Trial Magazine

Growing up as the son of a general practice family doctor, I was fortunate that my dad had his office in our home. That provided me the opportunity to spend hours studying every inch of this mystical room. His office was like a museum, filled with interesting paintings and plaques on the wall, an endless assortment of stainless steel medical equipment, and thick books containing indecipherable language that was foreign to me.

I remember staring at one framed plaque in particular. Written on the plaque in gothic lettering was what appeared to be some kind of creed that seemed to literally watch over my father. When I stood close to the plaque, I read that it was titled the “Oath of Hippocrates.” As a child, I did not ­understand much about the words in that oath. But I knew it had to be important. If it was nailed to the wall of my father’s office, he obviously had to subscribe to it.

Many years later, I would stand in a courtroom as a trial lawyer, representing plaintiffs in professional negligence cases against doctors and reciting to the jury the theme of the Hippocratic oath that hung on the wall in my home: Do no harm. Ancient as it may be, the oath’s premise has remarkable staying power as it relates to claims against professionals who fail to adhere to the standard of care within their profession. In the oath, doctors pledge that they will practice medicine for the benefit of their patients and “abstain from whatever is deleterious.” Moreover, the oath acknowledges accountability for falling below the standard of care.

Often heard in professional negligence trials is the theme of “promise made, promise broken.” Simply put, patients or clients put their trust in professionals such as doctors and nurses and psychiatrists and, yes, lawyers too. When that trust is placed, a simple covenant is made: The professionals will use their skill and training to adhere to the standard of a reasonable professional. If they violate that standard, accountability is part of the oath the professionals maintain.

In this way, civil justice and claims arising from professional negligence keep order in our society. This ensures that those carrying out professional duties will not pursue some renegade course of treatment or stray from that which is taught within their profession—to do no harm to those they care for.

This standard allows society to put its trust in professionals when they walk into doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and nursing homes that they rely on for care. Likewise, civil justice and professional negligence claims give people the reassurance that if for whatever reason the professional oath is violated, they have a path to accountability.

In this month’s Trial, explore the foundations on which some of these claims are built, with articles on presenting expert witness testimony (p. 18); overcoming defense efforts to improperly sway jurors (p. 24); discovery of electronic medical records (p. 30); and how to navigate nursing home cases today (p. 38).

For more resources, look to AAJ’s Professional Negligence Section, which includes a subscription to the Professional Negligence Law Reporter and access to a secure document library, list server, and education and business meetings (www.justice.org/ProfNegSection).

At the core of AAJ’s mission is ensuring that the promise of accountability in the plaque I saw as a child remains true. Because of AAJ, when the oath is broken, accountability may be found in our courtrooms.

Tobi L. Millrood is a partner at Pogust Millrood in suburban Philadelphia and can be reached at tobi.millrood@justice.org.