For the parents of a child who has suffered a preventable birth injury, finding the best lawyer to advocate on behalf of their family is crucial. What makes a lawyer the best though? Certainly, a thorough understanding of the law and procedures involved in litigating a birth injury lawsuit is essential; however, other factors are equally important. Compassion and commitment are among the additional factors that go into making a superior lawyer. And obviously, experience and a proven track record of success are crucial. Finally, an excellent lawyer is one who has a reputation with both clients and peers as being the best. Finding the best birth injury lawyers in Missouri entails a search for lawyers that exemplify all these characteristics.
It Starts with Results
The search for the best birth injury lawyers in Missouri begins with proven results. Birth injuries are litigated as medical malpractice lawsuits. Medical malpractice, in turn, is a highly specialized area of tort law, the area of the law that allows a victim to pursue compensation for injuries to his or her person or property. Birth injury lawsuits are typically complex in nature, both legally and factually. With that in mind, a proven track record of successful settlements and/or jury awards is a great place to start when looking for the best birth injury lawyers in Missouri.
Lawyers Who Get Results
Because past performance is often an excellent indicator of future performance, it only makes sense to look at birth injury lawsuit results when searching for the best birth injury lawyers in Missouri. To do that, we took a look at some of the notable settlements and jury awards for Missouri attorneys who handle birth injury lawsuits.
In 2021, attorneys Roger Johnson and Scott Vorhees, of the Joplin, Missouri law firm Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci LLC, won a $34 million jury verdict in a birth injury lawsuit against CoxHealth, representing the largest medical malpractice award in Missouri that year. Attorney Johnson was named as both a Kansas and Missouri “Super Lawyer” from 2011 through 2022 and named Best Lawyer’s 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice in Springfield.
Morgan Murphy of Zevan Davidson Roman LLC in St. Louis, Missouri, started her legal career on the other side of the courtroom, as a defense attorney representing doctors and hospitals. Since making the transition to victim representation, she has successfully litigated numerous multi-million dollar cases. The firm secured a $9.3 million verdict for failure to treat a congenital heart defect resulting in cerebral palsy, as well as a $7 million verdict for failing to perform a timely delivery resulting in cerebral palsy.
Cullan & Cullan in Kansas City, Missouri secured a $17 million jury verdict against a Missouri hospital for birth injuries as well as a $13.2 million verdict for brain damage caused by birth injuries. Dr. Joe Cullan along with his brother, Dr. Patrick Cullan, both of whom have medical and legal degrees, are also members of the prestigious, invitation-only, Inner Circle of Advocates and Dr. Pat Cullen is a member of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. Both attorneys were named among Nebraska’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers.
Stephen R. Woodley of Grey Ritter Graham in St. Louis, Missouri obtained a jury verdict of $5.2 million in a birth \case that, at the time, represented the highest malpractice jury award ever rendered in Southeast Missouri. Attorney Woodley was also named as “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers® in 2021 for St. Louis Personal Injury Litigation and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation.
Examples of Missouri Birth Injury Lawsuits
Birth injury lawsuits are based on allegations of negligence on the part of one or more health care providers. Negligent care during the birth of a child can take many forms. For example, in the $34 million lawsuit against COXHealth, a pregnant woman in labor was given increasing doses of Pitocin, causing severe and unrelenting contractions that led to her baby being deprived of oxygen in the womb. That oxygen deprivation caused the baby to be born with brain damage, quadriplegia, and a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
Other common examples of negligence during childbirth that can lead to a Missouri birth injury lawsuit include:
- 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
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors
- Improper use of Pitocin or Cytotec
- Failing to act when the mother has preeclampsia, high blood pressure, or low blood pressure
- Failing to act when the mother has toxemia
- Failing to diagnose and/or act when there is a dangerous infection
- Failing to properly manage prolonged labor
- Failing to properly manage a breech delivery
- Using excessive pressure or excessive traction when extracting a baby
- Applying too much pressure to the mother’s abdomen during delivery
The negligent acts or omissions of health care providers during childbirth can lead to an exhaustive list of possible birth injuries; however, some of the most common include:
- Brachial Plexus Injuries. The brachial plexus is the network of nerves that sends signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Brachial plexus injury occurs when these nerves are compromised in some fashion. This can happen when an infant’s neck is improperly maneuvered (twisted or pulled too hard) during delivery by the healthcare professional delivering the baby. A brachial plexus birth injury may result in Erb’s palsy or Klumpke’s palsy.
- Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture. It’s caused by damage that occurs to the immature, developing brain before or during birth. Lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain during a prolonged or difficult delivery can cause cerebral palsy.
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (or HIE) is a non-specific term for brain dysfunction caused by a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain. Sometimes, HIE is also referred to as birth asphyxia. HIE can lead to developmental delay, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and cognitive impairment.
- Forceps and Vacuum Injuries. Improper use of forceps or vacuum can cause clavicle or skull fractures. Swelling, bruising, bleeding, and infection are often secondary complications associated with fractures. Excessive pressure on a baby’s cranial nerves can also result in facial paralysis, usually around the lips, although it can affect any part of the face.
- Preeclampsia. Preeclampsia occurs when a pregnant woman experiences high blood pressure, resulting in constricted blood flow throughout her body. High blood pressure can also affect blood flow to the placenta, resulting in reduced oxygen to the fetus. Along with health risks to the mother, preeclampsia puts the fetus at risk for inhibited growth and preterm delivery, which can both contribute to birth injuries.
The Best Lawyers for Missouri Cerebral Palsy Cases
Cerebral palsy is a common birth injury caused by a lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain. It can be particularly difficult, however, to prove that an error at the time of delivery is what caused the injury given that oxygen deprivation prior to birth can also result in cerebral palsy. To find the best birth injury lawyers in Missouri for cerebral palsy cases, we looked for attorneys with a reputation for both compassion and excellence.
Cullan & Cullan
Once again, Cullan & Cullan rise to the top of the list for Missouri cerebral palsy birth injury cases. Among his numerous other accolades and honors, Dr. Sam Cullan is Board-Certified in Legal Medicine by the American Board of Legal Medicine, a professional acknowledgment of his unique expertise in both law and medicine. Cullan & Cullan are also members of the Million and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States with less than one percent of all attorneys qualifying for membership. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements.
Zevan Davidson Roman
Coming back to results, we look again to Morgan Murphy of Zevan Davidson Roman LLC. St. Louis. A $9.3 million verdict and a $7 million verdict for birth injuries leading to cerebral palsy speak to the results this lawyer can obtain.
Norton and Spencer
In addition to all of the excellent birth injury lawyers above, Norton and Spencer rates as one of the best cerebral palsy palsy lawyers in Missouri. You can see details of their track record of success on their verdicts and settlements page.
Common Birth Injury Defendants in Missouri
One of the many reasons why birth injury lawsuits involve complex litigation is that a typical lawsuit will include numerous defendants. Sometimes that is because it is not initially clear whose negligence caused the injury, while in other cases it is clear from the start that more than one defendant contributed to the medical error that resulted in the injury. A Missouri birth injury lawsuit may be filed against a variety of health care providers involved in the birth of the child, including a physician, nurse, surgeon, midwife, or anesthesiologist. Often, every health care provider involved – however remotely – in the birth is named as a defendant. It is also common to include the hospital where the birth took place as a defendant in a birth injury lawsuit. In Missouri, that might include some of the largest hospitals, such as:
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital
- Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City
- Missouri Baptist Medical Center
- North Kansas City Hospital
- Boone Hospital Center
- Mercy Hospital Springfield
- St. Luke’s Hospital-Chesterfield
- Mercy Hospital St. Louis
- CoxHealth Springfield
- SSM Health St. Clare Hospital-Fenton
About Missouri Birth Injury Cases and Birth Injury Law
According to the MOST Policy Initiative, Missouri’s infant mortality rate is 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, higher than the national average. The top five causes of infant mortality include birth defects, preterm delivery with low birth weight, unintentional injuries, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and maternal pregnancy complications. While there is not a direct correlation between infant mortality and birth injuries, there is anecdotal evidence that suggests higher mortality rates track with higher birth injury rates.
A Missouri birth injury lawsuit must be initiated within the applicable statute of limitations or your right to recovery is forever barred. In Missouri, at the time of this writing, the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice lawsuit is two years from the date of the incident that caused the injury, in this case, the birth of the child. That’s for the parental claim. The child can have much longer, up to 20 years. See Missouri’s SOL law. CONSULT WITH A QUALIFIED MISSOURI BIRTH INJURY LAWYER IMMEDIATELY TO ADDRESS WHEN YOUR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS EXPIRES. There is an exception that extends the statute of limitations to two years from the date when the patient discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the error or omission that caused the injury. The exception, however, is limited to cases involving a failure to inform patients of test results. Missouri also has a “statute of repose” that effectively caps the statute of limitations at 10 years, regardless of the date of discovery.
Missouri Revised Statutes Section 538.225 also requires a “Qualified Health Care Provider” affidavit to be filed within 90 days of initiating a birth injury lawsuit against a health care provider. The affidavit requires the Plaintiff (victim) to state that he/she has obtained a written opinion of a “legally qualified health care provider” who has found that:
- In treating the patient (the Plaintiff), the health care provider (the Defendant) failed to provide the kind of treatment that a “reasonably prudent and careful health care provider would have under similar circumstances,” and
- This failure caused or contributed to the harm alleged in the lawsuit.
Making the Right Choice for Your Family
No two cases are ever the same, even if the birth injuries are similar. Neurological injuries in infants are complex, and determining causes of the condition or conditions often requires highly specialized expert testimony from a qualified medical expert. In a birth injury situation, this commonly means from an obstetrician (OB) with substantial experience delivering babies.
Talk to multiple Missouri birth injury lawyers. Make sure you feel comfortable with the lawyer with whom you will be working. Understand that just because he or she has had success in past cases does not guarantee success in your case.
Nothing on this page is meant to be legal advice and the Injury Lawyer Database is not responsible for errors, omissions, or changes in the law. TALK TO A QUALIFIED LAWYER TODAY! Your rights to pursue action on behalf of yourself, your family, or your child may be lost if they are not exercised.