MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

DANIEL HARWIN

Freedland Harwin Valori

TODD MICHAELS

The Haggard Law Firm

The attorneys achieved a $24.5 million verdict for their clients ― the surviving husband and children of Lilia Torres ― against several of her doctors in a wrongful death case. She bled to death following the birth of her fourth child in July 2015.

Daniel Harwin filed suit claiming Torres' death at 34 was preventable and the result of negligence by her doctors. Early in her pregnancy, Torres was diagnosed with placenta previa, a low-mortality condition where the cervix is partially or entirely covered by the placenta.

The plaintiffs attorneys maintained her prenatal treatment was mismanaged and her scheduled cesarean section was delayed a day and performed "without the necessary and available resources."

The case was litigated for a year before the defendants stipulated to liability in Torres' death two weeks before trial. Harwin brought in Todd Michaels to try the damages portion of the case. The jury returned its verdict after two hours.

Describe a key piece of testimony, evidence, ruling or order in the case and how it influenced the outcome: The trial focused on the impact Torres' death had on her family. During her children's emotional testimony, each child paid tribute to her memory. Although the defense attempted to argue that the family had recovered from the loss, the plaintiff presented overwhelming evidence that the family carries this unimaginable loss with them always.

An important example of that suffering was came from Lilia's 14-year-old daughter, who testified that she tells her friends at school that her mother still does her hair because she did not want to admit that she was gone.

Each of the family members also discussed the loss suffered by the youngest daughter, who never had the chance to meet, hug or be held by her mother. It was key for the jury to hear about how much they worried about her future guilt when she learned her mother died shortly after giving birth to her.