Best Birth Injury Lawyers in Kentucky
What Makes a Lawyer the Best?
For expectant parents, the birth of a child is supposed to be accompanied by celebration and congratulations. But if the delivery goes wrong and a birth injury is sustained, parents could face fear and uncertainty instead. Finding the best Kentucky birth injury lawyer is the key to answering questions about what happened and obtaining compensation if the injury was, in fact, preventable.
Certainly, the best birth injury lawyers in Kentucky are those with the experience and resources needed to litigate complex medical malpractice lawsuits. Examining past verdicts and settlements in birth injury cases is an essential indicator of lawyers with a proven track record of success; however, we believe other qualities are equally important when choosing the best birth injury lawyers in Kentucky. Professional recognition by peers, client accolades, and testimonials should also be considered when choosing a birth injury attorney. Finally, the best birth injury lawyers in Kentucky show a clear commitment and dedication to advocating for parents and children who suffer a preventable birth injury.
It Starts with Results
A demonstrated history of results in birth injury cases is a good place to start when looking for the best birth injury lawyers in Kentucky. Given most birth injury lawsuits’ factual and legal complexity, a lawyer who has successfully settled or litigated similar cases deserves consideration when determining who is the best.
Lawyers Who Get Results
Finding the best birth injury lawyers in Kentucky begins with a look at prior results, client testimonials, professional honors, and peer reviews. Using those criteria, the following lawyers stand out among the crowd.
Tyler S. Thompson with Dolt, Thompson, Shepard & Conway, PSC in Louisville, Kentucky, has obtained some of the largest verdicts in the State of Kentucky and has been listed as a top lawyer by Louisville Magazine each year since 2007. Attorney Thompson is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, limited to the top 100 lawyers in the United States, and a member of the International Academy of Trial Attorneys, representing the top 500 lawyers worldwide. The firm obtained an $18 million verdict against a hospital for a baby suffering from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and spastic quadriplegia because a nurse failed to monitor a baby during labor.
Steve Klausing of Powell | Klausing, with offices in both Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, was elected to the Kentucky Justice Association’s Leadership Academy and is a 2021-2022 Super Lawyers Rising Star. Attorney Klausing was also recognized by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys as a “10 Best Attorney High Verdict & Settlement Winner” and honored by the National Trial Lawyers as the “Top 40 Under 40” Civil-Plaintiff lawyers in Kentucky. Serving as co-counsel, attorney Klausing obtained a $2.25 million settlement for a case involving a failure to address placental abruption, resulting in the baby’s death. Along with his colleagues at Powell | Klausing, Powell has earned numerous five-star Google reviews from satisfied past and current clients.
Ronald M. Wilt, of the highly rated Louisville, Kentucky law firm of Wilt & Associates, PLLC, has practiced medical practice law for almost three decades, first on the defense side and then as a plaintiff’s attorney. He has collectively won over $60 million in verdicts and settlements for clients, including $9 million for a family whose daughter suffered Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and catastrophic brain damage because of the negligent acts and omissions of the attending physician and hospital.
Sheila Hiestand of McCoy, Hiestand & Smith, PLLC, with three offices throughout Kentucky, is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and named among the top 100 trial lawyers in Kentucky by the American Trial Lawyers Association. Additionally, Hiestand and her colleagues at McCoy, Hiestand & Smith, PLLC enjoy a highly rated reputation on Google reviews.
Paul A. Casi, II of Louisville, Kentucky, has held leadership positions in national legal organizations, such as the American Association for Justice’s Birth Trauma Litigation Group. Attorney Casi was chosen to be included in the Best Lawyers in America from 2010-2021 and listed among Kentucky Super Lawyers from 2008-2021.
Examples of Kentucky Birth Injury Lawsuits
A birth injury lawsuit is a highly specialized type of medical malpractice lawsuit. To prove medical malpractice, a Plaintiff (injured party) must show that negligent conduct on the part of the defendant(s) caused a breach of the standard of care owed to the victim. Both acts and omissions on the part of a health care provider can result in violating the duty of care owed to a patient.
To get an idea of what a birth injury lawsuit entails, consider the $18 million verdict obtained in 2007 by Tyler Thompson for birth injuries sustained at T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow, Kentucky. Plaintiff arrived at the hospital to undergo a routine induction. The doctor gave explicit orders to limit the number of contractions and encouraged the nursing staff to reduce her Epidural dosage during the final stage of labor. Unfortunately, the hospital staff ignored those orders/suggestions, causing Plaintiff to exceed the maximum contractions per hour for six hours, and continued the high dose of Epidural medication. As a result, the baby became stuck in the birth canal, leading to a severe reduction of oxygen to the baby, causing spastic quadriplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Other examples of negligent conduct on the part of a health care provider during the birth of a child that might result in a Kentucky birth injury lawsuit include:
- Failing to properly manage prolonged labor
- Failing to properly manage a breech delivery
- Failing to act when the mother has preeclampsia, high blood pressure, or low blood pressure
- Improper use of Pitocin or Cytotec
- Using excessive pressure or excessive traction when extracting a baby
- Applying too much pressure to the mother’s abdomen during delivery
- Failing to act when the mother has toxemia
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors
- Failing to diagnose and/or act when there is a dangerous infection
- Failing to recognize fetal distress, including signs of fetal heart problems
- Failing to perform a timely emergency cesarean section or failing to order a C-section
The negligence of a health care provider (or a combination of providers) can cause a long list of possible birth injuries. Some of the most common injuries include:
- Forceps and Vacuum Injuries. Fractures of a baby’s clavicle or skull can result from improper use of forceps or vacuum during birth. Secondary complications can also occur, including swelling, bruising, bleeding, and infection. When excessive pressure is applied to a baby’s cranial nerves, it can lead to facial paralysis.
- Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement, muscle tone, and/or posture. Cerebral palsy typically occurs when there is damage to a child’s immature, developing brain before or during birth. Lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain during a prolonged or difficult delivery is often the cause of the damage that leads to cerebral palsy.
- Preeclampsia. When a pregnant mother experiences high blood pressure, it can constrict blood flow throughout her body, causing her to develop preeclampsia. Preeclampsia, in turn, can affect blood flow to the placenta, resulting in reduced fetal oxygen. Preeclampsia puts both mother and baby at risk because it can inhibit growth and increase the likelihood of preterm delivery.
- Brachial Plexus Injuries. The brachial plexus is the network of nerves that sends signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand. A brachial plexus injury occurs when these nerves are stretched, compressed, or in the most severe cases, ripped apart or torn away from the spinal cord because the baby’s neck was improperly maneuvered during delivery. A brachial plexus injury can cause Erb’s palsy or Klumpke’s palsy.
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Also referred to as “birth asphyxia,” Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), is a non-specific term for brain dysfunction caused by a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain. Developmental delay, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and cognitive impairment can all be caused by HIE.
Lawyers for Kentucky Cerebral Palsy Cases
By their very nature, almost all birth injury lawsuits are challenging because it can be difficult to pinpoint precisely what went wrong during the delivery. However, cerebral palsy birth injury lawsuits are among the most challenging cases because the lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain can lead to cerebral palsy before or during birth. That means that to successfully litigate a Kentucky birth injury lawsuit, a lawyer must prove that the oxygen deprivation occurred during the birth process because of negligence on the part of one or more defendants. Kentucky birth injury lawyers with a proven record of success in cerebral palsy cases include:
Tyler S. Thompson with Dolt, Thompson, Shepard & Conway, PSC in Louisville, obtained a $7 million verdict in eastern Kentucky for a birth injury lawsuit involving a nurse and obstetrician who failed to recognize fetal distress, causing the baby to suffer hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy leading to cerebral palsy. He also recovered $5.5 million from a Jefferson County doctor, and hospital for failure to timely perform a cesarean section, resulting in cerebral palsy.
Steve Klausing of Powell | Klausing has an extensive and successful history of advocating for families who are raising a child with a cerebral palsy birth injury. Not only do his past victories make him an excellent choice for a cerebral palsy lawyer, but the firm focuses on quality over quantity. Attorney Klausing is known for both his commitment and empathy when representing families touched by cerebral palsy.
Common Birth Injury Defendants in Kentucky
One of the many reasons why a birth injury lawsuit is among the most complex types of personal injury litigation is the likelihood of multiple defendants. Numerous health care professionals are commonly part of the birthing process, making any or all potential defendants when a birth injury occurs. Consequently, a birth injury lawsuit often includes physicians, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, specialists such as neonatologists, and anyone else involved in the birth. The hospital is also typically named as a defendant in a birth injury lawsuit. Common Kentucky hospitals named as defendants in a birth injury lawsuit include:
- Baptist Health
- St. Elizabeth Healthcare
- Bluegrass Community Hospital
- U. of L. Health Services
- T.J. Sampson Community Hospital
- UK Healthcare
- Georgetown Community Hospital
- Harlan ARH Hospital
- CHI St. Joseph Health
About Kentucky Birth Injury Cases and Birth Injury Law
Like other states, Kentucky has a statute of limitations determining how long an injured victim has to initiate a medical malpractice lawsuit. Located at Kentucky Revised Statutes section 413.140(1)(e), the Kentucky statute of limitations only gives a Plaintiff (injured party) one year “after the cause of action accrued” to file a lawsuit. The statute goes on to say that “an action shall be deemed to accrue at the time the injury is first discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered; provided that such action shall be commenced within five (5) years from the date on which the alleged negligent act or omission is said to have occurred.” The second half of that provision is referred to as a “statute of repose” and effectively sets an outside limit on the amount of time within which a lawsuit must be filed. The Kentucky Supreme Court, however, ruled that the statute of repose violates the state constitution’s “open courts” provisions. As such, the statute of repose does not apply when filing a birth injury lawsuit.
In addition, there are circumstances that toll, or pause, the medical malpractice statute of limitations in Kentucky. One of those exceptions applies when the injured patient was a minor at the time the injury occurred. In that case, the one-year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the victim turns 18 years old.
The Kentucky Supreme Court also recently (in 2019) struck down a laborious pre-litigation review process for medical malpractice lawsuits. That process required victims to submit a complaint to a medical review panel before being allowed to file an official lawsuit. While the pre-litigation review requirement no longer applies, a Certificate of Merit is needed when initiating a birth injury lawsuit. The Certificate of Merit must state one of the following:
- Plaintiff has reviewed the facts of the case with a qualified expert knowledgeable in the relevant issues and has concluded that there is a reasonable basis to commence the lawsuit.
- Plaintiff could not obtain expert consultation before the statute of limitations ran out. This only gives Plaintiff an additional 60 days to locate an expert and have that expert review the case.
- Plaintiff made at least three good faith attempts to obtain the required consultation with an expert and could not find one willing to comply.
- That no expert testimony will be required to prove the claims in the lawsuit
If the defendant(s) has not complied with requests for records, you do not need to file a Certificate of Merit simultaneously with a lawsuit. In that case, you will have 90 days to file the Certificate after the records have been produced.
A Successful Birth Injury Case Starts With Choosing the Best Representation
Birth-related injury claims are often complex, and can be emotionally taxing for a family caring for a disabled child. That’s why choosing the best Kentucky birth injury attorney – one who combines stellar results with dedication, passion, and a fearless pursuit of justice for the injured – is the most important element in a lawsuit’s potential success.