Michael Lyons: Verdict sent ‘loud, clear message’ about expectations for emergency care
DALLAS -- Lyons & Simmons, LLP’s $10.13 million jury win on behalf of a woman left a paraplegic due to significant emergency diagnosis and treatment delays has earned recognition among Texas’ Top Verdicts for 2022 by Texas Lawyer magazine and American Lawyer/Law.com.
The case, Adams v. Texas Hospital Partners Flower Mound, LLC d/b/a Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound, was the second-largest medical malpractice verdict of the year and the 30th-largest overall in Texas for 2022, according to an analysis of court records reported by VerdictSearch, a legal research affiliate of American Lawyer.
“Lawmakers destroyed any victim’s ability to access the courthouse when they instituted tort reform. Not surprisingly, nothing they did made healthcare better or safer for citizens in this state, opting instead to take care of big insurance and big corporations. Despite the traps and roadblocks put in place for this case, we appreciated the jury sending a loud, clear message regarding the expectations for emergency care in Texas,” said Michael Lyons, who served as lead trial attorney for Jessie and Rich Adams.
The trial team also included Chris Carr, Michael Fechner and Stephen Higdon of Lyons & Simmons.
Judy “Jessie” Adams suffered significant delays in diagnosis and treatment of an epidural hemorrhage upon arrival at the emergency room of Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound. The Lyons & Simmons trial team pointed to 22 breaches of hospital policy that outlined the systemic failures to follow hospital policies. The five-hour delay from initial assessment to emergency surgery resulted in catastrophic, permanent paralysis of Jessie’s lower extremities.
The case was also previously ranked seventh on Courtroom View Network’s review of the nation’s “Most Impressive Plaintiffs Verdicts of 2022,” due in part to the high burden of meeting the “willful and wanton” standard of proof required for emergency medical cases in Texas.
It is the second consecutive year Lyons & Simmons earned Top 100 Verdicts recognition. The firm’s jury award in Midland County was the third-largest Worker/Workplace Negligence verdict, and 41st overall ranked Texas verdict in 2021. In May 2023, Lyons & Simmons partner Michael Lyons was part of the trial team that secured an $860 million verdict in Dallas County for the death of a young woman killed by a tower crane collapse onto the Elan City Lights apartment building.
About Lyons & Simmons LLP
Dallas-based Lyons & Simmons, LLP is a trial boutique representing clients in wrongful death, personal injury, products liability and complex “bet-the-company” business litigation matters across the country.
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