The defense team of Steve Vescovo, Claire Cissell and Laura Deakins prevailed in an interlocutory appeal. The trial court had granted the plaintiffs partial summary judgment on a comparative fault defense raised by Claire and Steve on behalf of the defendant physician.
The Court of Appeals for the Western Section reversed the trial court, holding the grant of partial summary judgment was in error because the testimony from plaintiff’s experts was sufficient to establish a genuine issue of material fact as to the patient’s non-compliance with medical advice and the effect of such non-compliance on her injury.
We congratulate Steve, Claire and Laura on their victory!
Steve Vescovo is a shareholder in the firm’s Memphis office. He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel. He is the Recipient of the Sam Myar, Jr. Award for Outstanding Legal Service, given to honor work both for the profession and the community. Mr. Vescovo is also lsited as The Best Lawyers® Workers’ Compensation “Lawyer of the Year”, 2017.
Ms. Cissell, a shareholder in the firm’s Memphis office, has experience in civil litigation matters. She focuses her practice on medical malpractice defense. Ms. Cissell previously served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable James M. Tharpe and the Honorable Robert A. Lanier.
Laura Deakins joined Lewis Thomason as an associate in 2015. During law school, Ms. Deakins also served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Jon P. McCalla of the Western District of Tennessee and the Honorable Janice M. Holder of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Ms. Deakins was also the business editor of the University of Memphis Law Review editorial board, the research assistant to Professor Ernest Lidge, and both a student ambassador and orientation leader.