicts of 2001: Med Mal Lawyer Breaks Personal Record with $107 Mil |
This article shines a spotlight on the ninth highest jury verdict of 2001 in the country—$107 million awarded by a Bronx jury.
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| Publication |
Lawyer's Weekly USA |
| Date |
07-01-2002 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Gives Baby's Kin 23M in Suit |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $23.3 million to Jermaine Eccleston’s family due to “poor care” at a Brooklyn hospital.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
01-08-2001 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Awards Bronx Boy $107.8M: Hospital's 'Litany of Errors' Led to Brain Damage |
A Bronx, New York medical-malpractice jury, a New York Newsday article reported, awarded a 10-year-old South Bronx boy, Augustine Ballinas, $107.8 million for “irreversible brain damage” he suffered at birth.
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| Publication |
New York Newsday |
| Date |
16-05-2001 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Family Wins 32M for Hosp Birth Trauma |
A Manhattan jury awarded the Greenhill family $32 million for injuries suffered by Alexander Greenhill, six years old at the time of the trial.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
26-07-2000 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hospital Hit for $32M in Bungled-Birth Case |
A Manhattan jury awarded the Greenhill family $32.2 million for “botching the birth” of their baby, Alexander.
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| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
26-07-2000 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Brooklyn Jury Awards Brain-Damaged Child $13M |
Wrong diagnosis and negligent care led a Brooklyn jury to award $13 million to Tsufit Feig, the mother of Efrat, a girl with permanent brain damage.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
22-05-2000 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$12 Million Awarded for Island Boy's Birth Defect |
A Brooklyn jury awarded a 10-year-old boy $12.2 million for “a tragedy of errors” that caused brain damage and cerebral palsy because doctors failed to diagnose a uterine infection in his mother.
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| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
08-02-2000 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The Best Med-Mal Lawyer in the Nation? |
In this lengthy feature article, Tom Moore was described as “a man on a crusade, fueled not by money or fame but by an unwavering conviction that his clients have been wronged and that he’s the only one who can help them.”
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| Publication |
Lawyers USA Magazine |
| Date |
07-02-2000 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Awards $79 Million in Suit Over Injury to Child's Brain |
In one of the largest judgments against a New York City hospital, the Times reported, a Manhattan jury awarded $79 million to the family of 13-year-old Samuel Desiderio.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
24-11-1999 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Brain-Damaged Boy Wins $79M Award from Hosp |
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1D91E3CF937A15752C1A96F958260
Tom
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| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
24-11-1999 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Faults Hospital Over Delivery Delay, Awards $7M |
On June 30, 1999, a Bronx jury awarded Ana Millan’s son, Joel, $7.44 million because of a hospital’s negligence.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
02-08-1999 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
High Dudgeon Stalking Huge Judgments |
This insightful profile of Thomas Moore showcased his passion, dedication and resounding successes in the field of medical malpractice.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
18-06-1999 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hospital Unit Found Liable in Birth Injury |
A “botched delivery” resulted in a jury verdict of $76.4 million to a 12-year-old girl with severe brain damage.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
15-06-1999 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Parents Awarded $53M |
“In a verdict that made borough history,” began the Staten Island Advance article, “a Staten Island civil jury awarded more than $53 million to a couple whose son, Evan Giventer, suffered severe brain damage at birth 13 years ago.”
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| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
24-04-1999 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
City Hospitals Agency Settles Suit Over Botched Blood Transfusion |
The family of Ira Medjuck, aged 30 at the time of his death, received a settlement totaling $3.875 million because a hospital made a fatal mistake and gave him the wrong type of blood.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
26-02-1999 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Woman Wins Her Way into Elite Lawyers' Club |
Judith Livingston was profiled in this article, which describes her as “now one of the most successful female personal injury lawyers in the country.”
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| Publication |
Reuters Reporter |
| Date |
01-01-1999 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
King of the Court |
For Thomas Moore, “It’s better than a Christmas bonus,” wrote Neal Travis in his New York Post column.
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| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
22-12-1998 |
| Case |
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| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Every Time, He Ambushes the Opponents |
This full-page article, a profile of Thomas Moore, tried to get at the heart of what makes Mr. Moore so successful.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
23-11-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Bx. Teen Awarded $29M in Hosp Suit |
A Bronx jury awarded Charles Frye, age 15, $29 million after suffering oxygen deprivation at birth that left him with permanent brain damage.
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| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
10-11-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hospital is Ruled Liable for Girl's Birth Injuries |
A Queens jury awarded a Manhattan appellate judge and his wife $49 million for “the botched birth of their daughter,” the couple was quoted in the Times article.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
08-10-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
N.Y. Hospital to Pay $43M After Botching Delivery |
A Brooklyn jury awarded the mother of Naquan Santiago, a 10-year-old who has had cerebral palsy since birth, $43.94 million.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
13-07-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
A Brain-Damaged Boy is Awarded $44 Million |
The New York Times article began: “A jury has awarded $43.9 million to a 10-year-old Brooklyn boy whose brain was damaged at birth, a condition his lawyers argued was made worse by the mistakes of a hospital staff.”
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
16-06-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Reporter Signs Up for Moore Action |
A New York Times reporter, Neil MacFarquhar, turned to Thomas Moore to be his attorney for a personal-injury claim.
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| Publication |
New York Magazine |
| Date |
04-05-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Cerebral Palsy Girl, 12, Wins $45M Malpractice Verdict |
A Brooklyn jury awarded a $45 million verdict to Alexia Asteratakis, a 12-year-old girl born with severe injuries due to a series of medical mistakes.
|
| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
28-04-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Award of $44.9 Million in Brain Damage Case |
The New York Times reported: “A Brooklyn jury awarded $44.9 million yesterday to the family of a girl who suffered brain damage after doctors gave her mother too much anesthesia during childbirth.”
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
28-04-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
Judith Livingston, Partner at New York's Kramer, Dillof, Tessel, Duffy & Moore |
“Colleagues believe Ms. Livingston just may be the most successful female plaintiffs’ attorney in the United States,” began this profile of Judith Livingston in the National Law Journal.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
30-03-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
$61.5 Million Award to Boy Injured at Birth |
A Bronx jury awarded $61.5 million to nine-year-old Brian Stevenson, who was born with severe cerebral palsy.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
24-03-1998 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence |
| Read More |
| Title |
$18M Awarded to Family of Accident-Slay Cop |
A Brooklyn jury awarded the widow of a police officer $17.95 million for violation of a police procedure.
|
| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
18-11-1997 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Woman Wins 16M Hosp Suit |
A Brooklyn jury awarded an ice-skating teacher $16 million after she suffered severe and permanent brain damage due to negligent hospital care after a car accident.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
18-07-1997 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hospital Liable for Failure to Spot Risks in Pregnancy |
A Manhattan jury awarded $23 million to 12-year-old Judy Martelly, a girl born with severe brain damage due to medical malpractice.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
30-06-1997 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Awards $23 Million to Child Hurt at Birth |
A 12-year-old girl was awarded $23 million by a Manhattan jury for injuries she sustained at birth that left her with mental retardation.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
04-06-1997 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Bronx Jury Finds Hospital is Liable in Baby Case |
A Bronx jury awarded $9.45 million to Iraida Rosa Soto, eight years old at the time of the article.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
11-03-1997 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
C-Section Delay Leads to $12.8 Million Award |
A Manhattan jury awarded Louis Acevedo $12.8 million for his severe mental retardation caused by doctors’ errors during his birth.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
02-12-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hospital, Doctor Must Pay For Obstetric Malpractice |
A Queens jury has awarded a mother and her disabled son $23.5 million for the severe injuries suffered by the boy during his birth.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
04-11-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Boy, Injured at Birth, Wins Hospital Suit |
The Times article began: “A jury has awarded more than $23 million to an 8-year-old Queens boy who was severely brain damaged at birth because of a hospital’s negligence.
|
| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
03-10-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hospital, Doctor Pay for Overlooking Infection |
A Brooklyn jury has awarded Shivonne McDonald $35.6 million for injuries she suffered at birth.
|
| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
02-09-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Doctor, Hospital Liable for Delay in Diagnosing Hip |
$7.3 million was awarded by a Brooklyn jury to a girl who suffered permanent injuries due to a misdiagnosis at birth.
|
| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
05-08-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Doc Pays, Hospital Fights in Suit on Infant's Delivery |
An Orange County, New York jury awarded $6.4 million to Edwin Palmer, who was born with a seizure disorder and has a severe learning disability.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
24-06-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Boy is Awarded $30.6 Million for Negligence |
|
| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
22-05-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Rules Against Hospital for Negligent Care of Baby |
A Brooklyn jury has awarded Jermaine Eccleston $23.3 million for the brain damage and paralysis he suffers because of a doctor’s negligence.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
23-03-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Notable Verdict, Medical Malpractice Case |
An eight-year-old boy, Geor Munoz, was awarded $6.2 million for severe brain damage blamed on a city hospital resident’s failure to perform an emergency Cesarean section,
|
| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
18-03-1996 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Brain-Damaged Woman Gets $5M For Docs' Snafu |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $5 million to a woman left brain-damaged by “bungling doctors,” stated the New York Post article, who “sapped her personality.”
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| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
13-10-1995 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$21M to Girl Who Never Got to See Mother |
After a three-week-long trial, a Brooklyn jury awarded $21 million to a six-year-old girl, Tasia Roberts, whose mother, Dorothy Roberts, “drowned in her own blood nine hours after she delivered the girl.”
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
15-07-1995 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Teen Wins $42M HHC Suit |
A 17-year-old young woman, Jasmine Matos, left “brain-damaged, deaf, speech-impaired and learning-disabled,” according to the New York Post article, got a $42 million verdict from a Bronx jury because her birth was “botched by residents.”
|
| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
25-05-1995 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Lincoln Hospital Severely Injured Baby in Delivery, a Jury Finds |
A Bronx jury awarded a 17-year-old young woman $42 million after “inexperienced doctors botched the delivery…. causing deafness and lifelong brain damage,” according to the Times article.
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| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
25-05-1995 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Heavy Hitters |
In this lengthy profile of Thomas Moore in the American Lawyer, many of Mr. Moore’s high-profile cases are discussed, as well as his extraordinary dedication to hard work and his keen sense of morality.
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| Publication |
The American Lawyer Magazine |
| Date |
01-03-1995 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Teen Awarded $1.5M After 15-Year Wait |
A Brooklyn jury awarded Steven Jackson, age 17, $1.5 million for a medical misdiagnosis that resulted in a lifelong handicap.
|
| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
22-02-1994 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Gets 18M for Hosp Mistakes |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $18 million to Ivan Ward, a 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy “caused by medical personnel who botched his delivery then covered up their mistakes.”
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
31-12-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Notable Verdicts: Medical Malpractice |
A Kentucky jury awarded $2.75 million to William Strothman, age 45, who, while undergoing treatment for high blood pressure, had an aneurysm.
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| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
27-12-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Premature Baby Gets $72.65 Million |
A series of medical errors led to Jonathan Washington’s injuries at birth, and a Bronx jury awarded him $6.5 million for past pain and suffering, $8.3 million for future pain and suffering, and $57.85 million for special damages, totaling $72.65 million.
|
| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
15-11-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Hands $3.9M to Kin of Mom Who Died in Hosp |
After only two hours of deliberations, a Brooklyn jury awarded the family of Gloria Garcia $3.9 million after she died from “massive brain damage,” according to the Post article, “just days… after being treated by a medical student and undergoing an unnecessary hysterectomy.”
|
| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
11-11-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
23 Yrs. Later, 9 Mil Redress |
John O’Donnell Jr., age 23, was awarded $9.5 million for head injuries he suffered at birth.
|
| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
22-07-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hosp Loses Suit: To Pay 1.5M in Cardiac Death |
Michelle Facilla’s daughter, Renee, was awarded $1.5 million by a Queens jury for her mother’s wrongful death.
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| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
09-03-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
1992's Largest Verdicts |
A Manhattan jury awarded $15 million to Sean Andrialis for his injuries at birth due to malpractice.
|
| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
25-01-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
1992's Largest Verdicts |
A Manhattan jury awarded Ann Estrada $12.7 million for damages she received at birth.
|
| Publication |
The National Law Journal |
| Date |
25-01-1993 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
$16M Awarded Family of Woman Who Died in Childbirth |
The husband and four children of Lorraine Giampino, who died in childbirth, were awarded $16 million by a White Plains jury.
|
| Publication |
The Reporter Dispatch |
| Date |
24-12-1992 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
The Lady Is a Champ |
This full-page profile of Judith Livingston began: “In political contests across the country 1992 was hailed as the year of the woman.
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| Publication |
New York Magazine |
| Date |
01-01-1992 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Girl Injured at Birth Given $7.7 Million |
A Bronx jury awarded a brain-damaged 12-year-old girl, Charmaine Frith, and her mother, Chelsea Frith, $7.7 million.
|
| Publication |
The New York Times |
| Date |
31-12-1991 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
15 Mil for Tough Teen: 17-Year-Old Crippled at Birth Wins Suit |
A Bronx jury awarded 17-year-old Carmelo Cruz $15 million “in damages for malpractice that crippled him at birth,” according to the Daily News article.
|
| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
05-11-1991 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
B'klyn Brothers Awarded $4.4M in Mother's Death |
Four Brooklyn brothers were awarded $4.4 million when their mother bled to death in childbirth, stated the New York Newsday article.
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| Publication |
New York Newsday |
| Date |
11-05-1991 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Hosp Must Pay $8M for Malpractice |
An 11-year-old girl was awarded $8 million by a Brooklyn jury for “severe brain damage after her condition was misdiagnosed.”
|
| Publication |
New York Post |
| Date |
15-11-1990 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Malpractice: Behind a $26-Million Award to a Boy Injured in Surgery |
A Manhattan jury awarded 16-year-old Stephen Melis $26 million, the country’s second largest malpractice verdict in 1989 and one of the largest verdicts in New York’s history.
|
| Publication |
New York Magazine |
| Date |
01-10-1990 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Jury Awards $7.26M in Malpractice Case |
A record-setting Staten Island verdict—$7.26 million—was awarded “to the father of a now 13-year-old boy who was born prematurely with brain damage and is now a spastic quadriplegic and blind.”
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| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
02-06-1990 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
803G Given to Widow in MDs' Error |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $803,000 to Rose Marie Corrales, whose husband, William Corrales, died “after doctors four times mis-diagnosed a heart problem as an upset stomach and then altered medical records.”
|
| Publication |
Daily News |
| Date |
27-12-1989 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Couple Gets 950G in Malpractice Suit |
A Manhattan man and his wife, Alphonse and Josephine Gentile, were awarded $950,000 for his permanent facial paralysis due to malpractice.
|
| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
02-11-1989 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s) |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
| Title |
Man Awarded $3 Million |
A Manhattan man, Marvin Charney, and his wife, Marie, were awarded $3,088,500 for a work-related accident in which he suffered a herniated disk that had to be removed.
|
| Publication |
Staten Island Advance |
| Date |
30-06-1984 |
| Case |
|
| Attorney(s) |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s) |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Read More |
|
| Family of man who died after New York Hospital Queens delayed operation receives $7.6 million |
|
| Date: |
04-01-2012 |
|
| Publication: |
Daily News |
|
| Author: |
Clare Trapasso |
|
| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
The family of a 60-year-old Korean immigrant, Nam Lee, was awarded $7.6 million by a Queens jury for his wrongful death. Judith Livingston represented Mr. Lee’s family during the two-month-long trial that ended two days before Christmas.
Mr. Lee went to the hospital for gallstones, and surgery was scheduled for the following day. His name, however, was not added to the surgical schedule for that day or for the day after. “By the time the hospital was ready to operate, Nam Lee was too sick,” Ms. Livingston was quoted in the Daily News article. Mr. Lee died on his fourth day in the hospital. “Nobody in the United States of America should die of a gallstone when they get to the hospital in plenty of time,” Ms. Livingston added.
Mr. Lee’s daughter, Jae Yon, has epilepsy and requires full-time care. Her father had been her caregiver, and when he died she had to be institutionalized. The verdict will allow the family to bring Jae Yon home and care for her there. |
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Additional Information
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Back to Top |
| |
| The 500 Leading Lawyers in America |
|
| Date: |
13-09-2011 |
|
| Publication: |
Law Dragon |
|
| Author: |
|
|
| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
|
| Summary: |
| Law Dragon recently named Ms. Livingston a “legal legend,” acknowledging her prowess in medical malpractice and personal-injury cases. The publication highlighted the 500 Leading Lawyers in America and recognized Ms. Livingston as “one of the most sought-after and effective plaintiff-side trial lawyers.” |
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Additional Information
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Back to Top |
| |
| The 500 Leading Lawyers in America |
|
| Date: |
13-09-2011 |
|
| Publication: |
Law Dragon |
|
| Author: |
|
|
| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
|
| Summary: |
| Law Dragon acknowledges that Tom Moore is a “magnificent advocate” on behalf of plaintiffs in negligence and malpractice cases. The publication lists Mr. Moore as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America, including his recent $40 Million verdict for a construction worker severely injured by a Verizon truck. |
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Additional Information
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Back to Top |
| |
| Suit nets disabled man 40M |
|
| Date: |
28-05-2010 |
|
| Publication: |
Daily News |
|
| Author: |
Scott Shifrel |
|
| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
General Negligence |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded a “stunning” $40 million verdict to Matthew Falcone, a 53-year-old construction worker, who was left “severely disabled” after he was “sent flying when a truck traveling 50 miles an hour hit him,” according to a Daily News article. Thomas Moore represented Mr. Falcone during the trial.
Mr. Falcone, after getting hit by the truck, went into a coma, nearly died, and had to spend weeks in the hospital. “His speech is still hard to understand and he remains in a wheelchair,” the article noted. Mr. Moore said, “Matty is totally disabled and destroyed. He has significant brain damage, but a lot of awareness, too. He needs a lot of stimulation; otherwise, he wants to sleep and escape his situation.” Shortly before the verdict and the “huge” award, according to the Daily News, Mr. Moore said that Mr. Falcone’s sister, Doreen Bergamo, had “a poignant exchange” with her brother:
“He said [to his sister], ‘Who are you?’ She said, ‘You don’t know me?’ And he said, ‘Doweeen’ and his whole face lit up. It just told a whole story to the jury about how much his life will change.”
Ms. Bergamo will use the award money to make her house handicap-accessible, and will hire staff to help care for Mr. Falcone. “I’m just very grateful that Matty is finally going to have the kind of care he deserves,” she said.
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Additional Information
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Back to Top |
| |
| $41M Slap at Verizon |
|
| Date: |
28-05-2010 |
|
| Publication: |
New York Post |
|
| Author: |
Lukas I. Alpert |
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| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
General Negligence |
| Summary: |
Matthew Falcone, a 53-year-old construction worker, was awarded $40.8 million after he was “left brain damaged and partially paralyzed after being struck by one of [Verizon’s] trucks,” according to a New York Post article. Mr. Thomas Moore won the award on behalf of Mr. Falcone, who spent weeks in a coma after the incident.
The vehicle, noted the article, “was going 50 mph in a 30-mph zone.” Verizon claimed that Mr. Falcone had “only been hit by the vehicle’s side-view mirror.” But “photos of the truck’s shattered windshield and headlights… indicated the collision was much more severe,” Mr. Moore was quoted saying.
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Additional Information
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Back to Top |
| |
| Boy's Family, Hospital Settle |
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| Date: |
06-02-2010 |
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| Publication: |
The Journal News |
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| Author: |
Gary Stern |
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| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
The family of six-year-old Michael Colombini, who died when he was struck in the head by an oxygen tank while in an MRI chamber, received a $2.9 million settlement from a Westchester County hospital. Matthew Gaier, a partner at Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore, negotiated the settlement, and was quoted in The Journal News saying, “This has been the culmination of many years of pain and anguish” and that the family now felt “a measure of justice.”
In July 2001, Michael, who had just completed kindergarten, had gone to the hospital for a follow-up visit after the successful removal of a benign brain tumor. He was inside an MRI machine, sedated, when hospital workers noticed a problem with the piped-in oxygen to the room. An oxygen canister was brought in, and the MRI’s “powerful magnets sent the metal tank flying,” said the article, “hitting the boy in the head. He died two days later.” The “horrifying death… drew intense national attention.”
“It’s fair to say the family is glad to finally have some closure, not that it will ever bring back their boy,” Mr. Gaier said.
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| |
| 2010 Lawyers of the Year |
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| Date: |
21-12-2009 |
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| Publication: |
New York Magazine |
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| Author: |
|
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| Case: |
|
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
|
| Summary: |
| Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore received several prominent mentions in the “2010 Lawyers of the Year” listings printed in New York Magazine. The listings are taken from “The Best Lawyers in America,” an annual referral guide to attorneys based on peer evaluation—with votes for the 2010 edition having been cast by 2.8 million other lawyers. Thomas Moore was hailed as the “Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year” in New York City, and the write-up also praised the work of Judith Livingston: “Mr. Moore and Ms. Livingston have each routinely been selected as one of the best plaintiff lawyers in the country by New York magazine and Law Dragon.” |
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Back to Top |
| |
| Jury Finds Doctors Liable in Death |
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| Date: |
10-12-2009 |
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| Publication: |
The Buffalo News |
|
| Author: |
Matt Gryta |
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| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A jury in Buffalo, New York awarded $2.2 million to the family of Leah Jones-Kreinheder, who “died of a seizure linked to her mishandled birth,” court officials were quoted saying in The Buffalo News. Judith Livingston represented the family during the trial, which lasted three-and-a-half weeks with two days of deliberations.
When Leah’s mother, Jacqueline Kreinheder, was in labor, there were problems with Leah’s heart rate. Instead of ordering an immediate Cesarean delivery, doctors allowed labor to continue. “Then,” the article said, “the baby became stuck during the delivery and for almost five minutes was deprived of oxygen; as a result, she suffered brain damage and head trauma, multiple bruises on her head and arms and was blue at birth.” Leah had seizures as a newborn and had to spend her first month in a hospital. “Because of the mishandled delivery, the girl developed cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder,” the article said. Leah suffered a seizure and died when she was seven-and-a-half years old.
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| |
| Hypoxia Blamed on Pursuit of Phantom Cancer |
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| Date: |
30-03-2009 |
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| Publication: |
New York Law Journal |
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| Author: |
|
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| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A Westchester, New York medical-malpractice case ended with a $7 million verdict in favor of the family of 33-year-old Theresa Capwell, the New York Law Journal reported. Judith Livingston represented the family.
In August 2000, Ms. Capwell, a homemaker, went to a hospital with searing stomach pains. A doctor told her she might have an inflamed pancreas (pancreatitis) or fluid in the peritoneal cavity, which can cause bloating. The correct diagnosis of pancreatitis was discovered but was never treated. Over the next month, Ms. Capwell’s symptoms worsened. On a return trip to the hospital in September, she was admitted, and was told by other doctors that she might have ovarian cancer that may have spread to her liver and lungs.
On September 23, 2000, Ms. Capwell’s lung collapsed. She went into respiratory distress and had to be hooked up to a ventilator. She then went into cardiorespiratory arrest; her brain lost oxygen; she fell into a vegetative state. On September 10, 2001, nearly a year after she was admitted, she died.
Judith Livingston argued that Ms. Capwell’s pancreatitis got worse as her doctors chased the false diagnosis of ovarian cancer. A simple blood test done during Ms. Capwell’s treatment showed that her blood did not contain abnormal amounts of a certain protein that typically shows up in patients with ovarian cancer. Careful analysis of this blood test should have led doctors away from a cancer diagnosis.
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| |
| New York Super Lawyers |
|
| Date: |
01-01-2009 |
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| Publication: |
New York Super Lawyers Metro Edition |
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| Author: |
|
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| Case: |
|
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
|
| Summary: |
Included in “The top 10” out of 100:
Moore, Thomas A., Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore, New York
Included in “the top 50 women”:
Livingston, Judith A., Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore, New York
http://www.superlawyers.com/new-york-metro/lawyer/Judith-A-Livingston/15b82938-2561-41d7-ad84-a2602768f3bb.html
http://www.superlawyers.com/new-york-metro/lawyer/Thomas-A-Moore/7fd211b5-2285-4017-97c5-f6c37815c0c1.html
http://www.superlawyers.com/new-york-metro/lawfirm/Kramer-Dillof-Livingston-and-Moore/2109db65-26f8-4e2a-9b00-6c81d378ab77.html
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| Jury Awards Family $7M in Ma's Malpractice Death |
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| Date: |
18-12-2008 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
|
| Author: |
Sondra Wolfer |
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| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A jury awarded the family of Theresa Capwell $7 million in a Westchester, New York medical-malpractice case. Ms. Capwell died at age 34 of pancreatitis (an inflamed pancreas) because her doctors incorrectly believed she had ovarian cancer. Judith Livingston tried the case, which lasted three-and-a-half weeks. Ms. Livingston commented in the Daily News article: “They were looking for cancer that she didn’t have. Every test showed no presence of the disease, yet they continued testing her for cancer.”
During treatment, Ms. Capwell was hooked up to a ventilator. Ms. Livingston explained that the machine caused “a buildup of air around her lungs, impeding her lungs from normal expansion and contraction, and thus preventing oxygen intake.” A chest tube would have helped; it was suggested by several doctors but never inserted. Ms. Capwell then suffered cardiac arrest and was deprived of oxygen for at least 12 minutes. Ms. Livingston said this left Ms. Capwell “severely brain damaged and completely incapacitated.” Ms. Capwell had to go into a nursing home, where she died on September 10, 200l.
Ms. Capwell’s three daughters got $1 million each, and $4 million went to her husband, totaling $7 million.
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Additional Information
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Back to Top |
| |
| Fire and Oxygen: Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston |
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| Date: |
02-09-2008 |
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| Publication: |
Super Lawyers Magazine |
|
| Author: |
Keith Hahn |
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| Case: |
|
|
| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
|
| Summary: |
A Super Lawyers Magazine article in September 2008 profiled Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston, presenting them as “one of the most successful couples in legal history at helping victims of medical malpractice.” After decades of marriage, the magazine reported, they remain as dedicated to each other as they are to their work, at the law firm Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore.
The article featured detailed summaries of several cases that led to verdicts of $26 million, $29 million, and $14 million. Even more noteworthy, the article continued, many of Moore’s and Livingston’s cases have led directly to medical reforms.
In a case that ended in a multi-million-dollar settlement, the clients, a couple with a brain-damaged son, marveled at how Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston “learned everything about” their son, addressing his “physical, emotional and educational needs, the technology and support he would require and most important, the possibilities of where [he] could go in life rather than what his disabilities prevented him from doing.”
The Super Lawyers article noted that Tom Moore is a gifted speaker: “Once Moore gets going about a client… it’s difficult not to pay rapt attention.” Mr. Moore told the reporter: “We have been singularly privileged to represent people in an area where they are almost useless to help themselves. We have been given this grace, to be able to stand in and speak for people who can’t do anything for themselves, and to give a measure of quality of life and dignity to what they once were, what they’ve lost and now what they can re-achieve in a different way.”
Tom Moore was born in Ireland and earned his degree in sacred theology from Catholic University, before deciding to pursue the law instead of the priesthood. He went to Fordham Law School, and first worked for an insurance company before switching “to the other side of the courtroom.”
Judith Livingston grew up in Long Island, graduating from the State University New York at Stony Brook and Hofstra Law School. “A lot of women don’t like the combat,” Ms. Livingston said when asked about trial work. But her father, Tom Moore noted, “raised her as a guy.”
When on trial, Tom Moore, who has, as the article pointed out, “tried more med-mal cases than anyone,” only sleeps a few hours a night and he runs five miles a day. Judith Livingston has “a near-perfect record in her cases.” One of their clients summed it up: “Tom is the fire and Judy is the oxygen.”
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| $19.6M Awarded Couple After Baby Brain-Damage at Birth |
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| Date: |
02-07-2008 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Samuel Maull, The Associated Press |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
Thomas Moore, representing the Maing family in a Queens, New York medical-malpractice case, won a $19.6 million verdict for Eun Sook Maing, a jewelry designer, and her husband, Soo Maing, who works for the post office. Their baby, Daniel Maing, was born with cerebral palsy, and Eun Maing was, as the Staten Island Advance article noted, “mutilated” during the baby’s delivery.
During the three-week-long trial, Mr. Moore showed that the doctor who delivered Daniel, on October 16, 1998, “yanked at his head with forceps for 23 minutes.” The forceps, which clasped around Daniel’s head, cut off oxygen to his brain. After Daniel was forcibly pulled from his mother’s womb, he needed “emergency resuscitation” right away. Further damage was inflicted by the anesthesiologist, who was supposed to place a breathing tube into Daniel’s windpipe, but instead placed the breathing tube into the esophagus. This brought oxygen straight into the baby’s stomach instead of into his lungs. The doctor severely injured the mother, by tearing her vaginal area all the way to her rectum. After one day of deliberations, the jury awarded Mrs. Maing $12 million and $7.6 million to Daniel.
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| The New York Area's Best Lawyers: The Definitive Guide to Legal Representation in NY |
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| Date: |
01-01-2008 |
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| Publication: |
New York Magazine |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
A full page in New York Magazine’s annual listing of best lawyers celebrated the “extraordinary success” of husband-and-wife team Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston, of Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore.
As of 2008, Tom Moore and Judith Livingston had won verdicts totaling more than $1 billion, including 100 verdicts over $1 million. They had also negotiated hundreds of settlements worth many millions of dollars. Among these verdicts was New York State’s largest money judgment to date—$28.9 million—for a single personal-injury client.
For Tom Moore and Judith Livingston, the magazine reported, the work is deeply personal. They do not simply take on a case. Instead they strive to fully understand their clients, learn everything they can about them, and then do everything they can to help them. They know a trial is a “life-altering” event.
Ms. Livingston explained: “The people who we represent have suffered greatly. A lawsuit can be the only way to help them turn a corner and gain the resources needed to begin to rebuild their lives. We take pride in knowing how many people we have helped in that manner.” Tom Moore added, “We feel privileged to be able to do this work. When we take clients on, it’s a life and death situation for them. It is a time when hope is in danger of dying. And we make sure that hope and belief stay alive.”
The New York Magazine article singled out the firm’s “extraordinary determination” and their devotion to cases involving “injured or disabled children and adults,” as well as “survivors of persons killed due to negligence or malpractice.”
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| The New York Area's Best Lawyers |
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| Date: |
01-01-2007 |
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| Publication: |
American Lawyer Magazine |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
A full page in American Lawyer Magazine’s annual listing of best lawyers showcased Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore as a law firm that has “exclusively represented plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death actions stemming from medical malpractice, general negligence, and labor law violations.”
Judith Livingston said they take their responsibility completely to heart. “A lawsuit can be the only way to bring dignity back to lives that have been shattered,” she said. “The people we represent have suffered greatly. They deserve our compassion and need a lawyer who will fight tirelessly for them. We take pride in doing that.” Her husband, Tom Moore, agreed, adding, “We feel privileged to do this work. When we take clients on, it’s a life and death situation for them. What’s died is their hope for quality of life, and we get that back.”
The American Lawyer article highlighted how “extraordinarily successful” the firm has been, with verdicts, as of 2007, totaling over $1 billion. Judith Livingston and Tom Moore had tried over 100 cases with verdicts of $1 million or more, and the firm had received settlements totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Judith Livingston and Tom Moore are both members of the highly prestigious Inner Circle of Advocates (membership limited to 100 at any time), and are also Fellows of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Their success, the article said, “can be traced to preparation, selectivity, and dedication to clients, as well as a profound and intimate knowledge of the law.” As a result, the nine-attorney firm can devote “all of its resources to each client—bringing a unique level of individualized attention and focus to every person they represent.”
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| She'll Get $8.5M in Med Mess |
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| Date: |
20-06-2006 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Helen Peterson |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
Thomas Moore tried the case of a woman, Karine Aquilino, who “was nearly comatose for a year after a botched brain operation,” stated the Daily News article. The Manhattan jury deliberated for two days after a three-week trial, and awarded Ms. Aquilino $8.5 million.
“This was a bright, energetic, wonderful young woman,” said Tom Moore. Ms. Aquilino, a postal employee who can no longer work, has been left with permanent injuries; she has “trouble walking, talking and doing simple household chores, like making a sandwich, because she has limited use of her left arm and hand.” She also has “short-term memory loss, has trouble processing information, and is easily confused.”
When Ms. Aquilino, now 37, entered the hospital in 2000, she was suffering from hydrocephalus (water on the brain). During surgery, a shunt was inserted to drain the fluid. Tom Moore said an “incorrect pressure setting led to bleeding on Aquilino’s brain.” Mr. Moore noted that “the hospital and a neurosurgeon… should have monitored Aquilino closely after the surgery, such as ordering brain scans that would have detected the bleeding.” Ms. Aquilino’s husband, also a postal worker, had to work an extra job to cover her medical expenses. The verdict will allow the couple to hire a health aide for her. “The jury verdict won’t make her normal again, but it will provide some normalcy to her life,” Mr. Moore said.
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| Jury Awards Family $1.95 Million in Dick Schaap's Death |
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| Date: |
02-07-2005 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Andrew Jacobs |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A New York Times article described the case of the much-admired New York sports journalist, Dick Schaap, 67, who died after hip-replacement surgery. His family was awarded $1.95 million in damages. Thomas Moore represented the family during the three-week-long Manhattan trial. Jury deliberations lasted nine days.
For two years before the surgery, Mr. Schaap had been taking amiodarone—medication for an irregular heartbeat—and this medication had injured his lungs. The doctor treating Mr. Schaap never properly diagnosed or treated this lung damage. After the hip replacement surgery, Mr. Schaap went into respiratory distress and died three months later. He never left the hospital.
An earlier New York Times article, which appeared on June 23, 2005, under the headline “Jury Deliberates Lawsuit Over Death of Dick Schaap” and also written by Andrew Jacobs, mentioned that the surgery, to replace an arthritic hip, was elective. One of the witnesses to testify was the comedian and actor Billy Crystal, a good friend of Mr. Schapp. He spoke of Mr. Schaap’s “generosity and talent.”
The June article described a “chest X-ray taken shortly before the surgery” that clearly “shows his lungs weakened from the prescription medication he had been taking.” Mr. Moore said that “an astute doctor would have spotted trouble in the X-ray, taken Mr. Schaap off amiodarone and postponed the surgery.” Another doctor incorrectly thought Mr. Schaap suffered from “fat embolism syndrome.”
“Dick Schaap was failed by the best,” Tom Moore said.
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| $6.75M Orphan: Hosp Must Pay Girl for Dad's Death |
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| Date: |
01-04-2004 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Denise Buffa |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A lengthy article in the Daily News reported on a Brooklyn jury verdict awarding $6.75 million to the children of Richard McNeil, who died due to severe medical negligence. Judith Livingston tried the case, which lasted two weeks with one day of deliberations.
Richard McNeil, a building superintendent and manager of an exotic fish-import firm, was 45 in April 1999. “He went to the hospital at 11:30 A.M., because he was feeling a popping sensation and a constant, sharp pain in his abdomen,” Ms. Livingston said. Doctors took an X-ray at 1:30 P.M., “which indicated an aneurysm in the aorta, a major artery, which had a slight tear in its wall,” Ms. Livingston said. At 2:30 P.M. Mr. McNeil had a CAT scan, which verified the condition. The hospital did not have the right equipment to perform emergency surgery on the artery. Mr. McNeil had to be sent to another hospital immediately.
“It was a race against time,” Ms. Livingston said. “Because once the aorta tore, it was in danger of bursting. Once the aorta bursts, a person loses all of their blood in 60 seconds.” Even when the hospital knew “it was an emergency,” Ms. Livingston said, “they acted as though they had all the time in the world when, in reality, every second counted.” The hospital waited 12 hours before sending Mr. McNeil to another hospital, where a team of doctors was waiting for him. He died “as he was being wheeled in” to the other hospital, Ms. Livingston said.
“Richard was very family-oriented,” Ms. Livingston said. “He had a flexible work schedule that allowed him to spend a great deal of time with Raven”—his daughter, five at the time of his death, whose favorite meal was her father’s homemade sauce made from a secret recipe. “It won’t bring back his famous spaghetti dinners, and he will never be around to help with homework, but this jury’s verdict will take care of Raven’s needs throughout her life.”
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| The Plaintff's HOT LIST |
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| Date: |
21-07-2003 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
A National Law Journal article featured Kramer Dillof as one of the “Twenty-Five go-to teams for when the going gets tough.”
“The husband-and-wife team of Tom Moore and Judy Livingston lead the 12-lawyer New York firm Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore,” the article began, which went on to praise the two attorneys for winning “more than 100 verdicts in excess of $1 million.”
In three highlighted cases:
• Tom Moore won $56 million from a New York jury in 2002 for “a girl stricken with cerebral palsy as a result of an infection that set in after a procedure to install a shunt to drain fluid from her brain.” The doctors failed to see that she had developed an infection.
• In 2002 a Brooklyn jury awarded $6.75 million to a girl whose father died after “waiting more than 12 hours for emergency cardiac care.” The ruptured aorta he had suffered killed him on his way to surgery. Judy Livingston “argued that the hospital staff wasted precious time in arranging the man’s transfer to another facility.”
• A Bronx jury in 2001 awarded $107.8 million “to a child whose brain was ravaged by untreated meningitis.” Hospital staff “ignored clear signs of the disease, allowing the child to lie untreated in the hospital nursery for three days after birth.”
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| $16M Jury Award to Dancer |
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| Date: |
04-03-2003 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Jose Martinez |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Daily News article reported on a $16.3 million Bronx medical-malpractice award to Kevin Smith, 42, a breakdancing pioneer who had suffered “crippling injuries.” Thomas Moore represented Mr. Smith during the two-week trial.
“It’s a tragedy in itself,” Mr. Moore said. “But the greater tragedy is that it was entirely avoidable.” Mr. Smith had been hospitalized for two months before suffering a stroke in 1998. The doctors at the hospital misdiagnosed a heart condition that led to the stroke, Mr. Moore said. Mr. Smith and his twin brother, Keith, were breakdancing celebrities in the South Bronx in the early 1980s. They helped make breakdancing a nationwide phenomenon. “The stroke left Smith a shadow of his former self,” Mr. Moore said. “He drags his right foot when he walks, struggles to speak, and has a very poor memory. [He and his brother] were local celebrities. Now he’s reduced to this.”
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| $10M to Mom of Drowned Boy |
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| Date: |
28-06-2002 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Chrisena Coleman |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
General Negligence |
| Summary: |
Thomas Moore, according to a Daily News report, won $10 million for the mother of a Bronx teenager, Daniel Maracallo, who had drowned eight years earlier at a water park in Pennsylvania while on a class trip with 137 students. The jury found that both the Board of Education and the water park were grossly negligent. The boy’s mother, Maria, got $6 million for her son’s death, $3 million for emotional distress, and $1 million for the way her son’s body was mishandled, for a total of $10 million. The trial lasted two weeks.
Testimony revealed that while Daniel, 14, was in the wave pool, his classmates tried to tell lifeguards they saw Daniel get “pulled underwater by powerful waves.” But the lifeguards said that Daniel had been rescued. Daniel never showed up for the bus ride home. That was when teachers told the other students the heartbreaking news that “Daniel had been overpowered by waves.” The teachers all left the water park before Daniel’s body was found many hours later, at 1 A.M. the next day. Thomas Moore said that Daniel’s mother “still cries. It is something you never get over.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/06/28/2002-06-28__10m_to_mom_of_drowned_boy.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/18/nyregion/bronx-teen-ager-drowns-leaving-many-questions.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/17/nyregion/report-blames-school-s-staff-in-drowning.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
Tom
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| Disabled Girl Gets 56M Award |
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| Date: |
20-02-2002 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Helen Peterson |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
Thirteen-year-old Beth Meyers’ “doctors failed miserably,” said her attorney, Thomas Moore, a Daily News article reported, and a Manhattan jury awarded the girl $56 million ($45 million for future pain and suffering, $5 million for past pain and suffering, and $6 million for medical care). Beth is now blind, must use a wheelchair, and has severe cerebral palsy. Her mother, Gloria Meyers, said, “[The verdict] won’t reverse Beth’s injuries, but it has given her some dignity.”
Beth was born in 1989, one of triplet girls. She had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain, as did her sister, Alyssa. Crystal, the third sister, did not have the condition. For both Beth and Alyssa, temporary shunts were inserted, to drain the fluid from the brain to the abdomen. Two months later, Beth developed symptoms that included lethargy, moaning, vomiting and diarrhea. Doctors thought she had a milk allergy. But the shunt had punctured her intestines and an E. coli infection then “ravaged” her brain. “Infection is a well-known risk in this type of procedure,” Mr. Moore said, “yet doctors failed miserably to recognize Beth’s obvious symptoms…. The horror of this case is, of course, that you see what Beth could have been because you have these other two sisters,” Mr. Moore said. Alyssa and Crystal are both honor students.
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| $56 Million For Girl Left Brain-Damaged |
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| Date: |
20-02-2002 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Jill Gardiner |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A two-page article in the Staten Island Advance reported on the case of Beth Meyers, awarded $56 million when doctors failed to diagnose an infection that left her with permanent brain damage. Thomas Moore represented the 13-year-old girl. The Manhattan jury’s verdict, after a three-week-long trial and two days of deliberations, was “one of the largest awards to a Staten Island resident.”
Beth (also called Betsy) was born a triplet. Her sister Alyssa is identical to her; sister Crystal is not. Betsy and Alyssa were both born with hydrocephalus, fluid on the brain, and they both had a shunt inserted—“a tubelike device that looks like a cooked piece of spaghetti”—to drain fluid from the brain to the stomach. As the article noted: “Betsy’s shunt nicked her intestine, a relatively common mishap, and E. coli bacteria began leaking into her abdomen.” When the bacteria spread to her brain (the shunt provided “an ideal route” Mr. Moore said), Betsy got ventriculitis and meningitis.
Thomas Moore said Betsy’s symptoms—vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and lethargy—were “glaring and the doctors should have examined the shunt immediately.” Instead, the doctor who inserted the shunt said the symptoms were not serious. Another doctor said the symptoms “stemmed from an intolerance to milk and would pass.”
“You see Alyssa, a student, a high honors student, and then you see her identical twin sister in a wheelchair, and the devastation hits you right between the eyes,” Mr. Moore said. “She has no ability to express herself. She’s like a prisoner in her own body.” Betsy’s mother, Gloria, is a Board of Education teaching assistant. “This doesn’t change what happened to my daughter,” she told the Advance. “But this will allow me to provide her with everything she needs. It’s just good to know that I’ll be able to make my daughter’s life as comfortable as possible.” She will purchase a handicap-accessible vehicle, a ramp, a stair lift, and hire speech and occupational therapists and a 24-hour aide.
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| #9 on the list of Top Ten Jury Verdicts of 2001: Med Mal Lawyer Breaks Personal Record with $107 Mil |
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| Date: |
07-01-2002 |
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| Publication: |
Lawyer's Weekly USA |
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| Author: |
Amy Johnson Conner |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
This article shines a spotlight on the ninth highest jury verdict of 2001 in the country—$107 million awarded by a Bronx jury. This verdict, the third largest medical-malpractice verdict in the state of New York, was won by Thomas Moore on behalf of Agustin Ballinas, who suffered massive injuries due to a medical team’s failure to diagnose meningitis, a brain infection. Agustin, born September 9, 1990, cannot speak, though he can communicate with sounds. He is in a wheelchair and needs full-time, round-the-clock care.
Thomas Moore, whom the Lawyer’s Weekly called a “New York medical malpractice powerhouse… who knows more about medicine than doctors,” has handled many cases of brain-damaged babies at birth, but he approaches each case “with a fresh eye.” The family in this case, Mr. Moore said, is “quintessentially American.” Agustin’s father, Raimundo, came from Mexico and had three jobs, including one as a waiter at the 21 Club. He and his wife, Carmen, had two children before Agustin.
Because this was Mrs. Ballinas’ third child, she knew from experience that something was wrong with Agustin. Her water did not break the way it had with the others. It was “leaking,” she said. She did not have contractions. Agustin was born 51 hours after her water broke. Mr. Moore said that the chance of infection increases dramatically when the water breaks more than 24 hours before the birth. Mrs. Ballinas complained that her baby was behaving oddly, and was not eating the way her other children had. “It was pooh-poohed by the nursing staff,” Mr. Moore said. “They brought Auggie from the well-baby nursery to the well-baby care unit… and still did not do [a spinal] tap and give antibiotics and still did not [investigate] whether anything in the labor or delivery might be a factor.” Days passed before the appropriate tests were done—days during which Agustin suffered seizures and developed a brain infection. Had Agustin been treated earlier, “this baby would have never developed meningitis,” Mr. Moore said.
The trial lasted three weeks and the jury deliberated for six hours. Agustin was awarded $72 million for past pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, $4.7 million for future medical care, equipment and supplies, about $5.4 million for physical and speech therapy, and about $4.1 million for lost earnings.
“I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than getting them a modicum of justice and changing their lives,” Mr. Moore said of his work. “Of course it’s nothing like what I want to do—wave a magic wand and make them perfect children—but getting them at least the money and available resources to get them to be the best they can be.” Mr. Moore is also proud of the fact that the parents now know their children will always be taken care of.
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| Jury Gives Baby's Kin 23M in Suit |
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| Date: |
01-08-2001 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Maureen Fan |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $23.3 million to Jermaine Eccleston’s family due to “poor care” at a Brooklyn hospital. Thomas Moore tried the case, which lasted two weeks. The jury deliberated for two days.
Jermaine’s birth was “premature and complicated,” according to the Daily News article, unlike the births of his three older, healthy siblings, and his mother, Claudette, had gestational diabetes. Doctors also fractured the boy’s shoulder during delivery, Mr. Moore said. “All indications were that this child needed close monitoring,” Mr. Moore said. “[But] Instead of being placed in an intensive-care environment and under the care of an experienced neo-natalogist, this high-risk infant was … examined exclusively by inexperienced trainee physicians.” The lack of care and attention over the next three days resulted in Jermaine developing jaundice and a thickening of the blood, and he went into cardiorespiratory arrest. By the time doctors noticed this, Jermaine’s body was already cold. At the time of the trial, Jermaine was seven years old—a quadriplegic, mute, with extensive brain and nerve damage.
“Obviously, this is totally draining,” Mr. Moore said. “It’s a 24-hour job caring for this child. This award is going to give [Jermaine’s mother] peace of mind. She can rest assured that her child will have the care he deserves.” The money will enable Jermaine to enter a residential home when he is 21.
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| Jury Awards Bronx Boy $107.8M: Hospital's 'Litany of Errors' Led to Brain Damage |
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| Date: |
16-05-2001 |
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| Publication: |
New York Newsday |
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| Author: |
Pete Bowles |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx, New York medical-malpractice jury, a New York Newsday article reported, awarded a 10-year-old South Bronx boy, Augustine Ballinas, $107.8 million for “irreversible brain damage” he suffered at birth. Thomas Moore argued the case, during a three-week-long trial and one day of deliberations.
The half-page article summed up the “litany of errors” that led to Augustine’s egregious injuries. “Augustine was ravaged by bacterial meningitis soon after his birth,” Mr. Moore said. “His infection wasn’t diagnosed or treated in a timely way.” Augustine’s mother, Carmen, a homemaker, tested positive for group B strep, which can cause bacterial meningitis. But she was not tested in time. “The response was too little, too late,” Mr. Moore said.
Augustine, who needs a wheelchair, has cerebral palsy. His language consists of “making sounds,” and he cannot feed or dress himself, and he will need various therapies for the rest of his life. He lives with three siblings and his parents, who are from Mexico. His father, Raimondo, is a waiter.
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| Family Wins 32M for Hosp Birth Trauma |
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| Date: |
26-07-2000 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Ralph R. Ortega |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded the Greenhill family $32 million for injuries suffered by Alexander Greenhill, six years old at the time of the trial. At a Manhattan hospital, Alexander was “suffocating during labor,” reported the Daily News, which caused brain injuries that left him with severe physical and learning disabilities. Thomas Moore represented the Greenhill family.
Alexander’s mother, Elena, went into early labor at 34 ½ weeks. Mr. Moore said that Alexander was in fetal distress because of oxygen deprivation, but doctors insisted on a natural delivery instead of a Cesarean. Pitocin, a labor-inducing drug, was given to Elena, as well as an epidural, to help ease the pain of childbirth. Both reduce oxygen flow to the fetus, said Mr. Moore. Alexander’s head was too large for a natural delivery, and his head “pounded into his mother’s pelvic bone like a battering ram,” said Mr. Moore. The hospital then tried to cover up the mistakes. According to the article, “Original tapes of Alexander’s delivery were destroyed immediately after the boy’s birth, and written reports of imaging tests did not match the films.”
Alexander’s parents were “relieved” by the verdict. “This has been a long and difficult road for them,” Mr. Moore said.
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| Hospital Hit for $32M in Bungled-Birth Case |
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| Date: |
26-07-2000 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Laura Italiano |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded the Greenhill family $32.2 million for “botching the birth” of their baby, Alexander. “This is for our son,” Jonathan Greenhill, Alexander’s father, said. “He’s a wonderful little boy, and this is important for him. This is for his well being, and for his future.”
Mr. Moore found cover-up activity when it came to Alexander’s records. “We subpoenaed the person in charge of keeping the [fetal monitoring] tapes to testify,” Mr. Moore said. “She testified that she was ordered to have the originals destroyed.” According to the Post article, the hospital also “prepared false summaries of CAT scans and MRIs to make it look as if the boy’s problems did not result from doctor error.”
Alexander now has cerebral palsy and is borderline mentally retarded, and has diminished vision and fine motor skills. He cannot dress or feed himself. His injuries were the direct result of the fact that the doctors failed to treat this risky, premature birth with the care and attention it deserved. During labor, he suffered oxygen deprivation, and the doctors failed to perform an emergency Cesarean on his mother, Elena. Instead the doctors tried to speed up natural delivery by giving her Pitocin, which increases contractions and blocks the baby’s oxygen. An epidural, administered to reduce Elena’s pain, lowered her blood pressure significantly, further cutting off oxygen to the baby. “The doctors, in effect, were suffocating little Alexander,” Mr. Moore said.
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| Brooklyn Jury Awards Brain-Damaged Child $13M |
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| Date: |
22-05-2000 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
Wrong diagnosis and negligent care led a Brooklyn jury to award $13 million to Tsufit Feig, the mother of Efrat, a girl with permanent brain damage. Thomas Moore tried the medical-malpractice case on behalf of Efrat, who was five years old at the time of the trial.
When Efrat was four months old, she developed “a fever, lip sores and balance problems,” according to the National Law Journal article. A doctor diagnosed “an upper respiratory infection”—a cold. A week later, Efrat’s mother called the doctor again, saying that the symptoms had not disappeared. Mr. Moore said that the doctor did not ask to see Efrat and examine her again, and the doctor also did not refer her to a neurologist, as he should have done. Ms. Feig had to call the doctor again. The doctor told her to bring Efrat in but, right after the call, the girl had a seizure and lost consciousness. Efrat went straight to a hospital, but the doctor did not discuss any of the child’s previous symptoms with the hospital’s neurologist. Efrat was diagnosed with herpes encephalitis. This infection caused her permanent brain injuries. During the trial, the article noted, the doctor admitted that by the time the child was brought to the hospital, there was no chance of total recovery.
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| $12 Million Awarded for Island Boy's Birth Defect |
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| Date: |
08-02-2000 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Rochelle Steinhaus |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded a 10-year-old boy $12.2 million for “a tragedy of errors” that caused brain damage and cerebral palsy because doctors failed to diagnose a uterine infection in his mother, reported the Staten Island Advance. Thomas Moore represented the boy, Louis Baldassano, during a trial that lasted three weeks with two days of deliberations.
Louis’s mother, Mary, a former nurse, was in labor for four days. “By leaving me there for 93 hours and not delivering my son, he wound up with brain damage,” Mrs. Baldassano said. “The second that these doctors decided not to deliver Louis, our lives changed forever.”
The article noted that Mrs. Baldassano’s water broke before she went into labor. In this situation, the mother then becomes more susceptible to infection, and the longer the labor continues, the worse the risk. During her 93 hours of labor, Mrs. Baldassano developed an infection in her uterus.
Mr. Moore said doctors should have found the infection, gotten the baby out right away, and Mrs. Baldassano should have been given antibiotics. Also, she was not given a sonogram, which would have given the doctors an accurate idea of the baby’s weight. “Instead, they ‘guesstimated’ the infant to be four pounds,” Mr. Moore said. “They painted a picture—all on conjecture—of a premature, low-weight infant, prompting them to leave the baby in the womb despite the dangers created by the infection. They ignored medical protocol.” Louis, a full-term baby, weighed 7.8 pounds at birth.
Louis will need 24-hour care for the rest of his life. “It’s been a horror,” said his mother. But, after the verdict, she said, “I think this is bittersweet. If I could have my son back the way he would have been, I would have everything. I can’t replace what he would have been like, but we can at least give him whatever he needs.”
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| The Best Med-Mal Lawyer in the Nation? |
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| Date: |
07-02-2000 |
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| Publication: |
Lawyers USA Magazine |
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| Author: |
Elaine McArdle |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
In this lengthy feature article, Tom Moore was described as “a man on a crusade, fueled not by money or fame but by an unwavering conviction that his clients have been wronged and that he’s the only one who can help them.” His “unprecedented success” was highlighted: “In the past two years alone, he’s won eight trials with an average verdict of $54.9 million.”
Tom Moore’s strengths are passion, preparation, and case selection, which lead to a 90% success rate. “But it’s his passion that sets him apart from the pack,” stated the article in Lawyers Weekly. Even opposing lawyers have to concede that Tom Moore’s “willingness to bare his soul in an open courtroom persuades jurors—even those uncomfortable with his intensity—that he must be on the side of right.”
His pace is exceptional, trying four or five cases a year. “Yet,” the article noted, “few people outside the world of medical malpractice know Moore’s name…. He isn’t much interested in blowing his own horn. Those who’ve known him for years say he’s a down-to-earth man unchanged by his wealth, who’s driven by something more powerful than the search for personal gain.” Other colleagues have called him “absolutely trustworthy.” When he gives closing statements, the article said, new lawyers show up to watch—lawyers “who’ve heard that if you want to see a master at work, Moore’s the one to watch.” |
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| Jury Awards $79 Million in Suit Over Injury to Child's Brain |
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| Date: |
24-11-1999 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Jennifer Steinhauer |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
In one of the largest judgments against a New York City hospital, the Times reported, a Manhattan jury awarded $79 million to the family of 13-year-old Samuel Desiderio. Thomas Moore represented the family during the trial, which lasted three weeks with two days of deliberations.
Samuel, who was born with a condition that caused fluid to build up in his brain, had to have a permanent shunt inserted to drain the fluid. Just before his fourth birthday, “There were textbook signs the shunt was failing,” Mr. Moore said, emphasizing the fact that one of Samuel’s pupils was more dilated than the other and he was vomiting. “And they did nothing for him,” Mr. Moore said. By the time action was finally taken to relieve the pressure on Samuel’s brain, the damage had been done, Mr. Moore said. A videotape played in court showed Samuel before the brain damage, as “vibrant, a beautiful child.” Samuel’s parents, Vincent, an artist, and Gale, a psychiatrist, have two other children.
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| Brain-Damaged Boy Wins $79M Award from Hosp |
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| Date: |
24-11-1999 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Dareh Gregorian |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A hospital was found responsible for injuries suffered by 13-year-old Samuel Desiderio, and a Manhattan jury awarded the family $79 million. Thomas Moore represented “Sammy,” as Samuel is called by his father, who said of the huge verdict: “We’re very relieved. Sammy will be cared for for the rest of his life. The jury restored our faith in human nature.”
Sammy had been born with hydrocephalus, also known as “water on the brain,” according to the Post article. The permanent brain shunt that was inserted became clogged before Sammy was four, and a replacement shunt did not work. “By the time he was operated on again, pressure from the fluid had pushed down his brain stem, causing permanent injury,” said the article. “This was not a close case,” Mr. Moore said. “It was open and shut.”
Sammy’s grandparents had videotaped Sammy just before the replacement shunt was inserted. “He was the most wonderful looking kid—jumping around, laughing, speaking sentences,” Mr. Moore said. “The tape gave evidence to the lie.” Now Sammy has seizures, cannot walk by himself, and needs permanent breathing and feeding tubes because of the injury to his gag reflex, and round-the-clock nursing care.
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| Jury Faults Hospital Over Delivery Delay, Awards $7M |
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| Date: |
02-08-1999 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
On June 30, 1999, a Bronx jury awarded Ana Millan’s son, Joel, $7.44 million because of a hospital’s negligence. Judith Livingston represented the family.
Joel was Ms. Millan’s third child. Her previous two children had been born by Cesarean section because she had pre-eclampsia, a condition that brings on excessively high blood pressure. When Ms. Millan arrived at the hospital to give birth, “nobody examined her for several hours,” Ms. Livingston said, and staff “were considering a vaginal delivery.” Eventually Joel was delivered by Cesarean—but the delay in the delivery, Ms. Livinston said, according to the National Law Journal article, caused permanent brain damage and left the child with mild cerebral palsy. Joel has a pronounced limp and he cannot fully use one of his hands.
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| High Dudgeon Stalking Huge Judgments |
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| Date: |
18-06-1999 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Jan Hoffman |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
This insightful profile of Thomas Moore showcased his passion, dedication and resounding successes in the field of medical malpractice. At the time of the article, Mr. Moore had 66 verdicts over $1 million. His methods inspire awe; the fact that he rarely refers to notes makes him a “jury-dazzler.” When on trial, lunch is “five glasses of water and a banana,” which prompted the Times reporter to call him a “lean, mean legal machine.”
Mr. Moore grew up in Waterford, Ireland, the son of a police officer who died when Mr. Moore was seven. He spent eight years studying for the priesthood before going to law school at Fordham University. The writer noted his “searing empathy for the parents of his incapacitated clients.” Mr. Moore has known great sadness—the loss of his younger brother—and also great joy with his three healthy children. “Your sense of what it means for a child to be deprived or held back a step is magnified when you have your own,” Mr. Moore said. “A slight limp? A small learning disability? Intolerable.” As one of his clients put it, Mr. Moore “elevated the process to something more than financial compensation—it feels cathartic.”
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| Hospital Unit Found Liable in Birth Injury |
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| Date: |
15-06-1999 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Robert D. McFadden |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A “botched delivery” resulted in a jury verdict of $76.4 million to a 12-year-old girl with severe brain damage. Thomas Moore represented the girl in “one of the largest malpractice verdicts ever recorded” against the corporation that ran the hospital, according to the Times article. The trial lasted two weeks and deliberations took two hours.
Gaelle Prindilus was born January 16, 1987. During the 17 hours her mother, Yverose, was in labor, Gaelle’s umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around her neck. When Yverose delivered her baby, “no doctor, no nurse, no one” was in the room, Mr. Moore said, and Gaelle was born not breathing. “Given that the infant was already severely compromised for 17 hours, and was strangled by her own umbilical cord and was not breathing, every second was crucial,” Mr. Moore said. “Yet there was no one on hand to administer immediate resuscitation and life-saving measures. This was a classic example of … indifferent and horrendous care.”
Gaelle’s mother, a Haitian immigrant, is a housewife, and her father, Sensois, works as a kitchen helper and janitor to pay Gaelle’s medical bills. There are five other children in the family. Gaelle has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, and needs constant care.
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| Parents Awarded $53M |
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| Date: |
24-04-1999 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Dean Balsamini |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
“In a verdict that made borough history,” began the Staten Island Advance article, “a Staten Island civil jury awarded more than $53 million to a couple whose son, Evan Giventer, suffered severe brain damage at birth 13 years ago.” The couple’s lawyer, Thomas Moore, was referred to as “world-renowned.” The trial lasted three weeks, and at times the jury was in tears.
“A litany of errors,” said Mr. Moore, of Evan’s birth. “This was a horrendous case.” A series of miscommunications and “dilly dallying” by an anesthesiologist caused Mrs. Giventer to wait almost three hours before doctors paid proper attention to her baby, who was suffering oxygen deprivation. “They could have saved this baby,” Mr. Moore said.
“It’s an overwhelming verdict for us,” said Donna Giventer, Evan’s mother, of the landmark verdict. “I’m still in shock. I feel very much vindicated that a lot of obstacles in our life are now behind us. We realize that Evan is always going to be the way Evan is. But now we’ll be able to have the means to make him the most happy in his life."
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| City Hospitals Agency Settles Suit Over Botched Blood Transfusion |
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| Date: |
26-02-1999 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Katherine E. Finkelstein |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
The family of Ira Medjuck, aged 30 at the time of his death, received a settlement totaling $3.875 million because a hospital made a fatal mistake and gave him the wrong type of blood. Judith Livingston represented the family.
Mr. Medjuck, a paramedic, had a head-on collision while driving on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn on July 20, 1995. He went to the hospital in stable condition and had emergency surgery. During the surgery he was given two units of A-positive blood. Mr. Medjuck’s blood type was O-positive. He died three weeks later.
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| Woman Wins Her Way into Elite Lawyers' Club |
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| Date: |
01-01-1999 |
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| Publication: |
Reuters Reporter |
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| Author: |
Gail Appleson |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
Judith Livingston was profiled in this article, which describes her as “now one of the most successful female personal injury lawyers in the country.” Thanks to seven awards exceeding $1 million (at the time of the article), Ms. Livingston became the first woman to be accepted into the Inner Circle of Advocates, a club reserved to only 100 members at any time. The powerful lawyers in the Circle must have brought 25 cases to trial and won at least one jury verdict of $1 million. Up to then, Ms. Livingston’s largest verdict was $7.8 million.
"There is a traditional image of a trial lawyer and what a successful trial lawyer should be. I’m far from that image, I know that,” Ms. Livingston was quoted saying. “I think what a lot of people don’t realize when they go into court is they really have to be themselves and not pretend to be something they’re not.” She added, “I like combat.”
When Ms. Livingston started out, she had to wait for her first case. “It was one of those ‘what-are-we-doing-with-this’ cases,” she said. A doctor had told a patient with multiple sclerosis to use a heating pad. He got severely burned because patients with multiple sclerosis do not have heat sensitivity. “When I won a $100,000 verdict,” Ms. Livingston said, “everybody was totally shocked.”
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| King of the Court |
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| Date: |
22-12-1998 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Neal Travis |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
For Thomas Moore, “It’s better than a Christmas bonus,” wrote Neal Travis in his New York Post column. Mr. Moore had just been named “trial lawyer of the year” by the National Law Journal. Mr. Moore also won the prestigious award in 1992.
“Moore has won more multimillion-dollar verdicts than any other U.S. attorney,” wrote Travis. Mr. Moore’s wife, Judith Livingston, was cited as “the winningest female attorney in the land,” capturing the National Law Journal’s best-of-show award in 1993. |
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| Every Time, He Ambushes the Opponents |
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| Date: |
23-11-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
This full-page article, a profile of Thomas Moore, tried to get at the heart of what makes Mr. Moore so successful. Mr. Moore consistently achieves some of the highest malpractice awards in the nation every year. At the time of the article, Mr. Moore had “63 verdicts of $1 million or more (22 of which were for more than $10 million, and one for $72 million), plus more than 200 settlements in the same range.”
Mr. Moore studies cases relentlessly. “You can read the [medical] records three, four, five, even 10 times and find new stuff the 11th time,” he said in the National Law Journal article. As he reads, he develops theories about cases and how to organize material. He presents his case to the jury in chronological order but sometimes withholds information until the moment is right. This “keeps the jury on its toes,” Mr. Moore said, and, as the article pointed out, “lulls the defense.”
“I don’t know why defendants don’t try to blunt these things by saying it first,” Mr. Moore said. “Maybe they think or hope that I’ve missed something.” But, the article noted, “Mr. Moore rarely misses important details.”
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| Bx. Teen Awarded $29M in Hosp Suit |
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| Date: |
10-11-1998 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Naomi Toy |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx jury awarded Charles Frye, age 15, $29 million after suffering oxygen deprivation at birth that left him with permanent brain damage. Thomas Moore tried the case on behalf of the family.
When Charles’s mother, Gladys, was pregnant, she had pre-eclampsia, a blood-pressure condition. When she went into labor, inexperienced residents found fetal distress, and more tests confirmed a problem. Mrs. Frye was in labor for three days and the baby was in distress all that time. The medical care at the hospital “took that particular weekend off,” Mr. Moore was quoted in the New York Post article. “There were so many chances to save this baby, but there was nobody there to take charge.” Finally an attending physician examined Mrs. Frye and immediately delivered the baby by Cesarean section.
After the verdict, Mrs. Frye, who has two other children, felt “wonderful,” and said, “When I told him [her son], he was ecstatic. I’m overjoyed for my son because now he won’t be left out of things. This will make a big difference, because he’s going to need a lot of help, because with his disability he will probably never be able to work and this will take care of him.”
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| Hospital is Ruled Liable for Girl's Birth Injuries |
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| Date: |
08-10-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Jennifer Steinhauer |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Queens jury awarded a Manhattan appellate judge and his wife $49 million for “the botched birth of their daughter,” the couple was quoted in the Times article. The trial lasted 11 days with four and a half hours of deliberations. Thomas Moore represented the judge and his wife.
Phyllis Saxe had been diagnosed, earlier in her pregnancy, with placenta previa—a “condition in which the placenta may separate from the uterine wall, depriving the fetus of oxygen and nutrients and making a vaginal delivery impossible,” the article said. The condition may correct itself and that seemed to be the case, explained Mr. Moore.
Mrs. Saxe went into labor early, at the start of her eighth month, and was admitted to the hospital. Mrs. Saxe was given a sonogram by an inexperienced resident, who did not see that, because of the position of the placenta, “There was no way a vaginal delivery could have been done,” said Mr. Moore. A specialist gave the order that labor should be induced. The baby became distressed, suffering head injuries and a slowing of the heartbeat. Mrs. Saxe was given a Cesarean section, but an “improper incision,” due to the faulty reading of the sonogram and an inability to find the position of the baby, led to further damage. “The baby came out with, and these are the nurse’s words, severe bruising of the forehead, of the face, eyelids, right shoulder and a hematoma on back of head,” Mr. Moore said. “There was bleeding into skull and severe molding of back of head.”
The Times article described Elena, now nine years old, as having “cerebral palsy and severe neurological problems and has difficulty talking, walking and using her arms.”
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| N.Y. Hospital to Pay $43M After Botching Delivery |
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| Date: |
13-07-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded the mother of Naquan Santiago, a 10-year-old who has had cerebral palsy since birth, $43.94 million. Thomas Moore represented the boy.
Naquan’s mother had gone to the hospital when she was 30 weeks pregnant. At that time, she was diagnosed as “having sustained a premature rupture of membranes,” Mr. Moore was quoted saying in the National Law Journal article, “indicating that there would be a premature delivery and a greatly increased risk of infection to both the mother and the unborn baby.”
The following day Naquan’s mother received a diagnosis of an infection of her amniotic cavity. When she went into labor later that day, the baby’s heart rate became irregular. Immediately, Mr. Moore contended, because of the fetal distress, a Cesarean section should have been ordered. The delay in the diagnosis of fetal distress, and the time lost by not ordering a Cesarean section right away, meant Naquan’s brain was not getting oxygen and this caused his cerebral palsy.
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| A Brain-Damaged Boy is Awarded $44 Million |
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| Date: |
16-06-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
The New York Times article began: “A jury has awarded $43.9 million to a 10-year-old Brooklyn boy whose brain was damaged at birth, a condition his lawyers argued was made worse by the mistakes of a hospital staff.” Thomas Moore represented the boy during the two-week trial.
On August 11, 1987, Naquan Santiago suffered severe brain damage after his brain was deprived of oxygen at birth. Naquan’s mother was 30 weeks pregnant when she went to the hospital, and membranes supporting the baby broke early. “The infant should have been rescued by emergency Cesarean section,” Mr. Moore was quoted in the Times. “Instead, when every minute counted, the mother was left to labor for an additional half-hour, sucking the breath from Naquan before the emergency surgery was finally ordered.”
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| Reporter Signs Up for Moore Action |
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| Date: |
04-05-1998 |
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| Publication: |
New York Magazine |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A New York Times reporter, Neil MacFarquhar, turned to Thomas Moore to be his attorney for a personal-injury claim. Mr. MacFarquhar was hit by an “out-of-control bus whose driver may have suffered an epileptic seizure,” New York Magazine reported.
“We filed a notice of claim,” said Mr. Moore. “The fact is that Neil has gone through a terrible ordeal and—despite the best of hopes and aspirations—will have this with him for the rest of his life.” After the accident, the Times reporter needed five operations and had to be hospitalized for four months. “As a New Yorker,” Mr. MacFarquhar said, “I ought to be able to ride my bike or walk down the street without worrying that the next bus that comes along is an unguided missile.”
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| Cerebral Palsy Girl, 12, Wins $45M Malpractice Verdict |
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| Date: |
28-04-1998 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Lawrence Goodman |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded a $45 million verdict to Alexia Asteratakis, a 12-year-old girl born with severe injuries due to a series of medical mistakes. Thomas Moore represented Alexia during the three-week-long trial.
Alexia’s mother, Sarah Asteratakis, said that, when she was in labor, the doctors “spotted complications” in her delivery so they gave her extra anesthesia. No one monitored her, and her blood pressure dropped dramatically, which caused oxygen deprivation in the baby. The baby was delivered by forceps, causing even more brain damage. “The doctors didn’t do their job,” Mrs. Asteratakis said in the Daily News article. “They should have kept a better eye on me.” Alexia needs a wheelchair, has seizures, and her speech is slurred. The article noted that she has the intelligence of a four-year-old.
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| Award of $44.9 Million in Brain Damage Case |
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| Date: |
28-04-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
| The New York Times reported: “A Brooklyn jury awarded $44.9 million yesterday to the family of a girl who suffered brain damage after doctors gave her mother too much anesthesia during childbirth.” Thomas Moore represented the family of the girl, who has cerebral palsy due to the doctors’ negligence at the time of her birth. |
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| Judith Livingston, Partner at New York's Kramer, Dillof, Tessel, Duffy & Moore |
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| Date: |
30-03-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
“Colleagues believe Ms. Livingston just may be the most successful female plaintiffs’ attorney in the United States,” began this profile of Judith Livingston in the National Law Journal. The article went on to list her extraordinary accomplishments: that she was the first woman to join the Inner Circle of Advocates, limited to 100 attorneys at any time; that she has (so far) won 23 jury verdicts over $1 million, including three $10 million awards; that she is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; that she was listed as one of the National Law Journal’s “40 health care lawyers who have made their mark.” Ms. Livingston is a Hofstra University School of Law graduate.
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| $61.5 Million Award to Boy Injured at Birth |
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| Date: |
24-03-1998 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
The Associated Press |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx jury awarded $61.5 million to nine-year-old Brian Stevenson, who was born with severe cerebral palsy. Thomas Moore represented Brian during a trial that lasted 15 days with deliberations that took a day and a half.
Brian Stevenson has mental retardation and requires a round-the-clock caretaker, said Mr. Moore in the Times article. When Brian’s mother, Dawn Stevenson, was in labor, a doctor administered an “erroneously high amount” of Pitocin, which is a labor-inducing drug that increases contractions. The doctor also failed to have a pediatrician present for the delivery.
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| $18M Awarded to Family of Accident-Slay Cop |
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| Date: |
18-11-1997 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Devlin Barrett |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded the widow of a police officer $17.95 million for violation of a police procedure. Thomas Moore represented the family of the slain policeman.
In August 1988, Officer Joe Galapo was shot in the face; his partner’s gun had fired when a suspect bumped his arm during a routine buy-and-bust drug operation. Mr. Moore demonstrated that, in order for the partner’s gun to go off, the gun must have been “cocked,” which is a violation of police procedure. The jury deliberated for three hours before awarding the widow a “whopping” amount, according to the Post article. Officer Galapo’s 39-year-old widow, Lana, said “the toughest part” has been watching her three sons grow up without a father. “They go to play a hockey game and their dad’s not there to cheer for them,” she said.
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| Woman Wins 16M Hosp Suit |
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| Date: |
18-07-1997 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Bill Farrell |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded an ice-skating teacher $16 million after she suffered severe and permanent brain damage due to negligent hospital care after a car accident. Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston represented Carol Weldon, who was now “semi-comatose in a nursing home,” according to the Daily News article.
While Ms. Weldon was in the hospital, a nurse, while suctioning out a breathing tube, pulled the breathing tube out of place. The error was not noticed and the tube was not re-inserted properly until 40 minutes had elapsed. “In that forty minutes,” said Mr. Moore, “her heart and breathing stopped, causing the brain damage.” Ms. Livingston said, “Despite the hospital’s claim that Ms. Wheldon suffered all her injuries as a result of the car accident, the jury found all her brain damage was caused because of the hospital’s negligence.”
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| Hospital Liable for Failure to Spot Risks in Pregnancy |
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| Date: |
30-06-1997 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded $23 million to 12-year-old Judy Martelly, a girl born with severe brain damage due to medical malpractice. Thomas Moore represented the child.
When Nora Martelly, Judy’s mother, arrived at the hospital in June 1984, she told the staff that when her water broke it was “discolored.” This was a clear sign of fetal distress, Mr. Moore said in the National Law Review article. Ms. Martelly should have been examined immediately by an experienced obstetrician, and the baby should have been delivered by Cesarean section. Instead the baby suffered oxygen deprivation both before her birth and after it, while “an inexperienced resident bungled the resuscitation,” said Mr. Moore. “There was a failure to recognize that this was a high-risk labor.” The baby was delivered vaginally by a nurse-midwife and was “nearly dead at birth,” stated the article. Judy was now a spastic quadriplegic with severe mental retardation and is unable to take care of herself, Mr. Moore said.
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| Jury Awards $23 Million to Child Hurt at Birth |
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| Date: |
04-06-1997 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
| A 12-year-old girl was awarded $23 million by a Manhattan jury for injuries she sustained at birth that left her with mental retardation. Thomas Moore represented the child, Judy Martelly. She “almost suffocated,” the Times article quoted Mr. Moore saying, “because of fecal matter she inhaled during delivery at the hospital. Instead of suctioning the material, a nurse-midwife and an untrained first-year resident applied an oxygen mask that pushed the waste further into her respiratory system.” |
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| Bronx Jury Finds Hospital is Liable in Baby Case |
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| Date: |
11-03-1997 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Lizette Alvarez |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx jury awarded $9.45 million to Iraida Rosa Soto, eight years old at the time of the article. She had brain damage and cerebral palsy due to her grossly mishandled delivery. “The jury determined that a resident failed to perform an emergency Cesarean section that a more senior doctor had ordered and that doctors administered inappropriate medication,” stated the Times reporter. Thomas Moore represented the girl during the three-week-long trial.
The jury found that “a series of missteps” led to Iraida’s injuries, which include learning disabilities and the need for a wheelchair. It took doctors 24 hours to notice that Mrs. Soto’s water had broken; and instead of getting an immediate Cesarean section, Mrs. Soto was given a labor-inducing drug and the baby was delivered vaginally (despite a senior doctor’s orders to perform a C-section), which only compounded the damage to Iraida. Fetal heart monitor tapes—crucial evidence—were “lost,” which Mr. Moore said indicated the hospital was covering up its mistakes.
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| C-Section Delay Leads to $12.8 Million Award |
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| Date: |
02-12-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded Louis Acevedo $12.8 million for his severe mental retardation caused by doctors’ errors during his birth. Judith Livingston represented Louis during the trial.
Louis’ mother, Norma Rodriguez, went to the hospital already 23 days past her due date. There were indications that the baby was in distress, Ms. Livingston said in the National Law Review article. Doctors should have ordered an emergency Cesarean delivery. Instead Ms. Rodriguez was given Pitocin, a drug that induces labor. Still, labor did not progress, and Louis was not delivered by Cesarean section until several hours later. “By then, permanent damage had already been done,” Ms. Livingston said. “His head was severely molded and swollen, and his skin was cracked and leathery.” Ms. Livingston also said that the hospital tried to cover up evidence by claiming that some records were unavailable.
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| Hospital, Doctor Must Pay For Obstetric Malpractice |
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| Date: |
04-11-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Queens jury has awarded a mother and her disabled son $23.5 million for the severe injuries suffered by the boy during his birth. Thomas Moore represented the mother, Sherry Royal, and her son, Tristan, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
When Ms. Royal went to the hospital, she had a urinary tract infection that was causing premature labor. But, Mr. Moore said in the National Law Review article, the urinary tract infection went undiagnosed. Furthermore, Ms. Royal was not seen by a doctor for eight hours. She was scheduled for an emergency Cesarean section, which did not take place for another two hours. By then, the baby’s head had moved down into the birth canal. Mr. Moore explained in the article that “a resident delivering the child then pushed on the baby’s head from below and pulled at it from above, causing trauma to the head and bleeding in the brain.”
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| Boy, Injured at Birth, Wins Hospital Suit |
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| Date: |
03-10-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
The Times article began: “A jury has awarded more than $23 million to an 8-year-old Queens boy who was severely brain damaged at birth because of a hospital’s negligence, his lawyer said.” Thomas Moore represented the boy, Tristan Royal.
Medical staff failed to diagnose and treat a urinary tract infection Mrs. Royal had during pregnancy, resulting in premature labor, Mr. Moore was quoted saying in the article. Mrs. Royal was not seen by a doctor for eight hours after she was admitted. Mr. Moore also said that “medical records were falsified to cover up for an inexperienced resident who performed the complicated delivery, severely damaging the child’s head by pushing and pulling at it.”
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| Hospital, Doctor Pay for Overlooking Infection |
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| Date: |
02-09-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury has awarded Shivonne McDonald $35.6 million for injuries she suffered at birth. Thomas Moore represented Shivonne.
Valerie McDonald, Shivonne’s mother, went to the hospital in labor and running a fever. This should have been taken as a sign that there was an infection in the womb, Mr. Moore said in the National Law Journal article, requiring an immediate Cesarean section. But Mrs. McDonald’s obstetrician gave her labor-inducing medication and Shivonne was delivered vaginally. Shivonne suffered severe oxygen deprivation and now has cerebral palsy.
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| Doctor, Hospital Liable for Delay in Diagnosing Hip |
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| Date: |
05-08-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
$7.3 million was awarded by a Brooklyn jury to a girl who suffered permanent injuries due to a misdiagnosis at birth. Judith Livingston represented the girl, Mary Stephens.
Mary was born with a dislocated hip, which went undetected for 15 months, noticed only when Mary began walking. If the dislocated hip had been diagnosed at birth, “it would have been 100 percent correctable,” said Ms. Livingston in the National Law Journal article. Now Mary Stephens “walks with a pronounced limp.” At the time of the trial, Mary had been through nearly a dozen operations, said Ms. Livingston, and will face more operations in the future. Mary’s condition cannot be corrected and she will have hip problems for the rest of her life.
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| Doc Pays, Hospital Fights in Suit on Infant's Delivery |
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| Date: |
24-06-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
An Orange County, New York jury awarded $6.4 million to Edwin Palmer, who was born with a seizure disorder and has a severe learning disability. Thomas Moore represented the boy.
Dorothy Palmer, Edwin’s mother, had pre-eclampsia, “a pregnancy-related condition typified by high blood pressure,” said an associate of Mr. Moore’s. A heart monitor indicated fetal distress, but the doctor examining Ms. Palmer left her to examine another patient, and then went home. “Over the course of the night, the baby’s condition worsened,” the associate said. The next day the baby was born by emergency forceps delivery. Edwin’s problems stem from oxygen deprivation, indicated by fetal distress, and from the forceps delivery.
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| Boy is Awarded $30.6 Million for Negligence |
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| Date: |
22-05-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Joseph P. Fried |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $30.6 million to a boy for injuries suffered at birth. Thomas Moore represented the boy, Andrew Altman.
When Andrew’s mother, Lora, entered the hospital in labor, doctors failed to recognize a condition called umbilical cord prolapse, in which the cord descends into the vagina before any part of the baby’s body, Mr. Moore explained in the Times article. Mr. Moore characterized this condition as a medical emergency whereby the umbilical cord compresses and deprives the baby of oxygen before delivery. An emergency Cesarean section was needed and was never performed.
Andrew has severe mental retardation, cannot speak, walks unsteadily, and cannot use his arms properly. He will need “constant custodial care, as well as medical care and physical therapy, for the rest of his life,” Mr. Moore said.
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| Jury Rules Against Hospital for Negligent Care of Baby |
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| Date: |
23-03-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
David Stout |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury has awarded Jermaine Eccleston $23.3 million for the brain damage and paralysis he suffers because of a doctor’s negligence. Thomas Moore represented Jermaine during the two-week-long trial with two days of deliberations.
Mr. Moore said that because Jermaine’s mother, Claudette Eccleston, suffered from pregnancy-related diabetes, doctors should have known that Jermaine needed to be closely monitored. Mr. Moore said in the Times article that “Jermaine was born three weeks prematurely in a delivery so difficult that the baby’s shoulder was broken.” After the birth, “This high-risk infant was placed in the regular nursery and examined exclusively by inexperienced trainee physicians,” Mr. Moore said. “His care was rendered by doctors who had neither the background nor experience to provide the care this infant needed.” At three days old, Jermaine’s heart and breathing stopped. By the time this was discovered, resuscitation was delayed because the proper equipment was not handy, Mr. Moore said.
Jermaine is an “alert” child and can understand things but cannot talk. He cannot fully use his arms and legs, and he attends a special school.
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| Notable Verdict, Medical Malpractice Case |
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| Date: |
18-03-1996 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
An eight-year-old boy, Geor Munoz, was awarded $6.2 million for severe brain damage blamed on a city hospital resident’s failure to perform an emergency Cesarean section, stated the National Law Journal article. Judith Livingston represented the boy.
A sonogram showed that Otita Munoz, Geor’s mother, had abruptio placenta, a condition where the placenta prematurely breaks away from the uterine wall. An immediate Cesarean section should have been performed but was delayed, causing oxygen deprivation in the baby.
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| Brain-Damaged Woman Gets $5M For Docs' Snafu |
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| Date: |
13-10-1995 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Allen Salkin |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $5 million to a woman left brain-damaged by “bungling doctors,” stated the New York Post article, who “sapped her personality.” Judith Livingston represented Justine Dong, who complained of headaches and “emerged from the city medical system six months later with three holes in her brain that left her walking slowly and speaking in a monotone,” said Ms. Livingston. Ms. Dong’s aunt said, “The Justine that we knew before disappeared forever and a new Justine was born that day.”
Ms. Dong was first diagnosed with a sinus infection, and went to a sinus specialist to treat her headaches. Several days later she was still having headaches and now had trouble speaking. She was given more sinus medication and sent home. Still in pain, because she had a brain infection that had not been detected, Ms. Dong went to a hospital where “two tragic mistakes occurred,” Ms. Livingston said. Hospital workers performed a spinal tap, which “should never be done on a person with a brain infection,” Ms. Livingston said. It “is like when you have a bathtub full of water and you pull the plug and all the pressure goes down…. The brain gets squooshed.”
Ms. Dong then went into a coma. Inexperienced residents misinterpreted a brain scan and administered another spinal tap. Ms. Dong ended up with speech and memory problems, and trouble walking. She needed 18 months of rehabilitation.
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| $21M to Girl Who Never Got to See Mother |
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| Date: |
15-07-1995 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Joanne Wasserman |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
After a three-week-long trial, a Brooklyn jury awarded $21 million to a six-year-old girl, Tasia Roberts, whose mother, Dorothy Roberts, “drowned in her own blood nine hours after she delivered the girl,” stated the Daily News article. Judith Livingston represented the girl. “Like any child who doesn’t have a parent, she asks her father all the time about her mother,” Ms. Livingston said. “She wants to know if her mother ever saw or held her. One day, her father is going to have to tell her the answer to those questions is no.”
Twenty-two-year-old Dorothy Roberts was “perfectly healthy” when in labor, said Ms. Livingston. “But after the baby was born, she started bleeding from a lung. The doctors never diagnosed where the bleeding was or did anything to stop the bleeding.” Mrs. Roberts, in the intensive care unit, asked her husband about the baby. “She couldn’t speak because she had a tube down her throat, but she kept spelling out letters, asking how the baby was,” Ms. Livingston said. Her husband said she had a beautiful baby girl. “She started crying, but never got to see her,” Ms. Livingston said.
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| Teen Wins $42M HHC Suit |
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| Date: |
25-05-1995 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Jennifer Havilah |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A 17-year-old young woman, Jasmine Matos, left “brain-damaged, deaf, speech-impaired and learning-disabled,” according to the New York Post article, got a $42 million verdict from a Bronx jury because her birth was “botched by residents.” Thomas Moore represented Jasmine.
Mr. Moore said the girl’s injuries resulted from “one screw-up after another.” Labor trainee residents ignored test results indicating the baby was suffering from oxygen deprivation. “Eventually,” Mr. Moore said, “a second-year trainee yanked at and pulled Jasmine from the birth canal in a complicated, violent forceps delivery, causing bleeding from the infant’s brain.” Jasmine was “almost lifeless at birth.” The hospital tried to alter the mother’s records with Wite-Out. “It was a monumental effort to cover up their mistakes,” Mr. Moore said.
Jasmine is a ninth-grader with a full-time helper who must translate spoken words into sign language. “She has already lost so much out of her life,” Sylvia Rodriguez, Jasmine’s mother, said. Ms. Rodriguez said she will use the verdict money to “do the best” for her daughter.
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| Lincoln Hospital Severely Injured Baby in Delivery, a Jury Finds |
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| Date: |
25-05-1995 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
Adam Nossiter |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx jury awarded a 17-year-old young woman $42 million after “inexperienced doctors botched the delivery…. causing deafness and lifelong brain damage,” according to the Times article. Thomas Moore represented the young woman, Jasmine Matos.
The article detailed the many errors that led to Jasmine’s injuries, “including ignoring a test that showed that the fetus was deprived of oxygen before birth.” Doctors also failed to “induce labor as they should have for a pregnancy that had gone well beyond the due date.” The “inexperienced residents” chose to deliver Jasmine by “violent forceps delivery, which caused bleeding in the infant’s brain,” said Mr. Moore. Of the hospital’s attempt to alter records, Mr. Moore said, “There was a very intentional and orchestrated effort to cover it up, and that’s intolerable.”
Jasmine’s mother, Sylvia Rodriguez, a home health aide for a hospice, said that her daughter acts like a 10-year-old, has an I.Q. of 66, and has a severe speech impairment. “Justice was done,” Ms. Rodriguez said of the award. “My daughter is going to be having what she deserves.”
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| Heavy Hitters |
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| Date: |
01-03-1995 |
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| Publication: |
The American Lawyer Magazine |
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| Author: |
Vera Titunik |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
In this lengthy profile of Thomas Moore in the American Lawyer, many of Mr. Moore’s high-profile cases are discussed, as well as his extraordinary dedication to hard work and his keen sense of morality.
“He loves trying cases,” said one defense attorney. As the article stated: “Moore the Crusader is a well-known character in state courts around New York City. The Irish-born lawyer once studied to be a priest, and he attacks doctors with the fervor of an evangelist denouncing sinners in his midst, his questions rising into a crescendo of contempt and righteousness.”
His wife, Judith Livingston, may have summed it up best: “His intensity comes from a passionate belief in what he’s doing…. He has this very constant desire to help those who are underdogs, or who have been oppressed. And that permeates all he does.”
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| Teen Awarded $1.5M After 15-Year Wait |
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| Date: |
22-02-1994 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Bill Farrell |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded Steven Jackson, age 17, $1.5 million for a medical misdiagnosis that resulted in a lifelong handicap. Judith Livingston represented Steven during the three-week-long trial.
When Steven, age two, complained of knee pains, his mother, Valerie Walker, brought him to doctors who said the boy had “growing pains.” But he had Leggs-Calve-Perthes, a serious condition that cuts off blood circulation to the hip. Ms. Livingston said in the Daily News article that it could have been fixed by a simple surgical procedure. Because Steven’s condition was misdiagnosed and left untreated, his hip worsened. The pain will force him to undergo hip fusion, which will prevent the hip from moving. “All he ever wanted to do was play football,” Ms. Livingston said. “That dream will never become a reality.”
The case took so long to come to trial because the Jackson family’s first attorney (at another law firm) secretly negotiated a settlement and then kept the money. The family was able to correct the situation and proceed with a medical-malpractice case.
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| Gets 18M for Hosp Mistakes |
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| Date: |
31-12-1993 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Bill Farrell |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $18 million to Ivan Ward, a 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy “caused by medical personnel who botched his delivery then covered up their mistakes,” according to the Daily News article. Thomas Moore handled the case during the three-week-long trial.
Ivan’s mother, Mamie Ward, recounted how, even though she was bleeding, doctors waited almost 17 hours before delivering Ivan by Cesarean section. “I began to hemorrhage, but they still didn’t take the baby,” Mrs. Ward said. Mr. Moore said, “The hospital attempted to keep this case silent forever by destroying medical records.” Mrs. Ward said she has to look after Ivan, who uses a wheelchair, “like a baby,” and the award will help her take care of him.
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| Notable Verdicts: Medical Malpractice |
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| Date: |
27-12-1993 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
| A Kentucky jury awarded $2.75 million to William Strothman, age 45, who, while undergoing treatment for high blood pressure, had an aneurysm. Mr. Strothman later had two strokes, which further reduced his “mental and physical abilities,” said the National Law Journal article. Thomas Moore argued Mr. Strothman’s case. |
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| Premature Baby Gets $72.65 Million |
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| Date: |
15-11-1993 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A series of medical errors led to Jonathan Washington’s injuries at birth, and a Bronx jury awarded him $6.5 million for past pain and suffering, $8.3 million for future pain and suffering, and $57.85 million for special damages, totaling $72.65 million. Thomas Moore represented Jonathan.
Jonathan’s mother, Venice Washington, was 16 when she went to the hospital in labor. After an “initial assessment that the child was on schedule and there were no significant problems,” said the National Law Journal article, Ms. Washington was “turned over to nurses and midwives.” A fetal monitor was turned off after a half hour, even though Jonathan was four weeks premature and already in distress. The monitor was hooked up again two hours later. “We’ll never know for sure [the extent of the fetal distress] because the tape was lost,” Mr. Moore was quoted saying. The cutting off of oxygen to the brain was compounded by a traumatic delivery that led to bleeding in the brain, Mr. Moore said. Jonathan is partially paralyzed and his IQ is in the high 60s.
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| Jury Hands $3.9M to Kin of Mom Who Died in Hosp |
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| Date: |
11-11-1993 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Neil Graves |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
After only two hours of deliberations, a Brooklyn jury awarded the family of Gloria Garcia $3.9 million after she died from “massive brain damage,” according to the Post article, “just days… after being treated by a medical student and undergoing an unnecessary hysterectomy.” Judith Livingston represented the family.
Mrs. Garcia, age 42, went to the hospital to have fibroids removed from her uterus. A medical student with no training handled the anesthesia, said Ms. Livingston. The student inserted the oxygen tube into Mrs. Garcia’s stomach instead of into her lungs.
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| 23 Yrs. Later, 9 Mil Redress |
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| Date: |
22-07-1993 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
David L. Lewis |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
John O’Donnell Jr., age 23, was awarded $9.5 million for head injuries he suffered at birth. Thomas Moore represented Mr. O’Donnell.
A doctor failed to realize that Mr. O’Donnell was deprived of oxygen in the womb for hours. Once the doctor saw that “something was wrong,” according to the Daily News article, he used forceps to forcibly pull the baby out. Mr. Moore said an emergency Cesarean section should have been performed. The doctor and the hospital “kept their mistakes a secret until the court case,” Mr. Moore said.
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| Hosp Loses Suit: To Pay 1.5M in Cardiac Death |
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| Date: |
09-03-1993 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Donald Bertrand |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
Michelle Facilla’s daughter, Renee, was awarded $1.5 million by a Queens jury for her mother’s wrongful death. Judith Livingston represented Renee, Ms. Facilla’s only child.
When Michelle Facilla went to an emergency room, she “complained of pain originating from the middle of her chest and radiating to the neck, jaw and arms,” according to the Daily News article. Ms. Livingston said, “The symptoms would have been recognized by most lay people as clear-cut warning signs of a heart attack.” At the hospital, an electrocardiogram showed that she should have been hospitalized immediately, said Ms. Livingston. But Ms. Facilla was told the pain was due to a respiratory problem; she was given bronchitis medication and sent home. The medication was dangerous for people with heart-related problems. Ms. Facilla decided to go to another hospital, but before she could go, her condition worsened. Ms. Facilla was brought back to the original hospital, where she died of cardiac arrest.
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| 1992's Largest Verdicts |
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| Date: |
25-01-1993 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded $15 million to Sean Andrialis for his injuries at birth due to malpractice. Thomas Moore represented Sean.
When Sean’s mother, Cynthia Andrialis, was in labor, “There were symptoms that the baby was in trouble,” Mr. Moore said. “But her doctor… saw her, then left her in [the] care of another doctor.” The second doctor prepared to do an emergency Cesarean, but chose to wait for the first doctor’s return. That doctor “didn’t come back for several hours,” said Mr. Moore. By then it was too late to do a Cesarean and the baby was delivered vaginally. “The delay and the vaginal birth caused oxygen deprivation that led to severe brain damage, permanent learning disabilities and speech problems,” according to the National Law Journal article.
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| 1992's Largest Verdicts |
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| Date: |
25-01-1993 |
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| Publication: |
The National Law Journal |
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| Author: |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded Ann Estrada $12.7 million for damages she received at birth. Thomas Moore represented Ann.
Ann’s mother, Holaya Estrada, was 19 when she went into labor. According to the National Law Journal article, “She was considered a high-risk patient because she had a history of protracted labor in a previous pregnancy and she also had a condition called pre-eclampsia, which includes high blood pressure as a symptom.”
Labor was protracted in this pregnancy, too. The baby and mother were both in distress, explained Mr. Moore, who said, “There should have been an immediate Cesarean.” But the inexperienced resident on duty used forceps, whereby the baby is pulled through the birth canal by the head. This caused, according to the article, “permanent brain damage, including mental retardation, a seizure disorder and speech defects.”
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| $16M Awarded Family of Woman Who Died in Childbirth |
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| Date: |
24-12-1992 |
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| Publication: |
The Reporter Dispatch |
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| Author: |
Cameron McWhirter |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
The husband and four children of Lorraine Giampino, who died in childbirth, were awarded $16 million by a White Plains jury. Judith Livingston represented the family during the three-week-long trial. “While it’s a substantial amount of money, the loss for those four children is just incalculable,” said Ms. Livingston. “They will grow up without a mother.”
“A series of errors” led to Ms. Giampino’s death, according to the Reporter Dispatch. A drug improperly administered led to internal bleeding, and Ms. Giampino’s attending doctor left her alone to help with another delivery. “She was in agony,” Ms. Livingston said, “because she was bleeding internally, and he never diagnosed it.” Ms. Livingston said that doctors “took action only after the baby was born covered with blood,” according to the article. Believing the blood to be the sign of a rupture, doctors began to operate—another wrong diagnosis and course of treatment. Ms. Giampino died one hour after her baby was born.
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| The Lady Is a Champ |
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| Date: |
01-01-1992 |
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| Publication: |
New York Magazine |
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| Author: |
Rob Patronite |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
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| Summary: |
This full-page profile of Judith Livingston began: “In political contests across the country 1992 was hailed as the year of the woman. But here in New York City, Judith Livingston made it the year of the woman lawyer.”
Judith Livingston was the first woman and the youngest member of the Inner Circle of Advocates—“plaintiff’s lawyers who consistently win huge awards in civil cases,” according to the New York Magazine article. “It’s like a lawyer’s hall of fame,” said Ms. Livingston, “except you’re not retired, you’re not out of the game.”
Only 100 members are permitted into the Inner Circle at any time, and even to qualify for membership you must have 25 verdicts and at least one $1 million jury award. By the time of the article, Ms. Livingston had won or settled eighteen cases over $1 million; one case, involving negligent emergency-room care, got a $5.2 million award.
The president of the Inner Circle said that women tend to shy away from trial law—“It’s a gut-wrenching way to earn a living, especially if you want to start a family,” he said. Ms. Livingston has three children. “What keeps her in the game,” said the article, “is the empathy she feels with victims.”
“It gets in your blood,” Ms. Livingston said. “I can’t give that up.”
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| Girl Injured at Birth Given $7.7 Million |
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| Date: |
31-12-1991 |
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| Publication: |
The New York Times |
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| Author: |
The Associated Press |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx jury awarded a brain-damaged 12-year-old girl, Charmaine Frith, and her mother, Chelsea Frith, $7.7 million. Thomas Moore represented the girl and her mother during the trial that lasted four weeks with five days of deliberation.
According to the Times article, Mr. Moore argued that Charmaine’s injuries were caused by the “failure of the hospital and doctor to respond quickly to her mother’s bleeding late in the pregnancy.” The doctor knew about Ms. Frith’s vaginal bleeding, which began close to her due date, but when Ms. Frith got to the hospital the doctor waited three hours before delivering the baby. Delivery should have been immediate for the health of the infant, said the article.
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| 15 Mil for Tough Teen: 17-Year-Old Crippled at Birth Wins Suit |
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| Date: |
05-11-1991 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Sonia Reyes and Ruth Landa |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Bronx jury awarded 17-year-old Carmelo Cruz $15 million “in damages for malpractice that crippled him at birth,” according to the Daily News article. His “difficult birth … caused critical delays that deprived the newborn Cruz of oxygen,” causing “severe, permanent brain damage affecting his motor skills and leaving him one functioning limb—his left arm.” Thomas Moore represented Carmelo Cruz.
A tragic miscalculation from “inexperienced residents” led to “mistaking his buttocks for his head and failing to diagnose his breech position.” A more experienced doctor slept while younger doctors took over the birth. “He would have been saved from this tragic fate if the residents did not misdiagnose the position and if the attending physician took action,” said Mr. Moore, who admiringly called Carmelo Cruz “a tower of strength.”
“The doctors said I will never walk again, but I made a promise to myself that I will walk again,” said Carmelo Cruz. “Nobody is going to stop me.”
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| B'klyn Brothers Awarded $4.4M in Mother's Death |
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| Date: |
11-05-1991 |
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| Publication: |
New York Newsday |
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| Author: |
Gale Scott |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
Four Brooklyn brothers were awarded $4.4 million when their mother bled to death in childbirth, stated the New York Newsday article. Thomas Moore represented the family of the woman who “died because of errors made by hospital staff and by her physicians,” said the article.
Sharon Nelson, age 37, had a condition that should have warranted a Cesarean section, but doctors “misread a diagnostic test” and said she could have a vaginal delivery. When she went into labor, her regular doctor was unavailable and a doctor who knew nothing of her history started to deliver the baby. Ms. Nelson’s placenta ruptured and she began to hemorrhage. When she stopped breathing, an emergency Cesarean section was prepared for, but the anesthesiologist improperly inserted a breathing tube. Before this could be fixed, Ms. Nelson went into cardiac arrest.
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| Hosp Must Pay $8M for Malpractice |
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| Date: |
15-11-1990 |
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| Publication: |
New York Post |
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| Author: |
Andrea Peyser |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
An 11-year-old girl was awarded $8 million by a Brooklyn jury for “severe brain damage after her condition was misdiagnosed,” according to the Post article. Judith Livingston represented the girl, Mai Lee Chang, currently institutionalized in New Mexico and functioning “like a one-and-a-half year old.”
Mai’s mother, Yollande, brought Mai to the hospital when Mai, two-and-a-half months old, began vomiting and having seizures. Yollande brought Mai in again three more times over the next two weeks. Despite a swelling of Mai’s head and an increasing frequency of seizures, doctors failed to recognize the “telltale signs of a fluid collection that was causing pressure on the brain,” Ms. Livingston said. A specialist was not called in to drain the fluid until it was too late. “It is tragic because the hospital had a multitude of opportunities to properly diagnose and treat the child before any significant problems developed,” Ms. Livingston said.
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| Malpractice: Behind a $26-Million Award to a Boy Injured in Surgery |
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| Date: |
01-10-1990 |
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| Publication: |
New York Magazine |
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| Author: |
Steve Cohen |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan jury awarded 16-year-old Stephen Melis $26 million, the country’s second largest malpractice verdict in 1989 and one of the largest verdicts in New York’s history. Tom Moore represented Stephen during the seven-week-long trial with less than four hours of deliberations.
Steve Cohen’s unique feature-length article for New York Magazine focused on his “soul-searching experience” as an alternate juror in the case. To get an even deeper understanding of the trial, Mr. Cohen invited all the jurors to his home, and interviewed all the lawyers and Stephen’s family members. “Precisely what happened, why, and the extent of Stephen’s injuries were the crux of the case,” Mr. Cohen wrote.
Stephen Melis, at age seven, had a hereditary defect so that he could not expel phlegm, a condition that can lead to infection. He needed an operation on his right lung to correct this. “During the surgery,” Mr. Cohen wrote, “Stephen was dependent on the healthy left lung to breathe. But… blood somehow leaked into the left lung and clogged it, preventing Stephen from getting oxygen. Without oxygen, Stephen’s heart stopped,” and he suffered brain damage.
The writer described 16-year-old Stephen’s appearance in the courtroom: “Stephen suffers from seizures, along with gross and fine motor impairment.” Many jurors were in tears as they watched Stephen try to run, solve a few math problems (all of which he got wrong), and walk heel to toe (Stephen did not seem to understand what was being asked of him).
The jury learned that during surgery an inexperienced resident had administered the anesthesia. Stephen was “pulseless for ten minutes,” as Mr. Moore brought out during testimony. Blood never should have leaked into Stephen’s left lung; his heart attack should never have happened. Mr. Cohen wrote that “the jury had seen something quite extraordinary: Moore had destroyed the testimony of the defense’s lead expert witness… we had become captivated by Tom Moore’s skill” at showing the jury, despite conflicting stories, what actually happened in the operating room.
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| Jury Awards $7.26M in Malpractice Case |
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| Date: |
02-06-1990 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Raymond A. Witter |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A record-setting Staten Island verdict—$7.26 million—was awarded “to the father of a now 13-year-old boy who was born prematurely with brain damage and is now a spastic quadriplegic and blind,” stated the Staten Island Advance article. The boy, Michael, also has cerebral palsy, and mental retardation with “the mental capacity of a four-month-old infant,” and is institutionalized. Thomas Moore represented George Doerrbecker, the father of Michael, during the three-week-long trial with two days of deliberations.
Francine Doerrbecker, Michael’s mother, had a condition whereby the placenta is not in a normal position, which can lead to bleeding. Her doctors recommended strict bed rest. Doctors then asked her to come in for shots of Delalutin, which was supposed to treat her bleeding. “It was testified that the federal government had withdrawn approval of the drug for pregnant women prior to Mrs. Doerrbecker giving birth,” stated the article, “and after the delivery the drug was fully withdrawn from the market.”
Mr. Moore argued that the drug should never have been prescribed. Other medical errors included an improper vaginal exam that led to a hemorrhage, which meant the baby had to be delivered by Cesarean five weeks early in a hospital that was not equipped to handle premature infants.
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| 803G Given to Widow in MDs' Error |
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| Date: |
27-12-1989 |
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| Publication: |
Daily News |
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| Author: |
Bill Farrell |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
A Brooklyn jury awarded $803,000 to Rose Marie Corrales, whose husband, William Corrales, died “after doctors four times mis-diagnosed a heart problem as an upset stomach and then altered medical records,” according to the Daily News article. Judith Livingston represented Mrs. Corrales during the three-week-long trial.
Mr. Corrales was 58 when he went to a health-care facility complaining of chest pains, but was sent home with “an upset stomach.” He returned to the facility three more times with the same complaint, and was sent home each time. Within two days of the last visit, he died of a heart attack.
Ms. Livingston said the doctors “tried to cover up their mis-diagnosis by destroying [Mr. Corrales’] original medical records and re-writing bogus ones.” The falsified records claimed Mr. Corrales had not visited the facility for 11 months before his death. “The tragedy is that three different doctors on four occasions within a three-week period had the chance to correctly diagnose the patient,” Ms. Livingston said. “They failed each time.”
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| Couple Gets 950G in Malpractice Suit |
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| Date: |
02-11-1989 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Tom Cocola |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Judith A. Livingston |
| Practice Area(s): |
Medical Malpractice |
| Summary: |
A Manhattan man and his wife, Alphonse and Josephine Gentile, were awarded $950,000 for his permanent facial paralysis due to malpractice. Judith Livingston represented the couple.
The jury found that a doctor “was negligent in severing Gentile’s facial nerve during an operation for removal of a small facial growth,” according to the article in the Staten Island Advance. Ms. Livingston argued that Gentile’s right eye had to be surgically closed halfway to avoid blindness. The right side of Mr. Gentile’s face has permanent paralysis and he cannot move the right side of his mouth.
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| Man Awarded $3 Million |
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| Date: |
30-06-1984 |
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| Publication: |
Staten Island Advance |
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| Author: |
Lisa Peterson |
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| Case: |
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| Attorney(s): |
Thomas A. Moore |
| Practice Area(s): |
General Negligence Personal Injury / Wrongful Death |
| Summary: |
| A Manhattan man, Marvin Charney, and his wife, Marie, were awarded $3,088,500 for a work-related accident in which he suffered a herniated disk that had to be removed, according to the article in the Staten Island Advance. The accident—tripping over a loose tile while walking to answer a phone—also caused brain damage that resulted in permanent visual impairment. Thomas Moore argued the case for the Charneys, citing the owner of the building as responsible for the accident because the owner had failed to repair the tile. |
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