HPM&B Congratulates Charles Bach, Alejandra Gil and Gregory Freedman on their major victory in the Court of Appeals in the SanMiguel matter
Congratulations to Charles Bach, Alejandra Gil, and Greg Freedman on their major victory in the Court of Appeals in the SanMiguel matter (decision attached).
This was a high-stakes case with significant implications for our clients and the broader medical malpractice defense community.
At issue was whether the well-established rule in Sheppard-Mobley v. King — that a mother cannot recover emotional damages on a medical malpractice claim if her child is born alive – applies to a lack of informed consent claim. In SanMiguel, the First Department held that Sheppard-Mobley does not apply to an informed consent claim because it is a separate cause of action from a medical malpractice claim, thereby allowing a mother to recover emotional distress damages on an informed consent claim. The First Department also invited the Court of Appeals to overturn its “outdated” decision in Sheppard-Mobley, to potentially allow mothers to recover for their own emotional distress damages on a medical malpractice claim, even when the child is born alive. Through extensive briefing and persuasive oral argument, HPM&B convinced the Court of Appeals that “there is no legal or logical reason to treat lack of informed consent claims differently from traditional medical malpractice claims for present purposes.” HPM&B also successfully argued that the doctrine of stare decisis must be applied to uphold the rule in Sheppard-Mobley, convincing the Court that plaintiff failed to articulate “that anything decisive has changed in the 20 years since Sheppard-Mobley was unanimously decided.”
Thanks to the exceptional advocacy of Chuck, Alejandra, and Greg, the Court of Appeals reversed the First Department and upheld Sheppard-Mobley. This decision by New York’s highest Court limiting recovery for emotional distress to stillborn deliveries will undoubtedly provide a wave of relief to New York’s obstetricians and hospitals, particularly given that many of our sister states allow the very recovery sought by plaintiff in SanMiguel.
This is a tremendous win for HPM&B and our clients. Very few medical malpractice matters reach New York’s highest court—when they do, the stakes are enormous. We are proud of our attorneys’ work in achieving this impactful result.
AppellateVictory MedicalMalpracticeDefense SheppardMobley HPMB CourtOfAppeals LegalWin InformedConsent