Rawls Law Group is thrilled to announce the highest jury verdict outcome for 2021 in Virginia as reported by Virginia Lawyers Weekly was tried by Brewster Rawls, Owner & Founder of Rawls Law Group. This is the second year in a row that Brewster Rawls obtained the largest verdict in Virginia.
About The Cases
The most recent case was tried in the City of Petersburg Circuit Court at the end of September 2021. That matter involved a 63-year-old woman who died because of untreated acute kidney failure and resulting acidosis. The case involved multiple complex medical issues relating to nephrology and hospital medicine. Brewster was brought into the case by another law firm about nine months before trial. Under his direction, the case was pared down from six defendants to three and developed the necessary trial themes and strategy. Although there was a substantial economic loss and medical expenses, Brewster dropped those damages to focus only on the loss to the family. By the time the matter was ready for trial, he had reshaped the case into one with a very narrow and understandable focus.
At the seven-day trial, Brewster tried the case largely by himself, doing opening and closing statements as well as the medical witnesses. An associate from the referring firm questioned the family members and handled jury instructions. During the trial, Brewster’s deliberate strategy included putting more emphasis on the nephrology defendant than on the two hospitalists. The hospitalists and the nephrologist were already adverse to each other, so his tactic just further emphasized the serious issues with the care of the nephrologist.
The jury was out for about three hours before returning a $10,000,000 verdict against the nephrologist only. A few weeks later, the matter was resolved for a nominal discount off the Virginia cap on medical malpractice damages.
The City of Richmond trial in March 2020 was a comparable situation, albeit one involving a ureter that was severed during a colon resection. The eventual outcome for the patient was catastrophic: kidney failure, dialysis, and a grossly shortened life expectancy. When the other firm brought Brewster into the matter a few months before trial, the case involved multiple claims relating to both the original surgery and the subsequent treatment by a urologist. The case was pared down to just the general surgeon. At trial, opening and closing statements and all the key medical witnesses were handled by Brewster. The jury returned a verdict of $6,500,000.
Both cases attest to Brewster’s trial skills and tremendous experience. When he took over as lead counsel, both cases had multi-part focuses which created a real risk of jury confusion. The trial themes were not well-defined. Brewster sorted all that out, creating narrow and compelling trial presentations. More importantly, he was able to execute the plans successfully at trial – to the great benefit of the clients and the other firm.
About Brewster Rawls
Brewster is among the most experienced seasoned medical malpractice lawyers you will find anywhere. Although now focusing his practice exclusively on representing injured patients and their families, for 30 years Brewster was a respected defense lawyer. In addition to other sorts of cases, he tried well over 100 medical malpractice jury trials. That extensive experience has served him well as a plaintiffs’ lawyer. Since 2019 he has won multiple jury trials for plaintiffs, obtaining seven figure verdicts. Brewster is well-known for being able to get to the core of issues of almost any case and focusing on what matters to get the best results for his clients. He has achieved—and still maintains—a level of proficiency in medical malpractice litigation that few other attorneys can boast.
About Rawls Law Group
Rawls Law Group is widely recognized for its nationwide Federal Torts practice representing veterans and military families in medical malpractice claims against the Federal government, nationwide vaccination injury cases and medical malpractice cases in the state of Virginia. To find out more about the cases we handle, please visit us online at www.rawlslawgroup.com.
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