Las Vegas-Hub Managing Partner, Adam Garth, demonstrated unwavering determination as he promptly identified the plaintiff's failure to comply with statutory requirements, filed a motion to dismiss, successfully argued against attempts to circumvent the law during motion practice, and provided a comprehensive legal argument demonstrating the absence of requisite evidence by the plaintiff, ultimately securing a decisive victory for the client.

Overview of the Case

• The plaintiff alleged that negligence in reading imaging studies led to the patient's blindness.
• Despite this claim, their legal representation failed to include proper medical declarations or affidavits in the complaint, instead attaching medical reports that did not meet statutory requirements for sworn declarations.
• Following months of legal proceedings, including motion practice and an evidentiary hearing, the plaintiff's case was dismissed due to their attorney's failure to fulfill statutory obligations. They were granted the opportunity to amend their complaint.

Claims Made Against Our Client

• The plaintiff contended that the expert declarations initially submitted were compliant with statutory requirements.
• Additionally, they argued that as long as the experts testified to believing they were writing under penalty of perjury, it sufficed to rectify any deficiency, considering the "magic statutory words" to transform the document into a sworn declaration.
• However, we countered this argument by demonstrating that relying on the "think system" was insufficient to convert a report into a legal declaration.
• Our success lay in establishing that the original submissions were merely unsworn medical reports, failing to meet statutory compliance.
• Furthermore, we proved that these deficiencies could not be remedied, necessitating the non-discretionary dismissal of the entire case.

Defensive Strategy

• We immediately identified the plaintiff's attorney's failure to comply with the law, brought a motion to dismiss due to that failure, and obtained a dismissal despite multiple judicial rulings along the way where every possible deference was paid by the court to the plaintiff and her counsel.
• Despite a co-defendant's motion to strike punitive damages, we not only identified the massive procedural error by the plaintiff, but we also pioneered a defense strategy to dismiss the entire case, not just a claim within it like one co-defense attorney chose to do.
• Additionally, we obtained costs and fees attendant to the plaintiff's counsel's other misguided attempts to circumvent the law and engage in frivolous motion practice.

Impact on Final Outcome

• We provided the court with a history of the statutes involved, gave a full recitation on the state of the law and how the courts are interpreting these situations and demonstrated the absence of any requisite evidence by plaintiff which would have substantiated her argument.

Predicting the Future

• Clients can trust our dedication to swift and decisive victories.
• We avoid unnecessary litigation delays, opting instead for early, aggressive action to ensure success.

About QPWB

Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., is the largest minority and women-owned law firm in the nation with jurisdiction in 45 states and territories in the U.S. allowing us to serve a broad spectrum of industries with over 100 areas of practice. Our lawyers provide representation for businesses and their leaders in litigation, regulatory, and corporate matters.